Shmook clubs

Has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe book clubs are bad ideas? Because Oprah has one, does that mean we all need to participate and pay attention? Why do we have to discuss with a group of people something that may be personal or relevant to very few?

Here is my beef: I just read The Life of Pi, and I have to admit I'm almost mad I even read it. It wasn't a waste of time. It wasn't a bad book. It just wasn't a story that required more than 30 pages. It wasn't an exploration of anything. It was a biology lesson. Maybe they should make it a requirement for "summer reading" for college freshmen. (I've heard about "summer reading" in places such as Jersey, though in Corsicana, we were not required to read a damn thing over our juvenile-deliquent summers.) Basically, I could have spent my time re-reading any other book I have already loved (e.g., Lonesome Dove, The Time Traveler's Wife) instead of spending 3 days reading that one. And I feel like it would have been more worth my while.

That is not to say that Life of Pi won't appeal to anyone. I know there are people who loved it, though why, I cannot tell you. Even my mother didn't love it, and I thought by the end you were supposed to believe in God, which is right up her alley. [By the way, I did not find myself necessarily believing in God by the end of this book. Not at all.] My point is that just because someone, even someone you love -- even if that someone is freaking Oprah -- recommends a book, that doesn't mean it's going to be good for you. Even the people you usually trust can lead you to hours' worth of pointless reading you will never be able to retrieve for other purposes.

My advice: put a book down if you don't like it within the first 100 pages. Corollary: don't buy books; check them out at the library.

Is it I who has the problem? Do I just need to buy the Cliffs Notes?