Require they rsvp by at least a week before that next book club meeting. Important questions to ask at your first book discussion. Its your turn to moderatelead your book clubs discussion. Making club meetings fun and productive takes a little creativity and a willingness to think outside the box. Choose a day of the week when your potential members are likely to be available, such as a saturday if the club is for working adults. Vote all members make suggestions, followed by an open discussion, and vote. Whether the group is large or small, encourage all book club members to read the book and attend the meetings regularly. Heres how to be the best book club member you know huffpost.
Instead, have somebody open up with a question about the title or the point of view of the writer. Games to break the ice at book discussion groups and other. Some people also love a blended book club, with meetings online one month and. Coordinate with your members to set up a pre book club meeting. We also give the book a score out of 10, and keep a note of all the books and their scores in a little note book. Anyhow, back to your question, i dont see how it could be inappropriate. Book club ideas to breathe new life into your book club.
A book club for kids is one of the best ways to combine learning and fun. When meeting inside the home, just remember, something could always come up last minute to pull jane away from her hosting duties, leaving your book club locationless. It is a good idea to plan on finishing the book a little earlier than you might otherwise so that you have time to think about it and prepare before your book club meets. Most book clubs meet once a month for most months of the year maybe taking a month off in the summer and doing something different in december such as a book exchange or gettogether with significant others. Whether your book club is a few close friends or a larger group, hosting a book club party still takes some amount of planning. Starting or joining a book club is initially exciting. To keep our customers and booksellers safe and healthy, this. These tasks may be delegated to other club members. Have each member of the group make a yearlong reading resolution. Starting a book club at work can be a great way to enrich your workplace experience, but it can be tricky to get past your first meeting. After you join a book club and eventually give up, perhaps you can use these tricks, too. Whether you are hosting a meeting for the rotary, kiwanis, ladies auxiliary, or other club, member retention is everything if you want to get things accomplished and inspire the group to bring in more members. This may seem obvious, but it is the most important step, so it is worth stating. Invite members to the first meeting at least two weeks before the date youve selected.
For the first meeting, it makes sense for you to suggest the title and prepare a few discussion questions. This can be as simple as going around the group taking it in turns to introduce yourself and saying what you like to read and what youre looking forward to about the book club if youre new or what you like about the club if youre an established. Once you recruit more members, you can discuss everyones availability and come up with a meeting schedule. Dealing with the kidsmy boss has been crazyi couldnt get past the first chapter. My favorite way to troubleshoot this fatigue is to rotate through every member picking a. Decide how much of the evening you want to devote to discussing the book. This can be something like vowing to read new authors or explore a new genre. Depending on the seriousness level of the group, you may want to do a bit of research on the author, time period, etc. How to start a christian book club pen and the pad.
At your first book club meeting, or whenever new people join your reading group, its good to spend a bit of time getting to know each other. The first thing you should do is figure out who will come to your book club. Do invite new members to the book club each time a new book is started. Here are some neat ideas for your next meeting see more ideas about book club, starting a book, book club books. In honor of womens history month, take some time to focus on the female characters in. Order a free guide to help you plan lodging, dining, and things to do on your next trip to. Every club handles this differently, but two common approaches are allowing the entire club to vote monthly or bimonthly, however frequently you meet on a list of titles, or rotating whose turn it is to pick. Wearing a giant, oversized scarf will make you look deeply intelligent in almost any situation, but especially a book club.
Not everyone can finish every book, but nonreaders may still have valuable insights. Voting is very democratic, but could get tricky how many titles do you vote on. However you decide, you should know what the next book will be by the current meeting. This is particularly important with small groups as it is very discouraging to find barely enough people turn up to form a conversation, or too many have not read the book making it difficult for those few who have to discuss it. Aug 15, 2014 how can you keep your book club from fizzling out. How to start a book club that doesnt suck book riot. You dont want the group turning into an exclusive team that other employees will feel uncomfortable joining. Many readers are adults here at book riot, but when we were kids, i bet we loved book clubs i know i did. The current employee book club members can also recruit new readers by talking about the positive experience of participating. One of the better known book club ideas is to make something culinary from the book, such as african redbush tea from the number one ladies detective agency, now widely available in the usa. Learn about some basic bookclub ground rules including. In fact, differing opinions make the best discussions. Weve got great ideas for organizing a book club meeting tips on how to lead a book.
To help you make sure your book club is on point, here is a short guide about how to start a book club to help you make yours perfect. We also give the book a score out of 10, and keep a note. The following represent monthly tips that we have shared with book groups over the years. Book club ideas that will totally impress your friends riveted.
After youve gathered information from the poll, set a time, date, and location for your first club meeting. While this format can certainly work for smaller groups, it presents some very obvious problems for larger, less exclusive groups. Sometimes you might find enough people to start a book club right away. Do these 4 things to get your book club back on track. Include in that email or evite a way for members to tell youother club members to let you know if. Email your book club members to inform them of the following. A few months ago, i wrote about three ways to shake up your book club with new approaches, inspired by my numerous and varied failed book club attempts my current book club operates on the traditional lets all read the same book principle. Set the date at least two weeks in advance in order to allow for people to have time to read the book. There are lots of book clubs out there now, and theres more than one way to run a successful one.
Even with a fixed day, a reminder a few days ahead can be useful, and knowing where the meeting is to be is very useful. Monthly is just not enough time in between books, said caitlyn, who has been in a working book club for several years. There is never any one way to experience or interpret a book. Soon enough, who liked and didnt like the book will become obvious. Send out emails a week before the meeting to give people a written reminder. We meet this friday to discuss snow flower and the secret fan however, we only discuss the books we read. There are even fiction book club books for knitters that give knitting project instructions in the back. Dec 01, 2016 starting a book club at work can be a great way to enrich your workplace experience, but it can be tricky to get past your first meeting. Named one of the 20 best zoos by usa today, the dallas zoo is the largest zoological experience in texas. When we switched to a 6 week interval, things flowed more naturally. The foothills library book club will meet to discuss the aviators wife by melanie benjamin. Youre meeting new people, reading new books, talking about stories and authors for hours. You cant fix an irretrievably flawed club, of course, but you can make sure that you are the best possible member you can be, doing your own small part to sustain the health of your little literary community.
Bring a stack to your groups next meeting and see if anyone takes the bait. Ive only had experience with mine, so ill share how ours is organized and why i believe weve had such endurance. Moving forward, every member should have a voice, with the group. Jul 12, 2018 your christian book club is likely to evolve as time goes by, but in starting, its best to keep it organized. Jan 26, 2017 the following is a summary of attendance and discussion from our first book club meeting. Set a regular meeting time an ideal size for a book club is eight to 11 people. Use our ideas to help you organize your book club activities, hold good. Whether you contact them by phone, email or the web, let them know when and where the first meeting will be held. Of course, you will also discuss the latest book you are reading, but if that is all you do your meetings will soon become boring. Fun getting to know you games to play at book club meetings and on other. Use our ideas to help you organize your book club activities, hold good discussions, and settle tough issues. Coordinate with your members to set up a prebook club meeting. Weve put four new spins on the traditional book club to help you host a monthly event that everyone will love.
Below are some tasks that should be addressed by the club coordinator. Chandler has been a member of a bunch of them and has some tips for you and your book club. Tips for running a successful, sustainable book club. Ask around the office, playgroups, your church, or civic organizations. To avoid these relentless chores, i keep a few tricks up my paisley cotton sleeves.
Do you want to discuss more than one book at a meeting. But they usually do need a point person to get things moving and help organize a few things. You may want to meet with other people to discuss similar interests, take action on important issues, make or build things, raise awareness in your community, play games, design experiments, help other people, or any other number of reasons. The role of club coordinator in a book club as the book club evolves, the role of the group coordinator will change. But there is more to starting a book club than you might think. It is meant to be used for informational purposes only. I might suggest a sharing time for poetry and quotes, but i think i might be the only writer in the group. The pitfalls to book club success are many too much wine, too little commitment, internal dissension over reading materials, and so on.
Its especially helpful for those who travel or miss a meeting or two. Feb 08, 2016 starting or joining a book club is initially exciting. Or, if you want to keep things casual, ask members to bring book suggestions to each meeting and then decide as a group. Here are some neat ideas for your next meeting see more ideas about book club, starting a. Starting a book club is more complicated than you might think. Dec 14, 2017 in one of my past book clubs, we literally only read books that included discussion questions at the end of the book because we wanted to be certain wed have a meaningful discussion. Still, i can think of many groups ive participated in that might have survived if we hadnt put that particular pressure on ourselves. Rotate members take turns, each choosing a book for a given month. If you are in a book club and have some ideas to share, id love to hear from. It will be fun to try to find things to stay on your theme. Your group probably has a fixed day and time to meet but the location might change. My current book club group is much more casual, but perhaps too much so. All you some unique book club ideas for meetings and picking your book and what better time to do. Aug 18, 2017 a book club for kids is one of the best ways to combine learning and fun.
Book club parties are a good way to get friends together and have great discussion over appetizers, drinks, or brunch. Games to break the ice at book discussion groups and other occasions. Liven up your book club meetings by playing a quick game or two when your members first arrive. Our wicked awesome book club is not liable for any mishaps you may encounter by following our methodology. Most of us come to book club to escape stress and reality. Now, im not totally knocking the oldschool approach of meeting up in. Think about what kind of club you want to start and what you hope to achieve. The purpose of all the activities is to give people a chance to meet each other and. See more ideas about book club books, book club parties and book worms. Book club ideas that will totally impress your friends. Whether you are hosting a meeting for the rotary, kiwanis, ladies auxiliary, or other club, member retention is everything if you want to get things accomplished and. After the umpteenth book on the same subject or with the same feel, your members will long for a palate cleanser and may eventhe book club kiss of deathtake a break from reading the books.
Often youll at least recruit some help in completing the rest of the steps. Now you need some book club ideas about how to choose your read. During book club meetings there is a fair amount of socializing and having a good time. Some people may solely want to discuss the book while others are more interested in the social aspects of the club. Whether they were through school, the local library, or a bookstore, it was great when someone organized a group of children together who all had the special. Themed book group ideas, book club meeting ideas, unique books. My favorite way to troubleshoot this fatigue is to rotate through every member picking a book he or she wants to read. Take a tour of the 106acre park that features thousands of animals, stop by the education department that offers programs for all ages and visit the giants of the savanna exhibit and dont forget to check out the new hippo exhibit while youre there. Its up to you to keep the ball rollingconversation going. Whether its a family reunion, a work meeting, or, in this case, a book club, food makes everything better. Apr 15, 2019 okay, youve got your list of members on lock.