How To Start Your Own Book Club
Let’s talk about how to start your own book club…
Is it time to turn the page on your social life? Sorry, I know that was corny, but you’ll live! I’m talking about a book club! I know it sounds like something our moms would do, but hear me out. This isn’t your nana’s knitting circle, mostly because I can’t knit. This will be a gathering of fun, intelligent, very cool and not at all lame middle-aged women who want to hang with friends, escape reality for a few hours, sip some wine, and talk shit about fictional characters.
Why Start A Book Club?
- Intellectual Stimulation: Because let’s face it, binge-watching Married To Medicine can only take us so far.
- Social Connection: It’s a great way to meet new people or reconnect with old friends.
- Wine and Snacks: Need I say more?
How To Start Your Book Club
- Recruit Your Squad: Gather a group of friends, coworkers, neighbors, generally like-minded people who are interested in reading…and socializing.
- Pick A Genre: Are you into romance, thrillers, memoirs, historical fiction? Or maybe you want to mix it up? Personally I feel like the most democratic way is to have a different member pick the book every month with no genre being off limits…but then again I was once dropped from a book club because no one wanted to read about the Russian working class struggling to put food on the table post WW2. Psst, I just started a book club and THIS is our first read and it’s excellent.
- Set Some Ground Rules: Decide how often you’ll meet, where you’ll meet, how you’ll choose your books, and if anything is off limits. Personally I’m not reading anything by Colleen Hoover, I read one of her books and that was more than enough, thank you.
- Set A Menu: Actually, you can do the opposite of setting a menu, everyone loves cheese and crackers! You can obviously be as ambitious as you’d like with food, but its not worth stressing over.
Book Club Etiquette
- Read The Book: Duh, right? But it has to be said because some people will be tempted to just wing it, some people will procrastinate, and some people will pull a George Costanza and watch the film adaptation with a family they don’t know.
- Be Open-Minded: Everyone has different opinions and different taste in books, and that’s what makes book clubs interesting!
- Don’t Be Afraid To Speak Up: A book club discussion would only last like 20 seconds if everyone bites their tongues. Your thoughts and options matter!
- Bring Wine: Never show up empty-handed, bring something for the people…it doesn’t have to be wine but it doesn’t not have to be wine.
The goal of a book club is to have fun and connect with other women…preferably other women you like. So relax, grab a glass of wine, and crack open that book!
Like this post? Check out How To Host A Dinner Party Without The Stress…
