I’ve been in the same book club group for the last 16 years. I can’t even remember how I came to be in it. It’s next week, we’re reading Plain Truth by Jodie Picoult) Most of the women I know are in book club and all of them are different from each other. It’s really fun; there is a cohesive core group of women, and a lot that have come and gone over time.
We take turns meeting at each other’s houses each month. The hostess provides some sort of refreshments, which varies but is usually pretty low maintenance. The December meeting usually includes a used book swap. We make a point of reading only books that are out in paperback, to minimize cost. Usually someone will check and see if the library has a book club kit on the upcoming book. Our library puts together 10–12 copies of a book in a bag, with discussion questions,to loan out to book club groups.
We have a book club journal that everyone signs into. The person who is hosting next month’s meeting is responsible for recording notes about the book discussion, and passes it along to the next person when they come to her house. We generally spend the first 15–30 minutes getting settled, personal chatter, etc. The hostess acts as moderator for the group, moving questions along. Sometimes we use discussion questions on the book, but more often than not, we start by talking about whether we liked the book or not. We usually do a pretty deep dive into the books. The last 15–30 minutes are spent discussing other books we’ve read and liked or didn’t like, with suggestions for upcoming books. Sometimes we’ll decide on 2–3 books ahead, especially if we want to read something that’s rather long. People often come to book club without having read the whole book, or even started it at all.
The group seems to prefer novels, with at least 1–2 classics a year. Sometimes someone will bring in an article to share about the book or the author, and we discuss new books by past authors, and on occasion, we’ve gone to see a movie made about a book we’ve read. We decide on a book by group concensus, and if we can’t decide, that’s when we schedule out a few months.
Most of the women I know are in book clubs, and they’re all different. One is in a group that has dinner each month, and they read books off the NYT best-seller list, both fiction and non-fiction. Another is in a group that only reads books with a historical context. We have a book group at work that reads business books, but you have to be invited to join it, and I haven’t been.
We usually send reminders about book club via e-mail a few weeks ahead.
I’ve never started one from scratch. How were you going to promote it at the beginning? Do you have a core group of people who are interested?
Composing members:
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Composing members:
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