On the subject of reading groups and how they change a book: a book that you read with others is genuinely different from a book you read alone, even if the text is identical. The discussion anticipation changes how you read — you're gathering evidence, noticing things you'd want to raise, tagging the moments you want to return to.

This is not a distortion of reading but an enhancement of a particular kind. The book becomes more deliberately articulate in your mind because you know you'll have to articulate it. The things you'd otherwise let pass as felt impressions become candidates for formulation.

The best book clubs create this effect productively. The worst create anxiety rather than attention — you read to have something to say rather than to understand what the book is doing.