Mechanics’ Institute has a history of finding creative ways to support our members. We started offering fiction early in our history, a revolutionary idea at a time when libraries were for education and entertainment was pooh-poohed as trivial. Today, we host mystery book groups, classic literature book groups, author-focused book groups, world literature book groups, and even an online book group for non-fiction readers. If you’ve never attended a book group at Mechanics' Institute, check our website for upcoming meetings to see if anything sounds interesting.
The format is simple. Each month, members read a single work that they've chosen, then come together to dish about it. Some of the most interesting discussions happen when people arrive with wildly variant opinions on the book, with background information that others may not know, with life experience that adds to the group's understanding of the work, or with reading suggestions for books like (or unlike) the one on the table. Some members talk a lot, some members talk a little, and some just sit back and listen to the verbal volleys of others. If you’re interested in reading, and in reading works you might not ordinarily pick up on your own, you might find that a book group gets your mental juices flowing and adds to your enjoyment.
In the meanwhile, if you’re a Mechanics’ Institute book group member, or if you might like to be one, give us some feedback on what kinds of groups you’d like to see. Take this short, anonymous survey and tell us what you’d like to read with your fellow M.I. members this year!
