Meaningful Discussions

Seconds before the bell rang last Thursday for second hour, I was pouring over my copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, somewhat oblivious to the students coming in. I had just picked up the book to remind myself of what the students should have read for homework then night before. But it was only minutes before I found myself totally engrossed in how the Count's friend Maximilian was sneaking away to rendevous with his future fiance. A student seemed shocked to see me reading so furiously at school. He said, "I thought you just pretended to be that excited about reading  - I didn't realize you actually liked to read that much."
It took a minute for me to disentangle myself from the drama Maximilian had found himself in and then another minute for me to address what my student had said. I quickly assured him I was obsessed with reading and actually had a book at home (The Luminaries) that I was working on reading too.
I relished the chance to share my reading experiences and let the students see my genuine excitement. All readers should have the chance to do just that. I'd love to have an informal book club that catered to reluctant readers. We could start with a book, maybe Divergent, then move on to a graphic novel next. If I could build enough pre-excitement, maybe I could talk some students into reading Catcher in the Rye, because I know our school has a lot of those books and none of the teachers are currently teaching them.
We could meet in the library during lunches to distribute books, then again two or three weeks later to discuss.
This sounds like the perfect idea at 10:25 on a school night...I'm crossing my fingers it will still sound like a great idea tomorrow.