I've been part of a Book Club The Tuesday Girls for almost 3 years now and writing my book reviews here on the blog every month. I really love being part of a Book Club, it's so good to talk over the latest great read (or not so great!) with like minded people.
Almost from the beginning, my Book Club girls all become really great friends and I think the main reason we all connected so quickly and formed such strong friendships over the years is because we have a common interest and passion ... the love of reading and books!
Well ok and good food, wine and conversation but that all came afterwards!
Almost from the beginning, my Book Club girls all become really great friends and I think the main reason we all connected so quickly and formed such strong friendships over the years is because we have a common interest and passion ... the love of reading and books!
Well ok and good food, wine and conversation but that all came afterwards!
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If you love to read and pick up a different book each month then I really recommend you join a Book Club. Or better yet if you can't find one that suits you then why not start your own Book Club.
Here are my 10 tips on starting a book club to get you going:-
1. Place an ad ... Use one of the free sites like Gumtree or your local online newspaper in your area to place an ad. Keep the ad simple and to the point so you get like minded members in your Book Club ie: Do you want serious literary companions or mixed genre readers? Do you want a mixed sex group? Does age matter? Include your suggestions for meet up venues, time of the day, frequency etc.
2. Arrange a meet up and decide how your club will work ... The first meet up is bound to be a bit nerve racking but it will be worth it so persevere! This is the time to set some ground rules, decided on locations and times, how you'll pick your books, and most importantly what you'll name your club. Read on for more details on these.
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3. How will you stay in touch? .... Once you have your Book Club members, set up a group for your club on Facebook. This is a great way for everyone to keep in touch and so much easier than sending emails to everyone. My Book Club group is private so only us members can see and post to it, we create events for our meet ups with details of the venue and most importantly what book we are to read that month. The Facebook group also has an ongoing list of all the books we've read and the book scores so we can keep track of what we've read and what's coming up.
4. What's in a name? .... One of the most important decisions is to name your Book Club! Hopefully, you can do this after your first meet up as a joint effort. My Book Club is called The Tuesday Girls because we meet on the last Tuesday of the month .... I know pretty clever hey! I love having a Book Club name it feels like we're in a secret exclusive group which I guess we kind of are!
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5. Set a regular day/time to meet ... If it's the same day and time each month (or every 6 weeks, however long you need to read the books and want to meet) then it's easy to remember and everyone plans well ahead so there's no excuses not to come! We find a mid week evening meet up easiest as most of us work during the day and the weekends are usually busy with other things so this suits us well.
6. What location and venue will you meet at? .... Some Book Clubs chose to meet at their homes but us girls like to go out for a meal at a trendy restaurant close to the City. In the beginning we met at cafes for coffee but we soon evolved to meeting in restaurants for dinner and a glass of wine and Book Club banter. We alternate turns at choosing the location so whomever is picking the book that month also chooses and books the venue.
Some of our favourite Book Club venues in Perth which suits our group and lively conversation are: Tarts Cafe (book the private boardroom!), The Brisbane Hotel, Five Bar and The Cabin.
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7. What genre of books will you read? ... We take turns in picking a book to read for the month and we don't have any set genres and are open to all types of books from a biography to chick lit. The only rule is you can't pick a book you've read before, that way everyone is reading a new book and nobody knows the ending! We also try to pick books that are easily available at the library, although some prefer to buy theirs online, in bookstores and some of us use e-readers. It has pushed all of us to read books we normally wouldn't choose and that is one of the best things about being in a Book Club.
8. How will you discuss/rate/review the books? ... Will you have questions or a general discussion? Will you rate the books? Will you post your reviews online?
For our Book Club the person who picked the book will bring questions to ask (usually found on the net) and we all have a discussion about the book. We also give the book a vote out of 10 and the votes are tallied up over the year and the winner with the highest votes has their dinner paid for at the next Book Club meet up. This just adds a bit of fun and friendly competition to pick a fantastic book .... I won last year's book pick with this thrilling read. I also write my book reviews for all the books here on the blog and share them over at Good Reads.
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9. Do you need to set some guidelines? ... We have a rule that if you miss 3 meet ups in a row we'll find out if they still want to be a part of the Book Club and if not, we'll find someone else to join. This is because we always have a friend or colleague that's keen to join our awesome Book Club and we want to give those that are enthusiastic the chance. We have a maximum of 10 members which makes for highly engaging meet ups with different views and opinions, but there isn't too many of us that we don't each get a turn to talk and share what we loved or didn't like about our latest read.
10. Have fun! Here are some alternate Book Club meet up ideas that we do as well just for fun ....
* Swap a book for a movie night ... If you read a book that's also a movie why not have a movie night. It's really interesting to compare the two and everyone will have an opinion on whether the book or movie was better! We'll watch the movie at someones house and everyone brings drinks and nibbles to share. Some examples of books we've read and movie nights we've had are: Bridget Jones Diary, Water For Elephants, Chocolat and One Day.
* Break for the Holiday season .... Put the books down over the holiday season and have yourself some fun and festivities instead! As December is such a busy time of year we have that month free from books to read and re-commence our Book Club meet up in the New Year. In lieu of reading a book in December we have a Christmas Party instead, over the years we've had dinner and dancing, a wine cruise, and a weekend at the Casino. We also do a Secret Santa (gifts are usually book related!) and it's a great way to wind down from our year of books and reading.
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Book Clubs use to be seen as a group of intellectuals having serious meet ups to discuss the characters in a book ... nowadays they are a cool club to belong too and an excuse to socialise and gossip about whatever is happening in your own life whilst having a new and interesting book to read and discuss too.
Do you belong to a Book Club?
If not, are you going to start your own Book Club now? I hope so!
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[All images via my book review posts, 1st image my own]
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I have always wanted to join a book club, but I think what has stopped me is that I want to be able to decide what I read each month... I know this doesn't open me up to new or different books I wouldn't normally pick, though! I love how yours meets at restaurants, I would love to have some good food & wine while discussing a book! That is awesome you've kept with it for so long.
ReplyDeleteHaha Carrie thats funny, you can still read your own books. But also one from Book Club as well. I find it can take up to 2 weeks for me to reserve the book from the library so in the meantime Ill read my own book of choice. I guess it all comes down to how much time you have to read!
DeleteIt started with coffee and a chat but we loved to talk so much we started to meet for dinner instead. It makes for a really enjoyable night out ... Oh and the book discusions are good too :)
I want to join/start a book club after reading this! What's better than a good book, some wine and some great conversations!?! These were great tips!
ReplyDeleteYes you should go for it! Be sure to add wine appreciators to your ad!!
DeleteI have actually thought about starting a book club of some sort - these are some great tips!! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteHopefully this post will help you if you do Heather, Im sure you wont regret it if you find some like minded book lovers :)
DeleteThanks for your tips, Code Name Verity, I loved. A book club would be great you have inspired me to talk to my friends about forming one x
ReplyDeleteYes Rae you should, its a great excuse to see your friends more too :)
DeleteI've always wanted to join a book club but have never managed to find one. Maybe I do need to start my own. I like your idea of only having 10 people, that makes good sense.
ReplyDeleteYou should start your own, put an ad on Gumtree Im sure youll get some like minded people to join your club :) A small club is much more managable too.
Deletethanks for the tips. I want to start a book club and now you've inspired me to take the next step
ReplyDeletehttp://www.blogsbygabrielle.blogspot.com
Go for it Gabrielle, I love being a part of a book club (especially one that reads wine labels!)
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