For years I have been a member of my local Bar Association's book club. As you might have guessed, over the years all but one of the members have been lawyers.
I also joined my church's book club for a year. I wanted to investigate the way the two book clubs operate, and specifically the way that the respective members contribute to the discussions and what kinds of books are selected for discussion.
I found that there are no significant differences between the two groups, their members' contributions to the book discussions, or the kinds of books selected. In fact, on the last measure, sometimes the two groups read the same books!
Every other member of the church group was a woman, while about 2/3 of the lawyers' group have been women over the years.
The members' contributions to the book discussions were very much alike. Some members contributed more than others, in my judgment, and some had more to say to my liking than others had to say, but there was no difference between the membership of each group on that score.
The result of my forensic investigation of this very small sample of book clubs was that, in the end, I personally enjoy being around people who read books and talk about what they have read. There is no other talent worth mentioning, to my mind, when you find that there is no difference between book club groups, only among the people who belong to them.
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