Five Benefits
of Joining a Book Club
The Cult News| March 2015
by B.A. Umaña
The Cult News is
creating a book club for students of UCR that will be convening for the first
time on April 1, 2015. Book clubs gather lovers of literature that want to
share their opinion on fictional and non-fictional stories of all types while
making friends with similar likes and interests.
To commemorate
the upcoming meeting, here are five benefits of joining a book club that will
make you consider joining ours.
#1: Be exposed to new literature
One of the
greatest benefits of joining a book club is getting to read literature that you
never even imagined existed before. Due to the many ways book clubs choose
their readings –such as taking turns to choose, or nominating books, every
member of the group ends up encountering a book they had never heard of before.
What is wonderful about this is how well-read you will become; and who knows,
perhaps one of these books might become your all-time favorite.
#2: Get intellectually stimulated
With every new
read and its analysis, book club members are enlightened with new knowledge
about the world. Sheila Malloch, member of the West Side Stories Book Club in
Toronto says “By reading about life in different cultures and societies, my
understanding of the world has been enormously enhanced” (O’Niell, 2015).
Also, book
clubs are cultivating grounds for free thinking and the creation of new wisdom.
When one makes a critical analysis of a book, one is not only questioning the
book’s content, but the culture, and the values that come with it. Book clubs
provide the intellectual breath of fresh air that many need.
#3: Better your communication skills
Book clubs
provide the perfect opportunity for everyone to practice self-expression. The
open and tolerant ambiance of a book club helps individuals who do not give their opinion much to speak without
being shunned; and for those who speak plenty, book clubs provide that perfect
space for you to hone your talking-skills. In that sense, book clubs will make
one a better, more efficient speaker.
#4: Improve your writing skills
If you write,
you have most likely heard that “the best way to improve your writing is to
read.” Book clubs, therefore, are a goldmine for writers-to-be. With every book
read, members of book clubs get to know not only new and unique writing styles
that they may be inspired by, but they also get an insight on what readers
want. The opinion of every member of your club can be taken as the opinion of
the general public one may want to write to. Listen to them, and you will be
listening to everyone.
#5: Make friends while having the freedom to
be honest
In book clubs,
one of the main objectives is to speak as truthfully as possible. When a member
of the group shares his or her opinion, one may have the right to differ with
that person, and even debate the topic, but the opinion must be respected. That
means you can be yourself without being shot down.
If you can be
yourself, that means the friends you make in the club will know who you truly
are, and will be okay with it. Friends met in book clubs can therefore last a
lifetime.
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Be sure to
visit The Cult News’s stand on either the 16th or 19th of
March to sign up for our book club. The club can only accept a limited number
of individuals, and we work on the basis of first-come first-served.
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