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Our book club spent $120 on a fancy reading guide that was basically a summary we could have googled
My group picked a classic novel for last month, and one member pushed hard to buy this special 'companion guide' from a literary website. It cost $120 for the group subscription, which we split. The promise was deep analysis and discussion questions. We got maybe 20 pages of basic plot summary and a few generic questions like 'what did you think of the main character?' I felt like I threw $15 in the trash. Some folks think it was still a good starting point for newer readers, but I think it was a total waste when free resources exist. Has your club ever bought a study aid that wasn't worth the cash?
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the_faith5d ago
Honestly that sounds so frustrating, like paying for a fancy coffee and getting plain hot water. My club once bought these themed bookmarks that were supposed to have discussion prompts on them, and they were just cheap cardboard with quotes from the book printed wrong. It totally killed the vibe for that meeting. I get what barbarah19 is saying about free guides, we use those now and just talk it out ourselves. Spending money on stuff for the club always feels risky because someone ends up disappointed.
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young.nora5d ago
Yeah the "cheap cardboard with wrong quotes" thing is such a letdown. It really does kill the vibe when you're all excited for a meeting. Totally get why you switched to free stuff.
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