The Bristal Assisted Living Blog

Posted by The Bristal  |

10 Benefits of Joining a Book Club

Like to read? Enjoy a good discussion? Know a group of people who feel the same way? Why not start a book club, or join an existing group? You’d be surprised at the many advantages that come with belonging to an active enclave of readers.

Here are our top 10 benefits of participating in a book club.

1. Community
As a member of an active book club, you’ll be more prone to reading and sharing thoughts about what you’ve read with new and long-time friends. These will be people who are literally on the same page. Plus, it’s a great excuse to be alternately silly and serious at once.

2. Intellectual Stimulation
Book clubs can keep you in touch with the world and how others view it. They will keep you current on new authors and topics and also give you a chance to pick up those classics you always wanted to read, but rarely made enough time for.

3. New Books and New People
Book clubs are a great way to meet new people and to learn both about them and from them. Literature is a reflection of the world, and your book club will probably contain an interesting cross-section of it.

4. A Break from the Every Day
Books not only sweep you away from your daily routines, but the discussions you’ll have about those journeys can also be transporting. The club becomes a safe and familiar place to exchange and challenge ideas.

5. The Freedom to be Honest
Don’t like the book? Be honest and express that. Love it for a special reason? Feel free to express that, too. Book clubs have a wonderful way of opening people up to sharing in ways they’d normally feel inhibited under other circumstances.

Related: Benefits of Staying Socially Active >>

6. Friendship
Laughter, sadness, joy, anger, pride, and exhilaration. The literature and often heated discussions that book clubs present let you express the fullness of your emotions in public, which can be a wonderful way to make new friends, connect on common ground, and strengthen new and long-time bonds.

7. Self-expression
We all have opinions about many things, and book clubs provide a welcome channel and an invested audience. These exercises of self-revelation can be particularly liberating when the head and heart are heavy; perhaps, therapeutic even.

8. Lifetime Connections
When you have a recurring appointment with the same group of people in a place where discussions are active, where intellects are stimulated and imaginations are free to play, you’d be surprised how quickly relationships form that can last for a lifetime.

9. A Welcome Place for Strangers
A good book club creates a buzz, and people tend to invite others, so it’s a great way to meet and interact with strangers. When you encounter people of different beliefs and backgrounds, it’s rewarding to see how, despite many differences, our common humanity unites us.

10. Spending Time with Others
Perhaps the best thing about book clubs is that they are a social experience. The older we get, the more we are prone to keep to ourselves. But book clubs encourage us to remain socially active and engaged with the people and places around us — which benefits our health and well-being.

This blog was originally published on May 6, 2015 and updated in 2023.

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