Book Club and Bible Study

There seem to be 2 activities that every military spouse organization I’ve seen participates in: Book club and bible study. I saw it at the different bases in pilot training and it’s something I know our current base loves. There are other things like play groups, craft clubs, sewing circles, and someone once even tried to start a soccer group here, but these 2 seem to be the most popular.

I was excited about the book club. I love books. I learned to love the classics early on and To Kill a Mockingbird is probably my all-time favorite book. As I got older, I started to like chick lit. Yes, it’s fluffy and predicable but it’s entertaining. Of course, I’m also a fan of popular series too, you know, the standards like Harry Potter, etc. My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas, because I was taking so many books on vacation with me it was getting to be absurd. (Yes, I miss the pages and the smell of books with the Kindle, but I don’t go over the luggage requirements with it.) I was excited about book club, until I got the reading lists…

I don’t like depressing books. I am not a Nicholas Sparks fan. Sorry, I know he’s a great writer but someone always dies and I cry easy enough as it is. Don’t get me wrong, I know everyone loves The Notebook, and it’s a beautiful story, but I found myself sobbing about these fictional characters a little too much. (Have I mentioned I cry easy?) I also feel it was a very poor choice to have Dear John be a reading selection during deployment. Other depressing favorites of this base book club include Marley and Me, My Sister’s Keeper, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (actually, that’s a really good one, but still quite sad).

They used to like to pick books that were being made into movies and then go see the film after the discussion. They needed suggestions and not much was coming out, so I jokingly suggested Twilight… No one found it the least bit funny and they stared at me like I had another head. Yes, I like it (don’t hate), but I wasn’t serious about it for book club. I’ve also suggested classics, like Jane Austen (this time I was being serious) again, I was met with blank stares. I no longer participate in book club.

The other big one will probably be a little controversial: bible study. This is one I was not so enthusiastic about. It’s not because I don’t appreciate the bible, it’s because I am Catholic and we’re not known for bible study…

The few times I’ve tried to go to bible study in the past, people have tried to “save” me and that’s not fun for me. Apparently Catholicism is not a popular religion with some people. I get why people may not be fans, but that’s no need to tell me I’m going to hell. How do you know? Did God tell you or something? I don’t know how bible study with a bunch of ladies who are gossiping is going to help my faith.  

I’m really not one to debate religion with people, either. It makes me super uncomfortable when people invite me to their church and it happens a lot here. Maybe that’s why I’ve never clicked with the other wives? They all seem to go to the same church.

As for me, I’ll skip the clubs. I’ll quietly worship in my own way, not bothering anyone… and I’ll read some book that makes me happy, while I’m at it.

As always, my disclaimer is that this does not reflect all military spouse organizations, it’s just my personal experience.