How to start a book club that will last

The three B's: book club, books and book friends

Now is the time to make a fresh reading start.  Do you love to read and want to share your love of reading with others? Do you have a group of friends that like to read but not sure how to start or where to begin? It's a new year with new goals so let's discuss the ways to get your book club off the ground for the new year!

“My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.” –Abraham Lincoln

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Chapter 1
The Want Ads

The hardest part in starting a book club is gathering the right reading friends together. Why? Because, unfortunately quite a few people will say 'sure' to joining but quit soon after or show up infrequently. Start first with three or more solid book loving friends and then they'll ask a few more reading friends to join and so on and so on which then leads me into the next chapter...

Chapter 2
Birds of a feather flock together

In my book club experience it doesn't hurt to be like minded in the type of books you like to read. Yes, being in a book club should broaden your taste in novels but if you don't have the majority of your group on the same page in genre then you might have book friends leaving over book selections. Are you lovers of historical fiction? romance? classic lit? or biographies?  If most of you enjoy reading for example, historical fiction, you will then be more likely to expand your book horizons.

Knowing you will always go back to your favorite genre now and then gives you the courage to spread your wings. It's all about encouraging each other to get out of your reading comfort zone. Variety is the spice of life so they say and that should be the motto of your book club!​​

Chapter 3
Celebrate!

The one thing I do know and know well is that a book club is like a book party. Little things you can do in your reading group to elevate it and celebrate the latest read.  Not everyone wants the hassle of a book party but may want to just meet, read, discuss and leave. That's fine, but I can guarantee if you want your book club to hang around for a long time AND stay solid you want to throw some bookish fun into the mix.  

Here are a variety of ways to bring out the book club cheer.

• Coffee book club - meet at your favorite coffeehouse for some good coffee and book discussions
• Wine and appetizer book club - the host supplies the wine and everyone brings an appetizer
• The Dessert Book Club - sweets and sweet reading for this gathering
• Celebrating food from around the world​: - plan your dinner menu around the novel's location: United Kingdom? Asia? South America? The ideas are endless
• Holiday only book clubs​ - get together around the major holidays or seasons such as Halloween book party, Christmas, spring or summer
• The Go Beyond Book Club way - take every bit of the 'clubs' above and turn it into one book party!

Chapter 4
It's a date!

How often do you want to book club?  Once a month? A few times a year? Depending on your reading goals and book enthusiasm will decide on your meeting frequency.  As well as your book selections, (heavy on content and pages) will also decide on when you get together and the availability of your book friends. We like to meet every six weeks but we'll give more time for longer novels. Here's a standard rule- do your best to accommodate everyone when planning your next book club date. If more than two book friends can't make it find the best date that works for the majority.  

​“What's the point of having a book club if you don't get to eat brownies and drink wine?” 
-Jami Attenberg, The Middlesteins

The End
A happy book club will last for decades

Why we love book club

• ​Hanging out with other book lovers and making life long friends
• Challenging our reading tastes
• Food and beverages - simple but very effective
• Reading reading reading

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Start one today!

*This is a condensed version of 'starting a book club' on Go Beyond Book Club