The Book Was Better

Join us for a monthly book club discussing stories adapted for screen

Friends! This post is brought to you by friend of the store, Lisa Bartelt. Lisa will be offering our first book club! We’ll also be adding a few more in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that (including an Artist’s Way group led by Maile, a group for young readers, and a book club led by Shawn which as of yet remains unnamed.

It’s a long-held stereotype of book lovers that when given the choice between a book or its screen adaptation, the reader will almost always choose the book.

“The book was better!” we shout at the TV or movie screen where a producer or director has all-but-ruined the story on which the film or series was based.

Confession: I have become less of purist over time. I have come to see film/TV and books as two different art forms and while I still generally prefer the book to the screen adaptation, I can, most of the time, appreciate both for what they offer the reader/viewer.

Where I do tend to still be a purist is reading the source material before watching the screen version. (I get so upset if I watch something and then discover that it was a book first.)

Introducing …

So, it’s in that spirit that I’m happy to announce a new book club for 2025.

The Book Was Better book club will meet monthly on the second Thursday of the month from 6:30-8 p.m. at Nooks. Each month we’ll read a book that has been turned into a movie or a TV series.

Some will be more recent adaptations than others. I’ve picked books I’m interested in reading, and I hope you, too, will find them interesting.

Without further ado, here’s what we’re starting with.

January 9, 2025

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Here’s what the back cover copy says:

An exquisite winter tale of courage, and its cost – set in Catholic Ireland.

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him – and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

The long-awaited new work from the author of Foster, Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.

The movie version released in November 2024 and stars Cillian Murphy. The book had me at “exquisite winter tale.”

January can be bleak. The book is not particularly long. It felt like a good fit for post-holiday winter. (Also, did you see that Oprah picked it as her next book club pick? WE CAN BE LIKE OPRAH!) I hope you’ll consider joining me to talk about this book, the movie version, or books in general.

What about …?

This brings up some questions.

• Do I have to read the book to be in book club? Nope. But we will definitely talk about the plot and happenings, so expect spoilers.

• Do I have to watch the film or TV series before book club? Also, nope. I can’t promise that I’ll have a chance to see the screen version before we talk at book club. The point is not to compare them but to read the source material. But if you do get a chance to watch, that’s a bonus for all of us!

• Do I have to agree that “the book was better”? Of course not. It’s really just a catchy name. LOL.

• Is there a cost to join book club? No! It’s free. Maybe we’ll even provide some light snacks and hot drinks.

• Do I have to buy the book from Nooks? This one’s tricky. Of course, you are free to get your book from wherever you want, but why not support your local independent bookstore? We’ll offer a 10 percent discount on book club books if you do decide to purchase from us. Just let us know at the time of purchase.

• Can I shop for other books during book club? Yes, please. The bookstore will not be open to the public during book club, but if you see something you just gotta have, you can buy it that night.

What other questions do you have?

I’m excited to get this off the ground. I’ve been a reader pretty much my whole life, but it’s only been in the last five years or so that I’ve been part of book clubs. Talking books with other book lovers is one of my favorite things to do.

Up next …

If you like to get ahead of things, I’ve picked books for the first four months of 2025. Besides Small Things Like These, we’re going to read Erasure by Percival Everett in February, We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter in March, and Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty in April.

The list of possibilities for this book club is almost endless, and while I have ideas aplenty, I’ll be eager to hear from you, too, about what books you want to read.

What d’ya say? Are you in? If so, email us at hello@nooks.gallery and let us know we can expect you! (Last-minute attendees are always welcome.)