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Thursday, November 01, 2007 10:28 AM

Book Club Ideas

I’ve always been a pretty avid reader, but lately, I’ve hardly been seen with a book in my hand. I still stop by bookstores whenever I get the chance and pick up the latest read, but there’s a growing pile of unread books next to my bed. I tell myself I just don’t have the time to read, but that’s so not true – I’ve just lost the motivation.

So, I’ve decided to start a book club with a few friends. This could be exactly what I need to get back on the reading track – not to mention catch up with my girls.

I’ve been checking out the Nest Book Club board for some inspiration. To the Nesties on this board - I’d love to hear your tips on keeping a book club going! Recommendations for a good book to start with are also welcome!

What are you reading now?

(While I’m at it, I should probably find a better home for that pile of books like this cool Array Bookcase from CB2).

Posted by Erin*
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Comments

re: Book Club Ideas

I think one of the easiest ways to keep a book club exciting is by having great discussion parties with great food and drinks. This way, other 'clubbies' will not only go to discuss the book they've read, but also the great party that went with it.

Another great tip is to read books that are being made into movies...while it may give some people the tempation to cheat and just watch the movie, I think it opens a new level of discussion by bringing in the element of what they changed in the adaptation and why. I just finished reading "Reservation Road" which was an amazingly written drama.

And also, Umbra makes a great book storage rack called Floating Shelves which can be mounted anywhere and it gives the appearance of floating stacks of books!

Posted by DialJforJake    Thursday, November 01, 2007 9:03 PM


re: Book Club Ideas

1) Book suggestion - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  The description sounds strange, but I swear it's one of the few books that everyone in my book club absolutely loved.  This doesn't happen all that often.

2) Our book club has been going about 7 years.  Over that time, the "rules" have evolved.  We've ended up settling on a blind vote method to pick books.  People bring book suggestions and we may only pick the top three or four vote getters and we schedule them for the next several months.  We never schedule more than 4 months out.

3) Form an online group (we have a private yahoo group) where you can post messages, keep a meeting calendar, etc.  My favorite thing on the group is the database of the books we've read.  It's amazing to look back over that list and see all those books!  Also, people post their book suggestions in advance of a book picking meeting so you have a chance to figure out what you're likely to vote for.

4) We do some fun things too - with our December meeting, we all bring a wrapped book and do a gift exchange (white elephant style, but with good books, not booby-prize books).  As a group we read The Kite Runner - when that comes out in theaters, we're going to plan a group movie outing.

5)  Each meeting is usually announced with an Evite so people can post what they're bringing.  We all take turns hosting out of our homes (typically a weeknight) and everyone brings appetizers, salads, desserts, etc.

I hope you enjoy your book club!  I joined because I was stuck reading books by only a few authors and needed to branch out.  I love how well read I am now!

Posted by aldyn    Thursday, November 01, 2007 9:11 PM


re: Book Club Ideas

Two of my high school friends and I started a "literature" blog about a year ago, mostly because we couldn't get together in person, due to geographic challenges (one pal is in TX and the other is a 2 or 3 hr drive from my place) . . . but we all wanted to keep our minds sharp.

We started with <i>Memoirs of a Geisha</i> because it had just been released on DVD, and we actually started with a "when telling this story on film, how does our experience change" . . . a little too ambitious, I think, but we had a decent discussion.

We've followed up with <i>Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West</i>, <i>'salem's Lot</i>, <i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>  and <i>Freakonomics</i> before it fizzled (our lives got a bit busy - my pal in TX is a single mom and the other two of us had our weddings to plan!) but we're still posting about our recently read  whatevers. . .novels, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc.

I can in good faith recommend my most recent read - <i>Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal</i> by Christopher Moore. If you're deeply religious, you might not enjoy it as much as I did (I wouldn't recommend it to my grandmother, for example, but I might recommend it to my dad) so I'd recommend the following Christopher Moore novels instead: <i>Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story</i>  and <i>A Dirty Job: A Novel</i>.

In addition to the Chris Moore, some of my more recent favorites are <i>Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers</i> by Mary Roach, <i>Freakonomics</i> by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Leavitt and <i>Plain Truth</i>  by Jodi Picoult. Hope that these get you started!

Posted by Thebazile78    Friday, November 02, 2007 8:01 AM


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