Between video games, television shows, smartphones and life, the 21st century people do not have much time to read and even less time to discuss. Yet, a good dozen West Bloomfield High School students stop by the media center every month to talk about books.  Mr. Steven Palizzi, West Bloomfield High School’s Media Consultant, leads these discussions. They usually last about an hour. He says it fills the void that all retired English teachers have. Every fourth tuesday, students sit down, with Cheez-Its and juice, sometimes with other clubs. With great opinions, and different perspectives, the students join minds.

“You have a different perception on the book than I do, and I get to see your take on it and it might be something that I missed. I just think the whole idea of reading and just understanding things from a different point of view and learning to tolerate and respect other people’s opinions, no we’re not lifting weights, but we are training our brains; plus, we get good food,” Palizzi said.

WBHS’s book club started about 12 years ago. It has always coordinated with the West Bloomfield Township Public Library to provide students with the newest, most popular books, with  the help of Mike Bruno, Service coordinator of the township library. They work together to encourage students to read for fun.

“I like that it keeps me reading a bunch of books that are popular. It gives students the opportunity to read for pleasure– something that they’re interested in. Then show up and talk about the books, which I don’t feel like you get to do in a classroom. You don’t even get to do that with yourself when you read a good book,” Palizzi said.

“You get many books to read, different genres. So if you’re looking to expand what you read, it’s helpful there,” sophomore Riley Card said.

Students have the option to come to whichever meetings they choose and participate in the discussion whether they have read a book or not. “I like the flexibility of it, but that’s also the downside cause you never really know how many people are going to show and whether or not everybody’s going to get through the book, and you can’t plan accordingly,” Palizzi said.

“Join book club: that’s all I have to say,” Card said.