I just saw a poll that said 40% of book clubs have banned a member for not reading the book

Sandra Martin · 2026-03-29T07:45:04.669723+00:00

Found that wild stat in a newsletter from my local library, and now I'm wondering if our group's 'gentle reminders' are actually too gentle.

lisak146mo ago

Banning someone over a book feels a bit much... it's just a club.

10

chen.jade6mo ago

Our group's "gentle reminders" are basically just sending the SparkNotes link.

1

luna_sanchez4mo ago

Respectfully, banning someone feels like the nuclear option, but maybe it's just me but there's a middle ground between that and sending SparkNotes. I mean, if someone joins a book club and never reads a single book, that's kind of disrespectful to everyone else who shows up ready to talk. My last group had a running joke about a guy who claimed he "skimmed" everything, but he basically just watched the movie adaptation and it got old fast.

1