By Robin
I'm gonna boss you and tell you what you need to do: start a book club.
Fifteen years ago I found myself with 3 little kids and a brain that felt like it was turning to mush. So I started a book club. Over the years I have belonged to several book clubs including a few at church, a neighborhood club, and one made strictly of friends with similar interests. Some have been better than others.
- Meet interesting people, some of whom turn into lifelong friends
- Exposure to books you might not choose for yourself
- Stimulating discussions
- Yummy refreshments (usually)
- Feel brainy as you learn about people, lifestyles, cultures, history, and so on
- A chance to dress cute and put on lipstick
What Makes a Good Book Club:
- Consistency – make sure it happens regularly (once a month, quarterly, whatever works)
- Interesting books
- Lively (but emotionally safe) discussions
- Good food
What Makes a Great Book Club:
- Members take turns choosing and reviewing books
- Members commit to read the book each month
- Reviews that are well prepared with background information on the author, style of writing, social/political impact of the book and discussion questions that are slightly aggressive
- Members leave book club meeting with next month’s book in their hand
- Rotate hosting the club meetings at member’s homes or restaurants/coffee houses (host pays for drinks and appetizers)
- People who express their opinions tactfully in a win/win way
Above and Beyond Book Club:
- Theme for the monthly meeting matching theme for book, including the menu (I recently did this for “The Ladies Auxiliary” by Tova Mirvis, and made a kosher meal. It didn’t taste very good, mostly my fault, but hey, we found out what matzo balls, gefilte fish, and kugel tastes like).
- Dues each month go towards parties, community service, literary projects
Simple Steps to Start Your Book Club:
- Invite people who like to read – about 12 people - that way you will have about 8 at each meeting. I actually called 3 of my best friends who love to read and asked them to each invite 3 people.
- Have an initial meeting and take charge. Be the leader for the year. Lay down the rules as you want them.
- Suggested rules:
- Members rotate hosting, book recommendation and book review responsibilities
- Books are chosen, paid for, and ordered 2 months in advance so they can be delivered the next meeting.
- Members commit to read each month’s selection
- The person who recommends the book, reviews the book
- The person who hosts does not review the book that month
- Start your club!
18 comments:
Did anyone throw things during th BC flight? Was there hair pulling, slapping, and pushing?
Boy, I sure would like to have seen that! The fancy BC lady fight!
GValleyGirl
I have always thought a book club sounded fun, so I was super excited when my new ward had one. Of course I joined. It ended up being lame because we could only pick lame books that nobody could even slightly possibly be offended by - try to find a book like that that can generate discussion! I think I'll try your ideas and try a smaller one with some close friends...
I love a good book club. I started one 8 years ago that is still going strong, even though I no longer live there. That makes me happy.
I like it when book club chooses specific genres of books, e.g. over the course of a year, two classics, one parenting book, one historical fiction, one religious and the rest fiction or whatever else people suggest.
One drawback to starting a book club is that you might neglect your kids while you are reading all those good books. ;)
Sally - it is good for kids to learn to play by themselves while mom reads and eats bon bons.
Kim- Start a club! You are perfect for that. I would love to be in your club.
Any chance you have a list of all the books your book group has read?
Linsey - I do have a pretty good partial list. Do you want it? It covers about 8 years of books.
Post the list! Of course we all want to see it. You could add it to the post or put it here in the comments. Great idea Linsey!
I want to start a book club. I really do. I started one before and it never got off the ground because no one would read the books. UG!
Also, I'm worried because I just finished a book, one of those National best seller crime format books on the end of the cashier lane, and it took me 2 months. Usually I can read a book like that in 3-4 hours, but it took me 2 months to squeeze out 3-4 hours.
I think if I start a book club the consistent schedule would have to be twice a year. A spring book and a fall book.
I love to read! I need the social outlet! I want to start a book club!
I think this sounds great. How do you get the women to read the book? I guess handing it out to them makes a big difference.
I would love to see your book list. I love to read and am always looking for a good book. Besides, if I do start a bookclub like you "bossed" me to do, I will need a good starting point!
Post the list!
I was in a book club for about 6 years and I learned so much from the women there. They were all older than me and had older children, and through the course of our discussions I got a glimpse into what my life might be like in 10 years! It was great. Book clubs are a good thing.
I LOVE bookclubs! I have started 1 1/2 in my life. The first one I was in a period of life where I had time to really read and get into it--so, since I started my own, I got to be picky about how I wanted to do it. I looked around a carefully selected people--not even nec. close friends, but just women who I knew LOVED to read, and who I knew had similar (not exact) interests. Some were more squemish about appropriate content than others.
Being an English major, I had a lot of experience reading books that were more literary than spiritual--what I mean is that I had read in an academic setting (even BYU) books that might make some LDS people uncomfortable. Context matters.
Anyway, it was a great success.
We did monthly themes:
-a parenting book and marriage book one months (we actually divided up chapters, and then summarized our chapter, so that we didn't have to read the entire two books--it was GREAT!)
-a classic
-a young adult fiction
-a contemporary bestseller
etc.
Then, when I moved away, and had less time, I still craved that bookclub connection. I had a few books that I had been wanting to read. I chose one (Gift from the Sea) that is wholesome undoubtedly, and made flyers to pass around to friends at church and neighbors. I scheduled the book club 2 months in advance. That gave everyone plenty of time to get the book and read it.
I called it "A One Time Bookclub" event.
It was great! SO many women read it, even more than who were able to attend.
It was a hit--and it was stress free. And because I did it in that format, really only women who read the book came. So we had a good discussion.
Then I started reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen a few months later, and I was like, -this is such a good book, I totally want to share it with others--so I did another "One Time Only Bookclub" and I had even more women read it that time, because word got out that the first one was great.
It was cool. A lot of women told me, who weren't even able to come to the meeting, that they read the book and it really touched them. That was cool too. Because of my invitation, they had this neat moment of enjoyment and discovery--it was neat to share that.
ANyway, you can do a bookclub in so many ways.
If you worry about the book selection, then you just need to decide ahead of time what your guidelines are. Be very clear that it is NOT a church affiliated bookgroup, if that worries you. Don't try and organize it through RS, you can pass out invites after church, but don't make it a RS enrichement event. If you think some books are questionable--either don't read them or warn people in advance and let them decide.
I think you can't let other people's worries or concerns stop you from doing something fun like this. Just do it!
P.S. A great way to get started! One bookclub I was invited to, started the first kick-off meeting by handing out a photo copy of 2 short stories (about 10 pages each), with an invitation to attend in a week or two weeks (doesn't matter).
Anyway, you were also supposed to bring 2 book suggestions for future reads. Ideally you'd actually bring the book itself, and a brief introduction and why you want to read it.
Then we voted, and the person in charge had the final say. She put the reading list together for the next 6 months, and we all had plenty of time to get our books (used bookstore, or online, or whatever).
P.P.S.
Robin, I think you should post a list of your books on the Bossy blog.
Also, here are some basic category ideas:
-parenting/marriage/self-help
-non-fiction (historical, biography, or essay, or adventure philanthropy like "Three Cups of Tea", or Barbara Kingsolver's Earth, Animal, Vegetable)
-fiction
-Young Adult Literature
-A classic (Fiction, non-fiction, victorian, modern, shakespeare, amerian lit, etc.)
-A contemporary bestseller
-A short collection of poems (maybe photocopied--I have suggestions for poems if you want them)
-Church/spiritual
-Fantasy or Science Fiction
-Current Events (maybe a title page Newsweek article or something of that sort--a collection of "My Turn" essays from Newsweek--look online)
-Personal Essay (like Ex Libris or Waiting for Birdy, or any Michael Pollan books like Botany of Desire)
Emily - I hope you aren't bossing me and telling me to categorize my book list! Ack! That would take way too long.
Okay Okay! I will post my list.
NO, no no! Don't categorize it. That is just a suggestion for people who might want to choose a catergory for each month, to read a variety of books.
But it wouldn't be hard to categorize your list, but don't worry about it. Just post it! Beacuse I want to see it too!
Ok, Ok ok. I'll do it. I don't have enough going on. I'll start a freaking book club. LOL.
Really though, a Christmas One Time Book Club is totally something I'd love. I have a collection of Christmas novels/novellas that I read every year. My all time Favorite is A Stranger For Christmas by Carolyn Pearson. It is an afternoon read/sob. WONDERFUL STORY.... I'm feeling inspired here!
No actually, I did this a few years ago and it STUNK. I realize now, after reading your post, we did it ALL wrong. ONe woman chose this horrific book-- like 700 pages long in old English, then for the review invited us to her home to watch the movie. I figured out I'd gracefully slip out around 9:30, I had a nursing baby with me.... only 2 of us showed up (out of 12 in the club)(She had food for an army!) There was no way to get away and teh movie was 5 HOURS LONG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I got home at about 1 a.m. Dave laughed hard every few hours when I called to tell him I was still stuck there.
My Mom was in an amazing book club. I still remember being in bed and listening to women talk and laugh and enjoy each other.
I can't wait to read your list!
--LuLu
Hi Bossy Ladies!! I've been inspired to start a book club. The "book club" in my ward is a monthly get-together where they pick an Ensign article to read and then discuss it...YIKES! I guess I'll have to find some book club fans and start my own :)
-Lisa (Robin's neice-in-law)
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