The Book Vine

Reading on the vine has been a different reading experience for me.

We know we have a book arriving in the post and that soon we are to read it. Yet we do not know what the book is called, or who it is by, or even if it is a book we have heard of before. It might be from an unfamiliar genre, or it might be a book that we have so far avoided reading for various reasons. The fact is we know we have a book coming from a certain person - we know we are going to read it - we just do not know what it is.

I have never been part of a book group because I have never thought I could read a book that someone else chose for me especially if I thought I wouldn't like the book. I think the problem is that I tended to build up reservations or prejudices against certain books and then I wouldn't be able to read it. With the vine - there is none of that, it is simple - the book is chosen and you read it. You have no time to build up reservations.

And so I open my heart to this book and I don't care if it is not my kind of book, I simply do not think "will I like this book" or "will I hate it?" I simply open myself up to this book and it's taught me to be much more open minded then I was before. There is an extra factor to it of course - the book has travelled across the world and it represents a part of the person who chose to send it. So it is more then merely a book that I am reading to discuss with a group.

We're on our last leg of the vine with only one or two more books to be read before the circle is complete. And then we continue with a different format. Reading for the vine is a commitment and it can be time consuming though definitely enjoyable. Keeping a book a secret from people for so long comes with it's own problems of course - such as trying not to talk about it where its identity could be guessed at.

Has anyone here been a part of a book circle or a book group, how has this influenced your reading choices?