Book Club Traditions

Celebrating your reading group

I can hear the Fiddler on the Roof tune now, 'Tradition!' Every enduring book club should have at least one or two traditions to look forward to. Whether it's an annual book club holiday party, reading a classic novel or choosing a book genre that's outside of your comfort zone. Each and every book club sets the standard and tone for keeping some worthwhile traditions alive.

One of our favorite book club traditions is to pick a novel from the same author every January.  The trick of this tradition is to pick a prolific author that not only has written many stand alone novels but also holds a special place within our groups heart. By starting this simple New Year tradition it not only helps in making a quick book decision (in an already busy December) but it's exciting to know we will be visiting our favorite author again and again every year. Our only problem is agreeing on which novel to choose from!

Prolific Authors

What is a prolific author?  A prolific author is producing or capable of producing (especially abundantly) a multiple of published books. Astoundingly enough there are authors that have published hundreds or even thousands of novels! How fantastic would it be to select an author with over one hundred novels? Your book club will have a guaranteed read for many years. Best would be at least five plus books that are not within a series. A series would be a continuation of a story that you may not want to wait a year to finish. Here's a list of authors and their many published books on Amazon.com

Popular classic prolific authors:

• Bronte Sisters - up to ten novels between them - read Charlotte Bronte's most popular, Jane Eyre
• Jane Austen - six completed novels - Pride and Prejudice
• Agatha Christie - over sixty novels plus short stories - Murder on the Orient Express
• Charles Dickens - fifteen novels plus short stories - A Tale of Two Cities

Modern prolific authors:

• P.D. James - twenty novels including Death Comes to Pemberley
• John Grisham - twenty plus novels - Sycamore Row (The Jake Brigance)
• Stephen King -  fifty novels - read 11/22/63: A Novel
• Nicholas Sparks - up to twenty novels - The Longest Ride
• Tracy Chevalier - seven novels with Girl with a Peal Earring: A Novel

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​Try these book club rituals

• Have an author debut month. Read a new author's first work or maybe a local author in your area has just published their first book
• Read the book then see the movie (field trip time!)
• If your group tends to read more contemporary fiction try reading a biography or a classic once a year
• Theme or holiday book parties - a book club favorite!

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Whether you choose from the above list of traditions or come up with your own the goal is to always 'go beyond' and establish that reading group that will stick around for years to come.