Falling For A Title

I've written before about the importance of a title for a book, even a short story or essay. A title either leaves a reader ready to pass on by, pulls her in, or feeling absolutely nothing.

My book club is reading a book for September titled No! I Don't Want To Join A Book Club. That's definitely a title that would appeal to someone who is in such a group. I immediately wanted to learn why the protagonist in this fiction story would state this so emphatically.

One night, I settled in to begin reading. The story is told in journal form by a British woman about to turn sixty. She writes of her daily happenings and her thoughts on reaching a new stage in her life. As might be expected from the title, it's a bit quirky and humorous. It's also a lot of repetition as this fifty-nine year old divorced woman states and restates her strong denial of feeling bad about turning sixty.

We do receive a picture of her life and the people in it as each entry is made. I must admit that I'm beginning to feel something for a couple of the characters. But this is not a book that I cannot put down. It's not an action story, has little or no suspense, no mystery. Instead, it's a study of people, and I usually like that type of book. The only problem I have with it is that there is so much repetition. Maybe an entire book on the topic is stretching things a bit. A long personal essay may have worked better.

I'm not going to make a final judgement  yet since I'm only about a third of the way through the book, which is not a long one. I think that our book club members will find some things to discuss, mostly about being sixty and beyond, which is where all our members fall. So, this is something we can relate to. A book club of young women would probably have little to say about it.

I'll reserve final judgement as to whether to recommend this book to others until I finish it. But I definitely love the title!