Every year at Gustavus, as most of the people reading this probably already know, a “Reading-in-Common” book is selected and assigned as summer reading to every incoming first-year student.

There are a number of things I love about this tradition. I love the way it gives everyone a very obvious conversation-starter, at least if you’re a huge nerd like me.

I love the way it helped me jump-start into college assignments, this was especially helpful for me when I was getting antsy in the month before college. Most of all, I loved the idea that it created a giant book club that everyone I met in the first few days at Gustavus was part of.

This part is the one I want to talk about the most. As a huge English geek, books are incredibly important to me. Reading, interpreting, and experiencing the art of the written word is kind of my jam.

Unfortunately, it has been rare in my life for me to find a bevy of people who agree with me; people who read at my pace or who read the same books that I do. I have not had a lot of people that I could really talk about books with in a meaningful way. Most of the time, those discussions result in me ranting about a novel to my friends who have never even heard of that particular book before.

Because of this, the idea of book clubs has always been incredibly intriguing to me.  Unfortunately, with everyone as busy as they are, starting a book club is not that easy. People don’t agree on which book to read or don’t have the time, and eventually they just kind of forget about forming a club.

One of the things that makes Gustavus’ approach to a book club successful, I think, (besides the fact that it’s basically required, because let’s be honest, that’s a big one) is how many people are involved in it and the impermanent nature of it.

I loved the idea that it created a giant book club that everyone I met in the first few days at Gustavus was a part of. 

In regards to the first, book clubs become more effective when they have more members because even if some people don’t read the book (and there are always people who don’t read the book), there is generally a larger number of people that did and are willing to talk. Even years later, I can talk to people about my own Reading-in-Common, going on a short nostalgia trip to the beginning of my first year.

In regards to the second, I think the Reading-in-Common works well because it isn’t that big of a commitment.

This club essentially requires you to read one book in your whole lifetime. You’re not required to read any of the previous or future books. For people who are not like me, and don’t read 10 books a month, it’s a much simpler prospect than being assigned a book a month indefinitely, and dictating everything that person reads in the foreseeable future.

I also think that reading something in concert with a large group of other people and then discussing it with questions and topics that other people have come up with provides a very different reading experience for the reader than if they’d read that book on their own.

One of the things that makes Gustavus’ approach to a book club successful…is how many people are involved in it and the impermanent nature of it.

This is important for me because I read a lot of books on my own, with no one to really question my opinions and viewpoints.

When you read something with someone else, there are so many more perspectives in the room, so many more opinions, and it can really change the way you think about a book or about the world.

That book doesn’t exist in a bubble where only you can get to it, there are so many more unique ways to read and interpret it than just your own, and it is incredibly rewarding to be able to challenge your own understanding of the world in this way. I really wouldn’t trade it for the world.

–Andy Broman