Book Clubs are uber cool

This week we spoke about book clubs.  Who has been a member?  What was that book club like?  How were the books chosen?  What type of discussions were had?  Were the discussions ad hoc or were there official questions asked and answered?

I have been a member of two book clubs, one was facilitated by the local library and the other is a group that started with a few friends and has taken off.

The book club that was facilitated through our local library was a monthly reading group and all books and discussion questions were supplied by the library in exchange for a fee.  I'm not entirely sure why the library charges fees for the group books as they don't charge fees for other lending materials, but nevertheless the fee was less than the cost of buying a book each month.  The majority of the questions were printed from the publishers website and we sometimes used them and other times did not.

The book club that I am currently a member of began with a few friends and has kept going for over a year now.  We meet every two months and the member who decides the next book also hosts the next meeting.  We have found that the more complex a novel, the more discussion will ensue.  So far we haven't found any books that we have all loved.  We have had lots of choices that are books that a person has read and liked and then suggests that book for the book club.  I would like to see everyone choosing a newish release that they haven't read.  I think some people feel a bit of pressure for everyone to like the book and choose something they think is a safe choice, a book they have read and enjoyed.  There have been a few noses momentarily put out of joint by rejection of their best pick by other members.  I imagine this is the main reason some clubs choose to get their books from the library or a book shop.


"the incorporation of positive social interaction and opportunities for discussion."

Title: 

Using Parent Book Clubs to Build a School-Wide Reading Community.

Authors: 

Deuschle, Kristen

Book Clubs

My local library

Tips on starting a book club

Kids Book Clubs

Kids book clubs

Tips for starting a kids book club

Other book clubs

Employee book club

Parent book club, run by school to build a school reading community

There is some really interesting history on the bonds of reading in the trenches of WW1

Book Club Resources

Although, between you and I bloggie dear, I don't know what we are all going to do with out Jennifer Byrne!!


Our Book Club

Reader to Reader

NYPL Book club ideas

Simon & Schuster