Dropped $38 on a used copy of a book we ended up not even discussing
Our club picked a novel that's been out of print for a while, so the cheapest copy I could find online was $38 with shipping. I paid it because I thought we'd have a good talk about it, and then half the group showed up having only read the summary. We spent maybe 20 minutes on the actual book and the rest arguing about whose turn it is to host. I'm not mad about the money as much as the waste of a month. Does your club have a rule about finishing the book before you show up, or do you just roll with it?
That $38 stings and the wasted month stings more. Our club has a rule that you have to at least finish the book, and it mostly works, but we still get a couple people who skim it and show up anyway. We also set the next meeting date and host at the end of each meeting so nobody spends half the night arguing about it. Twenty minutes on the book out of a whole meeting would bug me too. Maybe bring up the finish-the-book rule and the hosting schedule idea at the next one, keep it short and casual so it doesn't turn into a fight. Sorry your month went that way.