Hit 50 book club debates in a row without a repeat argument

So I've been tracking my book club's debates for about 2 years now. We meet every other Tuesday at a coffee shop downtown. Last week I realized we hit 50 straight meetings where nobody brought up the same tired argument about "the author's intent" or "is this character likable." I started a simple spreadsheet after our 12th meeting because I got sick of hearing the same takes on every book. The trick was making a rule that if someone starts a familiar debate, you have to pull a question from a jar I keep with random topics like "what would you change about the ending" or "which secondary character should get their own book." It's kept things fresh and actually got our quiet members talking more. Anyone else track their club's patterns or got a system to avoid repeating the same discussions?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandra_black1mo ago

nelson.gavin said "I might have to steal it" but honestly the jar idea wasnt mine to steal either. I found the base list online from some book blog, then swapped out about half the questions after our first few tries because ones like "what would you change about the ending" got used up too quick. The real trick is keeping the jar updated, I add new questions every couple months and retire ones that feel stale. You gotta rotate them out or you end up with the same problem just with different topics.

nelson.gavin1mo ago

Did you make the jar questions yourself or pull them from somewhere? That jar idea is actually pretty smart, I might have to steal it for my group before we fall into another "but what does the fog symbolize" spiral.