Recently a friend wondered if she could say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to her book club. She had tried to read this month’s selection, really she had, but she just couldn’t do it. I had felt the same way about vegetables when I was seven. I surmise it is easier to stand up to your book club than to your mother. Still, some book club members go through real angst when faced with a torturous read. I think if you give a book a fighting chance—say 50 pages—then you can veto without guilt. Life is too short, and there are too many books to read. I believe we all have the right to say, “It just wasn’t my cup of tea”—no offense to the book’s selector. As Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” Be true to your book club, but even more so, be true to yourself.
Jan 242011