Can we talk about the guy who called my pick "the safe one" at our March meeting?
At our club meetup in the back room of Rosie's Diner on March 14th, a retiree named Hal waited until I finished defending my pick and just said "that's the safe one, isn't it." I had picked a bestseller everyone likes, and he said it in this flat way that made me realize I had been picking books to avoid fights instead of picking books worth fighting about. He then pulled a dog eared paperback out of his coat and told me he had read it three times and still argued with it. Now I check myself before every pick and ask if I am just dodging a good debate. Does your group have a Hal who says the thing nobody wants to hear?