You may be wondering how a book club could be adventurous. Well, if your reading has become limited to waiting room magazines or books for baby then a novel would be an adventure. If you ALWAYS read the same author/series/genre then branching out would be an adventure. If you are shy about expressing your opinion in front of a group then discussing a controversial book would be an adventure. If your days are filled with meetings or diapers or driving or anything that doesn't involve having relaxing fun and using your mind then a book club would be an adventure.
Here's what you need to do:
1. Call a bunch of friends and ask them if they want to start a book club. If you don't find a lot of interest have your friends invite some friends.
2. Hold a meeting (food and drink are always good here) and set up your ground rules.
Ground rules? Yep, here are some basics that will help you get things rolling. How many women should participate (just a few, the whole apartment building)? How often will you meet? How will you pick your books? Where will you meet? Will food be part of every meeting? Once you've got these basic areas covered you're good to go.
Listed below are a few online links to help you get your book club off to a great start:
Amazon.com is a great place to buy books for a group. The site offers good prices and free shipping for orders over $25.
About.com has links to discussion starters for a lot of popular titles, the site also has a list of general questions that can apply to most books.
Book-Clubs-Resource.com has discussion help as well as information about every other book club issue including on-line book clubs.
For FREE advance copies of new releases, check out Random House's e-newsletter ReadItForward.com
4 comments:
your blog reminded me of the web-based series "Novel Adventures" for a way to really have a wild book club!
Kelly Simmons
author of STANDING STILL
bykellysimmons.com
I am entering a phase of my life which involves an empty nest, a pending divorce and I am not sure what else. I have begun reconnecting with people from my high school graduating class because we have a milestone anniversary coming up. And no, I am not mentioning which one. In looking at Facebook profiles of some of my newfound old friends, I noticed Book Club. It started me thinking about the possibility of including that in my life.
I just wanted to thank your blog for being there when I Googled "how to start a book club for women"!!!!
Thanks!
Best of luck, Judy. I predict that you'll find a lot of satisfaction from your new group. Two of my favorite book club reads so far are "The Time Traveler's Wife" (provokes a good discussion about walking the morality line) and Dumas' "The Three Musketeers." It's big but it's funny, beautifully written and, of course, adventurous!
Hi everyone! I am the author of Megan's Way, and if you have a book club and would be interested in hosting an author chat, please let me know. I love to discuss the Megan's Way with readers.
Judy, check out The Women's Nest. It's a social and support site for women and we have many things to do for empty nesters (and women of all ages)!
Melissa Foster
Megan's Way
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