7 Tips for Cooking up a Book Club in 2021

Fun and Fellowship

Jan 15

Most of us started this long-anticipated New Year with a few goals booted up and ready to work. Exercise, healthy eating, consistent prayer, learning to crochet, running a half marathon, scrapbooking all those boxed and digitally-stored photos, mastering Excel spreadsheet — these are a sampling of the activities ambitious folks may be hoping to conquer in 2021.

Perhaps you’ve decided you’d like to read more and watch less, particularly after a year that provided us all way more TV time than ever before. If you are considering starting a book club this year, I have seven tips for getting your group off the ground.

1. Be thoughtful in your selection of group members.

Don’t feel like your group should be only your closest friends. Book clubs aren’t for everyone, and your best gal pal may not be up for it. But, the new neighbor down the street may make a wonderful member, never putting a book down. I love the idea of bringing together women with diverse opinions, careers, and personalities. That’s what makes it fun.

You may, however, find it works best to select participants who are in the same general age group. Moms with littles are apt to face scheduling challenges that might not be issues for seasoned moms. Partner with women who have a similar level of flexibility and freedom.

2. Set the stage for respectful and book-focused sharing.

Book clubs are certainly a social outlet, but they are more than that. If a girls’ night out is the objective, don’t bother with a book. If you really do want to broaden your horizons and share insights with others, make the book discussion the priority.

Establish a routine of talking text before having open chat time. Allow each person to share their thoughts, ensuring that others are attentive and respectful. Explain “cross talk” from the beginning; this is when pairs within the larger group have side conversations instead of tuning in to the one speaker who has the floor. Advise group members that there will be an opportunity to visit after the formal sharing time, but encourage a protocol that allows all (even the more quiet members) to have an uninterrupted time to share their thoughts.

3. Take a democratic approach to book selection.

An eclectic group of women often has eclectic book tastes. Don’t expect the luxury of reading your favorite genre every month. Find a way to allow everyone to have their faves within the rotation.

Rotate months, allowing each member to select the book for her assigned month. Start the rotation again once everyone has had a turn. Or, ask members to bring a suggestion for a book to the meeting. After the read book has been discussed, share the ideas, and vote or discuss the suggestions until coming to a consensus for the next month’s selection.

4. Keep it simple, sister.

Resist the temptation to make book club meetings into dinner out. Here’s why. If your group decides to do dinner before diving into the novel you’ve read, you have just complicated the process. You now have reservations to make, as well as a decision about where to dine. And, chances are your assigned table will not allow members to communicate effectively, seeing and hearing one another easily.

Instead, agree to have lite snacks and/or dessert at members’ homes. Those interested in hosting can offer the location, while others help out with the munchies. Meeting in homes is much more comfortable and intimate, allows for better fellowship, and is COVID compliant.

On the other hand, if the group decides to head to the South Carolina after reading a quarter’s worth of Pat Conroy and Sue Monk Kidd’s best, absolutely do that!

5. Pick a number, and make a plan.

Strive to include 7-9 regular members. Ideally, you have invited people who will commit to consistent attendance, because the rhythm and dynamics of the group will be impacted if the group looks different each month. More than nine may cause meetings to be lengthy, and fewer than seven may leave you wanting more.

Regarding attendance, ask group members to bring their paper or digital calendars to every meeting. Yes, there is always that girl who doesn’t quite have it together. Uber planners like me love that free, fun chick, but we sometimes want to wallop her in the head, too. Am I right? Her calendar is in her kid’s car, she doesn’t “think” she has anything at all planned, or she suggests moving forward with choosing the date — she’ll get back with the group later.

Seriously, though, set the next meeting before heading home. Nobody has time to toss around emails for two weeks every month trying to nail down a meeting time when it can be so easily done when everyone is together.

6. Give a little grace.

Hopefully, you have gathered gals that really want to dig in and devour books, but there are times when one or more members just aren’t able to complete the book. Perhaps, she found the book really awful. Maybe, her month was super busy either personally or professionally. Recognize that life happens and don’t give your chum too much grief.

7. Resist the urge to debate content outside the book.

After the year we’ve had, leave the debates about masks, politics, elections, and vaccines behind. This is particularly true if your group is new and members are just getting to know one another. There are no two individuals that align completely on all the polarizing topics 2020 presented. Discussing themes in literature, dialogue, plot twists, and actor candidates for the inevitable movie — well, that’s bound to be a nice, relaxing change of pace.

My book club re-boot

On January 15, I’ll begin a book club re-boot. I enjoyed a long reign with a group of readers for perhaps ten years until we disbanded five years ago. Circumstances change and lives move in different directions. That group ended, but I am super excited to start with a new batch of ladies and a new batch of books.

Here’s an introduction game I’ll be doing with my peeps. Feel free to use it!

Count the number of attendees you’ll have excluding yourself.
Create matching questions in different categories, one for each of the other members.
Examples include:
- match the graduation year with the group member
- match the high school activity with the group member
- match the favorite food with the group member
- match the dream vacation with the group member
- match the career with the group member
Prepare sets of cards with the correct choices (7 members = 7 questions = 7 sets)
Print the choices on index cards, and assign one set (one question) to each participant.
Ask guests to consider the options for 5 minutes.
Players then write the matching name on the reverse side of the index card.
Ask players to explain their answers to the group, making corrections along the way.