Advice on Book clubs

[Dory]

Hello folks,

I know most of you don't know me, other than maybe a few of you know I'm eris's friend, but anyhow . . . I just thought I'd ask for some advice. You all seem like smart folks and I thought maybe some of you may have either been part of, or run a book club before.

I'm reading a lot of books by Atlantic Canadian writers, (where I'm from) and I'm thinking about starting a book club on Facebook for Atlantic Canadian books. The thing is, I've never run a book club before and am unsure what to propose. Should I suggest some books for scheduled reading? Or should I ask people to make nominations? Should I have a list for them to choose from? And how long a period of time should I expect people to need for reading each book?

If you don't know that's ok, I just thought some of you might have been involved in book clubs in the past and might have some good ideas.

[magenta321]

I've been a part of the formation of 2 book clubs.

The first one formed with people I knew well. We informally picked a book to read for our first book club.

The second book club was with people I didn't know, but, who lived in the same geographic area as I did. As these people were perfect strangers, we did not pick a first book. We met the first time to get to know eachother, set the ground rules, and pick our first book. Everyone thought of one book and proposed it to the group.

In both book clubs the rules have been the same.

1. You do not have to have read the book to come to the book club meeting. We did this because life gets busy and sometimes you haven't finished yet. It would be a shame to miss out completely, and, so many times, book club discussions spin onto topics that are not in the book anyway.

2. If you come to a book club meeting and you have not read the book, you must expect that you will hear spoilers. Duh

In both book groups I've pushed for less formality. Other people might want more formality.

In my new book club (the one with strangers) whoever nominates the book that gets chosen has to lead the discussion on that book

My old book club met once every other month. The new one meets monthly.

Hope that helps.

Margaret

[eris esoteric]

I'd help, but I can never read on a schedule.

(I'm currently being hounded by the Harry Potter fans at work because I have the boyfriend's sister's copy waiting for me to read it, but I'm bound and determined to finish the Kage Baker series I'm reading right now and somehow I end up beading more than I'm reading lately.)

[Dory]

Thanks Magenta and eris. I like the idea of keeping it relatively informal. Like eris, I hate reading on a schedule too. Sometimes that almost hinders the enjoyment.

What do you think about having 2-3 books being read simultaneously? That way, maybe you could click on the thread that discusses the book you are reading or interested in, and can avoid the one (or ones) that you aren't as motivated to read? That way, maybe everyone would have something to talk about . . .

Just a thought . . .

[magenta321]

Oh yeah, we also made it a rule that you don't have to read the book to join the discussion because of sucky books.

The worst book I ever tried to read was Life of Pi. If I had to read that thing all the way through I would have quit my book club before I would have finished it. Some people loved Life of Pi. Since this is not high school, and my groups have always looked at reading as something enjoyable, we have left ourselves an out.

That being said, Life of Pi is the only book club book I ever tried to read that I didn't get through. It was the only one I can truly say I completely disliked. My point is not "it's a bad book, don't read it," because, so many people do like it. What I've found is that with my book club, I'm exposed to so many books I wouldn't normally read, and that's a good thing! But if I ever felt trapped, it would become a task, and it would no longer be a group I'd want to be in.

You and your group don't have to agree with my groups, however. Just food for thought.

[magenta321]

Have you considered using meetup.com to create a group of people who are interested in the books you are interested in?

[theworm[$]]

Welcome back, Dory!

I think you can start it and feel out how it goes. I would probably pick the first book and give people a month to read. They you can ask for book suggestions for future reads.

Hope it works out!

[Dory]

Even more good suggestions.

I will think about what first book I want to suggest. There is also a "book club" kind of thing going on in the local newspaper in a semi-regular column, but they don't only stick to local books, as they just recently read and discussed the latest Harry Potter. So I don't have to constantly worry about them, but occasionally they might be discussing a local book I would be interested in at the same time.

Magenta: I have already written to the local writer's association (because a friend of mine works there) and told her I was thinking about doing it. They might have all kinds of suggestions. My friend Susan was very excited when I wrote to her as she writes a newsletter for the members and now wants to announce it in her next newsletter.

And I don't even have a clue what I'm doing yet. I hope they don't have high hopes.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

One thing that my book club does that (I think) is a little unusual, and that I like a lot, is to alternate reading fiction and non-fiction.

[Dory]

That's a really good idea, since this club will be focused on an area, not a type of book.