Building a Better Book Club

Rachelle J.
Christensen

lit-admin

When book lovers come together at a book club or reading group, we celebrate literature, friendship, and learning. Have you thought about starting a book club in your area? Or maybe you’re part of one and you’d like a few ideas to build a better book club. Here are some favorite tips to create unity and friendship among books.

Planning the Meeting
It’s so fun to get together and talk books…for hours, but it might be hard for many people to participate if your book club meetings regularly run for three or more hours. Create and follow an agenda so you can have social time, book time, and still get home before midnight.
Here’s a sample agenda:
Socialize (30 minutes)—Enjoy snacks, themed desserts, etc. while visiting before the discussion
Announcements/Scheduling (15 minutes)—Go over calendar, planning upcoming meetings & choosing books
Book Discussion (60-90 minutes)—Enjoy a lively discussion about the book!
Example of Book Club Guidelines:
Book club is not a dumping ground. Do you have members who bring toxic energy to the meeting and treat it like a counseling session for their problems? How do you manage this with kindness? Setting ground rules up front will help avoid these types of situations:
Book talk allowed freely, please be mindful of bringing up personal baggage, complaining, treating the meeting like a counseling session, or sharing toxic feelings with the group. The point is to discuss the books, not our personal lives. We want our group to be fun, informative, and encourage reading!

 

Read the entire article in the October 2018 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

Subscriptions are free!

You can just click on the magazine image on the left hand side of our home page to open and enjoy!

OR

If you would like to receive the magazine every month (for FREE!) , just sign up on our home page. Once you do, an e-mail validation notice will be sent directly to you. Just open and click the link and you're in - forever!  Each month the magazine will be delivered directly to your inbox to downlad and read!