How to Start a Book Club
Story Highlights
Introduction When you start a book club, you get to make up the booklist and format the type of
Adjust font size:
Introduction
When you start a book club, you get to make up the booklist and format the type of discussions, or you can opt to make the process more democratic. Either way, the goal is to generate lively discussions about thought-provoking books.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Steps
1
Step One
Have a plan. How many people? Intellectual or light discussions? Best-sellers or classics?
2
Step Two
Organize the details. Will you meet in your home, take turns in members' homes, or locate a welcoming bookstore, hall or school room?
3
Step Three
Create a reading list before you find members if you want to control the types of tomes you'll read. But keep in mind that working folks have little leisure time, so they may want to have a say about how they spend it.
4
Step Four
Advertise your book club via various methods, such as e-mail to friends or flyers in bookstores and on library bulletin boards. Get into literary chat rooms, visit online book clubs or put an ad in the local classified section, if necessary.
5
Step Five
Network where you work, go to school, exercise or shop.
6
Step Six
Create an outline listing the first book, the meeting place, what you expect from each other and a mission. For example, "This is an irreverent group whose aim is to dish characters, gossip about authors and muckrake bad plots." Or, "We will dissect this book in its original Latin to pinpoint cultural, political and social contexts."
7
Step Seven
Get together once or twice before the first book is finished in order to meet each other and suss out personalities.
8
Step Eight
Serve refreshments at the book club gatherings. If the meetings are at members' homes, rotate the location.
9
Step Nine
Read great books.
Tips & Warnings
- Making sure everyone is on the same page will increase enjoyment immensely. If Mrs. Augustus hates Dickens and everyone else wants to reread "Nicholas Nickleby," it's good to set the ground rules.
- Aim to have 8 to 12 people in your book group.
- What could happen at a book club?
Overall Things You'll Need
- Library Cards
- Snack Foods
- Newspaper Subscriptions
- Literary Guilds
- Pens
- Spiral Notebooks
- Books
- Bookmarks
Comments
Relative Topics
Recommended Websites
More Topics