When Emma Watson started up a new Goodreads book club that focused on works about feminism and equality, I immediately signed up. That was all I did though, and I’ve thoroughly ignored the email digests that have been emailed to me, and I have yet to buy the first book on the list let alone catch up to what the second one even is.

That’s not to say I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s great to see someone famous endorsing something like this, and the joy of it is Watson has really thrown herself behind the idea with great gusto and passion. So much so, she’s reportedly going to put her acting career on the backburner for a year to concentrate on reading a book a week, thus turning the book club into something even more special.

Much of the reaction I’ve seen in online circles focuses on the “hey, I wish I could give up my job to read books” and yea, there is that aspect to it. Then again, Emma gave up most of her childhood to create a beloved film series and if she can take time off to do something positive as a result of that, then why the heck not?

My issue is that I’m just not good at describing how I feel about things. I’ve always wanted to join a book club, in real life or online, because I love to read and getting guidance about what to put on my reading list, and then sharing that joy with others, sounds like a great idea on paper. In reality, though, the detail that book groups can go into has always put me off. Why did the author decide to write this way? frowns What hidden meaning do we think this paragraph has?  shrugs

You’ll know, if you follow my Film Watch reviews at all, that describing my enjoyment or distaste at something isn’t one of my strong points. It’s brilliant, awesome, fantastic, great, really love it, can’t stand it, hideous, awful, not a patch on the first one, etc, etc. Trying to dig any deeper is difficult for me unless I feel very strongly about whatever it may be. It’s probably not a great admission to make, given that I love to write and feel like I do an okay job at it. But there always seems to be a difference between writing about something compared to trying to decide what it is about something else that I particularly like/dislike.

So, the book club may not be for me. But I recommend checking it out, if only to marvel at people discussing books with the actor who played the wonderfully bookish Hermione Granger.

It’s brilliant! (Also fabulous, fantastic and great!)