A few years back me and some gals from the small town I live in decided to start our own book club, and, while I can only speak for myself, I have enjoyed every minute of it and almost every book we have read.
We decided the best way to so about choosing what books are read was for each book club member to choose one book they were interested in reading and bring that title to our first meeting. We then put all of the book titles in a hat and picked them out one by one. This determined the order in which we read the books and also where we would hold the meetings.
We were planning on meeting once a month and the meeting place would be the home of whom evers book was chosen for the month. So far this has been a great system for us and has worked well without us having to make too many changes.
There have been a few issues we have worked out over the years. For example, we only have 8 people in our group and there are 12 months in a year. We decided that we would take the summer months off since so many people get so busy. Then, in September, we have our first meeting which is when we draw the book titles and figure out the rest of the year.
Another issue, that wasn’t so horrible, had to do with the treats we had at each meeting, Initially, we decided each person would bring a little something to snack on to each meeting. What ended up happening, besides us each gaining a few pounds, we we had way too much food at each meeting! After that first year, we decided that whomever hosted the meeting would provide a treat.
One tool I have found invaluable for choosing books, for both book club and my own pleasure, is Goodreads. Have you every visited that site? If not, and you are a reader, I suggest you go sign up…. Now! I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful this site is, and how easy it is to organize book lists and explore book titles.
In the coming days and weeks I will share the different books our club has read and much more…
Until then….