Reading Together On Zoom During Lockdown

We love reading together from our respective homes. But there are times, when someone doesn’t like someone’s choice of book. Then what?

Photo by Gabriel Benois on Unsplash

It is time for our little reading club to meet on Zoom. 8–10 year olds login to Zoom with ease and then together we set off on an adventure, two times a week. We do that by exploring a variety of books together. In the pre corona era, we used to meet at my place and explore books, laugh sometimes, make noise when we discover that our guesses were right and so on. But now, we try and do the same on Zoom.

Word spread and our group grew. Hence new batches came up so that it is easier to engage on Zoom in smaller batches. On the “decision day” where we observe book covers, read and analyse book blurbs. The session ends with the group rating different books and coming to a decision about which book interests everyone the most. That special book is read in the next session. As the reading goes along we stop to make observations. One such “decision day” we could not arrive at a common book. Each one wanted their choice to be put up for discussion during the next session. After much thought, we decided to go ahead and read all the books chosen in the order we discussed them.

As promised, during the next session, we read the first book in the list. The child who chose the book was eager to contribute. He even did research on the side and gave inputs about the Amazon Rainforests, in which the book is set. It was fascinating as I was learning loads as well as we read this beautiful book together. However, sadly I noticed that the others were not as engaged as this child. It was evident that they had tuned off and when asked, one even said blatantly, “It is boring.”

While I appreciated the candour, I could not help thinking about how the child who chose the book must be feeling. His choice of reading had been branded as “boring!” I checked with him to make sure that he was enjoying the book and thankfully, he is a confident child. He said he was loving the book and was eager to read on.

Respecting other’s reading interests is a means to show empathy.

I am the kinds who yelps for joy when Amazon sends an email saying that there is going to be a book sale. I have to browse through the recommendations in my favourite genres fiction as well as non-fiction. There are many that I like and many for which I simply don’t have the inclination to read. It is impossible for everyone to have the same interests. However, opening one’s mind up and participating in a discussion based on a book that interests a friend on the group is a great way to show empathy and perhaps learn a thing or two. After all everything in life can all the time be interesting. Boredom is good as it stimulates you to think. Why not channelise that boredom to observe why the person who chose the book enjoys it so much? Why not wonder if there is something that one could be missing out? Maybe there is something.

However, opening one’s mind up and participating in a discussion based on a book that interests a friend on the group is a great way to show empathy and perhaps learn a thing or two.

I have been thinking about this long after the session ended. After all, we don’t get to visit the Amazon rainforests on a whim. Why is it that only the child who chose the book and I enjoyed this little adventure to Rainforests? Why were the others not equally enthusiastic?

The session afterwards

I was a little sceptical before the second session. We still had many more pages to cover. The story picked up pace, there was conflict and suspense. The group was glued! Unfortunately, the end fell flat. However that gave us room for discussion in the lines of what was good about the book, what wasn’t and what could be changed.

Here is a synopsis:

1. The child who chose the book in the first place confirmed that he loved the details that the book started off with. However, he found some details missing, which in his opinion would have made the story more complete.
2. Those who did not favour the book much, confirmed that they initially found the book boring as it was slow paced. One even said, “It felt like we waited a really long time for the actual story to begin.” In response to how they would write the same story differently, they said that they would make it fast paced, add action adventure, acrobatics, more twists that would lead to a better ending and the best of all, convert the story into science fiction with gadgets and aliens!