Episode #5 – Book Club How-To’s

Dear Aimee,

I noticed on your blog that you host a book club. That sounds like so much fun!  I love to read and it would be great to get to share a book with a group of friends.  I would like to get one started.  What do you do at your meetings and how do you come up with what books to read?

Lone  Reader-Clinton, OK

Dear Lone Reader,

First let me say that I am absolutely loving all the questions and comments you all have been sending me!
I invent the silly little names to protect your privacy, and I try to answer them all either in the paper or with an email.  So keep them coming! Now about the book club.  Yes!  I have been hosting a book club for a little over a year now.  Actually, I host two.  However the first club has been appropriately titled “The UN-book Club”.
We started out reading, we had great intentions of being a respectable literary group, but in the end it became a great excuse to drain a Keurig and do a little girl talk.  That’s still a group that I look forward to meeting with, but recently I felt the need to get back to a serious type of group and created, also appropriately titled, “The Real Book Club”.  Here’s how it went down start to finish.  First I did a little Googling until I came across a really great website called Bookmovement.com. They have a very extensive list of recommended books.  They list how many clubs have read the book and how they rated it.  So far every selection I have made from BookMovement has been a winner.  The next step was to determine who to invite.  Of course it needs to be someone who likes to read. Once
I had a friend ask if she had to read the book to be a part of the club.  I replied, “Well reading is a desirable quality in a book club member.” and then I invited her to the Un-book Club.  Eight to ten people is a good number for a small group.  That allows for plenty of thoughts and opinions, while keeping the group intimate enough to not be intimidating.  As for what to discuss and how to facilitate a meeting, most popular books have an author website that will have a list of great discussion questions.  Then I just brewed the coffee, whipped up a snack (I tried my hand at pumpkin beignets, thanks to Pinterest.  Unfortunately I should have marketed them more as a pumpkin bagel.  Chewy…very chewy.  Yeast and I have never been kindred spirits.), and let the talking begin!  A book club is a lot of fun and a fabulous way to get to know your friends better, and maybe bump up an acquaintance to a new bestie.  Our ages ranged from early thirties to late…well, maybe I shouldn’t say.  But it was a diverse group and the discussion was very flavorful!  Good luck to you Lone Reader.  Also, please feel free to read along with my group
and participate via Blog (www.aimee-jones.com) or Facebook!  We would love to have you!

_The Daily Elk Citian_10 November 2011,

_The Cordell Beacon_9 November 2011