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My First Experience with a Book Club
Back in 2012, I was invited to attend a local book club meeting to talk about my book, Kentucky Family.
I was terrified.
The book, a collection of family stories and memories, represented my first tentative steps into the self-publishing world.
I had shared news of the book’s publication that spring on social media and even held a small book-signing event at a local coffee shop. Up until the book club event, however, my readers had consisted mostly of close friends and family.
This would be the first time I would be speaking about the book to a (gulp) BOOK CLUB.
Thankfully, the evening went off without a hitch. In fact, it was so much fun that I remember coming home to my husband that night and pouting that I wanted to join a book club, too.
I knew my friends and I were too busy with young children and full-time careers to realistically fit something like that into our already crammed schedules, but oh … the idea of a girls’ night to just chat about books once a month? Heaven!
A couple of years later, a friend finally encouraged me to start my own book club. Worst case scenario, we wouldn’t be able to schedule it or no one would show up and the idea would fizzle out. We talked it through, and I decided to go for it.
Rather than hosting the club in our homes where we’d have to worry about cooking or cleaning, we decided to meet at a restaurant for dinner and discussion each month.
We’d make it a “no pressure” book club.
Didn’t finish the book? No problem! Didn’t even start the book? Who cares! Come anyway and just be prepared for spoilers! Don’t like the genre of book we’re reading? Read something else and come talk about books anyway! Can’t make it this month? No worries! We’ll catch you next time!
And so, on July 1, 2014, our book club was born.
For the past 11 years, we have put aside our worries about work, family obligations, and the million other things vying for our time. Our only real hiatus happened during the pandemic. We tried to meet virtually, but it just didn’t work for us.
Despite this, we continued reading and chatting about books when we could. We even once had a meeting in the commons area of the rehabilitation hospital where I lived for several weeks while recovering from a brain hemorrhage.
Thankfully, we started meeting again in person once things had settled with my health and the world had returned (somewhat) to normal.
The group dynamics and members have changed over the years, but our meetings are still one of the things I look forward to most each month.
Book club lets me connect with friends to talk about reading, something I’ve loved my whole life and literally built my career around.
One thing we always do at book club meetings is share book recommendations. We have some members who are voracious readers and always have plenty of new recommendations to share. We often refer to the Goodreads app, which we all use religiously, to track what we’ve read and add new books to our TBR (to be read) lists. I have been introduced to some great authors and wonderful books because of these conversations.
Finally, our book club challenges me to read books outside of my typical genre and motivates me to read more so I’ll have something meaningful to contribute to our conversations. Because of our book club, I know I have a goal to finish at least one book each month, no matter how busy I get. Some months I read four or more, but even on the months when I only read one or don’t quite finish even that one book, I know I still read more that month than I would have without my book club.
I share all of that to say, if you’re not part of a book club and can’t find one to join, I’d highly recommend you start one of your own!
Starting Your Own Book Club
Your book club can take many forms, but here are some ideas to get you started:
Finding Members
I started by just asking friends and coworkers who were readers if they’d be interested in joining. There was a lot of interest at first, and we started with around 12 members.
Over time, some people realized they didn’t have as much time as they wanted to read, couldn’t commit due to scheduling conflicts, or that it just wasn’t for them.
Our club now averages about 6 or 7 regulars each month, and only 2 of us are original members. That’s okay! No pressure, remember? Besides, I think it actually works better to have a group of 4-6. When our group was much larger, it was sometimes difficult to hear everyone or to make sure everyone had a chance to share.
When considering who to invite, it’s easy to only think about your closest friends, but I love that our club is a very diverse group. Our current club includes women in their 30s all the way to women in their 70s, with different careers, family dynamics, and religions. This allows us to learn from one another, understand different perspectives, and engage in much more interesting conversations.
Location, Location, Location
Some book clubs meet in group member’s homes each month, while others may meet at a coffee shop or restaurant. Some clubs rotate who is “hosting.”
When our club first started, we met at the same restaurant each month.
Eventually, we decided to switch things up and voted on a restaurant to meet at each month.
My husband and I built a new house in 2023, and now we meet at my house each month. It started as an “open house” situation so everyone could see our new place, but we quickly realized we can have deeper, more meaningful conversations if we’re not vying for a waiter’s attention, scanning menus to decide what to order, or trying to hear each other over the noise of other diners. We also don’t have to worry about reserving a table or waiting around to order if someone is running late.
Coffee shops also make great locations for book club meetings! If your schedule is too busy on weeknights, consider a weekend brunch book club at a local coffee shop or diner.
Food
Optional? Not in my book!
As I mentioned, we used to meet at a different restaurant each month, but now we usually do potluck-style themed menus that often relate to the book we are reading.
For example, one month we read Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead and each brought a southern-inspired dish.
When we read Kristin Hannah’s The Women, which takes place mostly in Vietnam, we each brought an Asian dish to share.
The month we read books with a color in the title, we each picked a color and brought an assortment of foods in that color.
Sometimes, we choose a menu that has nothing to do with that month’s book selection, like a nacho bar, salads, soups/sandwiches, appetizers, or brinner (breakfast for dinner). If it’s an especially busy time for everyone, we may just all chip in and order pizza.
Of course, you may decide not to worry about a meal at all, and/or to just have simple snacks or take turns bringing a fun dessert to share at your book club meetings.
Communication
When you’re ready to start your club, it’s important to establish a regular method of communicating when you’ll meet, what the next book club selection is, and to plan the location and/or menu (if needed).
For our club, we started with email/texting and then moved to a closed Facebook group page. Each month, I post a simple graphic on the page with the next month’s book selection, date/time, and menu. Everyone comments on the post to RSVP with a note about what they’ll be bringing for food.
Special Events/Activities
One way to enrich your book club is to consider special events or activities to do with your group. These can include things like:
Plan a trip to the theater to see a movie or play based on a book the club has read
Read a book by a local author and invite them to speak at your book club. This is what inspired me to start our book club in the first place, and we’ve been able to host a couple of different author visits of our own over the years.
Incorporate a “reader’s choice” selection now and then, instead of all reading the same book. This gives the group a lot to talk about and helps everyone hear about new books to add to their TBR lists.
Collect new or gently used books to donate to a book drive fundraiser for organizations in your area (schools, shelters, detention centers, etc.).
We have also incorporated a few different holiday activities over the years to coincide with our December meeting. These include:
We held a “favorite things” gift exchange where each person brought a small favorite thing for each member (lip balm, bookmark, travel hand cream, special pen, favorite chocolate, etc.). At the end of the meeting, we all had a small goodie bag filled with fun little treats!
We have also done a “blind date with a book” type of gift exchange. Each member brings a couple of new or gently used books that are gift-wrapped with a brief description (no titles/authors) taped to the outside. We draw numbers and play “Dirty Santa,” with each person choosing a book to unwrap or stealing another person’s book.
The Most Important Thing: Choosing the Books
How do you decide what books to read?
When our club first started, everyone would recommend books and we would vote by secret ballot at the meeting or, later, via google form. This was fun, but there were way too many to choose from, and we found ourselves voting from 15-20 options each month because our club was so big.
Now, we have a system where members can recommend books that get added to our rotation (a running google doc list), and we choose a theme for each month with a suggested book. Everyone is free to read the book selection or something else that is connected to the theme instead. This is especially helpful when we are reading a newer book that someone doesn’t want to purchase, but the waitlist at the library is forever long. It also allows us to read more than just the suggested book selection each month, for those with more time or who read at a quicker pace.
For example, last July our selection was Percival Everett’s James: A Novel and/or Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Some members read one, some read the other, and some read both. That gave us PLENTY to talk about!
See below for a list of other book selections from our club, but you can find plenty of recommendation lists online as well:
Waverly: A Novel by yours truly 😉
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson OR summer/beach/travel book of your choice
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson or any banned book or your choice
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann or other book of your choice that was made into a movie
The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard, Clint Howard, & Bryce Dallas Howard, or biography/memoir of your choice
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt or books about animals or w/ an animal in the title
11/22/63 by Stephen King or books w/ a number in the title
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer and/or science fiction of your choice
The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson, and/or historical fiction of your choice
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, and/or suspense/Horror of your choice
I Can’t Believe You Haven’t Read That! (popular books or classics you may have missed – reader’s choice)
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer, and/or books with a city/state/country in the title
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and/or books that involve other cultures, are written by non-American authors, etc.
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont, and/or mystery of your choice
The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson and/or The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne
All in all, a book club is a great way to share the rewarding experience of reading with others, discover new authors and/or books you may not have heard of, find some motivation and accountability to spend less time scrolling on your phone and more time reading, and engage in meaningful, interesting conversations with others. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun!
Are you already a member of a book club or thinking of starting one of your own? Comment below and tell us about it!
Amy Bellamy, Author 