A few months ago, a friend and I were commenting that we had been wanting to join a book club. We both like to read, but haven't really had a reason to pick up a book. For myself, I have been craving new connections and to be pushed outside of my book comfort zone. We decided to come together and form a local book club.
Here are a few tips with forming, or joining, a book club :
Tip 1 | Set your Goals
Understand your vision and purpose of the book club. This is important for recruiting the right people into your club. Are you looking to have more socializing and less focus on a deep dive into the book? Do you want to have in-depth conversations about the book and be more on the serious side? Do you foresee reading a book monthly, every other month, quarterly?
Once you have your goals and vision set, invite people to join by providing the expectations.
Tip 2 | Submit Book Ideas
Prior to your first meeting, ask each person to submit book ideas. Have them include the following : Book Title, Book Author, Book Theme (example : romance, thriller, historical, fiction, non-fiction).
Keep this list on a google or excel sheet and make sure it's accessible at every meeting. Encourage the group to add to it regularly. This is a great way to draw inspiration and select your next book.
Tip 3 | Decide Ground Rules at First Meeting - and Maintain Flexibility
You have your vision and goals for the club, you've invited people to participate, you have a list of books...now what? Schedule your first meeting and decide on the following :
Are kids allowed? I would encourage book clubs that have members with kids (especially little kids) at home to consider holding meetings after bedtime. Our book club has several members with kids between newborn and 7 years-old : prime distraction/no attention-span ages. For us it works really well to have dinner with family at home, put the kids to bed, and then have a few snacks and a glass of wine while discussing the book.
How are you going to select the book? There are a few ways you can do it : have the host of the meeting select the book, as a group decide on your top 3 and draw from a bowl, or take a vote. Our book club hasn't quite settled on how to select the book - we've had overwhelming favorites and drawn a name from the bowl. It's okay to be flexible and change your ground rule along the way!
How will you select who hosts and who brings snacks? We volunteer who hosts and the host provides a small snack (cheese plate, chips and dip, popcorn) then a few others bring a bottle of wine that are either opened, or the host gets to keep. You could do something similar, or set a schedule. If you have members in the group with children and partners that work at night or have a rotating schedule, a suggestion : have those members host so they can be home while their children are in bed.
Can members listen to audio versions of the book? We find it interesting to hear how members that listened to the audio version interpreted the book verses those that read the book.
How are you going to discuss the book? Do you need to prepare questions, have a natural discussion? Sometimes books have book club questions in the back, or you can google questions for the book.
It's okay to start small and add members along the way. It's also okay to start with a larger group and be okay if people decide `along the way to come and go. Do what works for you and aligns with your goals. The purpose of a book club should be to either provide you with something positive - community, opening your mind, gaining perspective, escape reality.
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