I joked about us needing a mission statement earlier. I didn't think it would actually happen.
The best books affect me in some way. That can be sorrow, joy, insights into life, relatable experiences or even just pure escapism. The hardest part about books is that the reader is as much a part of the quality of the book as the writer. The book is dead until the reader with their experiences and their context for reading it picks it up. I know that some books that I read and didn't like that much were just read at the wrong time. I also know that some books that I loved were loved because they were what I needed at the time and not so much that their quality was any better than the one I didn't like. Arguing aesthetics never works. Everyone is equally right and wrong. What we want is people reading and discussing books.
We have great discussions on getting books nominated, but less so on the actual books themselves. Part of that might be missing the mark with what people want to read, but we'll have that issue no matter what the categories are. As long as people are having fun and finding things to read I believe the club is successful. I guess that's why I put more credence in nomination and voting numbers than in book discussion. I certainly understand the importance of discussion for some. It sucks to read a book and have no one to discuss it with, even if all we have to say is that was tiresome or that made me laugh so hard.