Best Ways to Chose Books for Book Clubs

Book clubs one of the greatest inventions in the last one hundred years. A time to get together with friends who share your love of reading and good books for great conversation, good food and if you are very lucky wine! One of the biggest challenges of a book club is how and who picks the books that you are all going to read. While this may be a challenge it is also an opportunity to read and explore books that you may have never picked up on your own.

The first thing you have to do as a group is to decide how you want to pick your books. Here are a number of suggestions. All of them work and they can be used exclusively or you can mix and match.

1. As a group you decide that each month you will read that months New York Times Bestseller. If a book stays at the top of the bestseller list for more then four weeks you go down to number two, three, four, etc. You may also chose to alternate between fiction and non-fiction

2. As a group you take turns choosing books. At the start of the year each member pulls a number out of a hat and the number chosen corresponds to the month. With this method it is likely during the course of the year that you will read some books that you love, some books that you hate and some books that you would have never picked up but for your book club.

3. At the end of the current meeting each member writes down their top five choices for next months book. You tally up all of the choices and the book with the highest rating wins and is the book everyone will read for your next meeting.

4. At the beginning of the year each member picks their favorite book of all time and then the group makes up the reading schedule. Maybe you decide that the month of the members favorite book is the month that the member hosts the party and starts off the meeting by telling everyone why they chose the current book and what makes it their all time favorite. It may be challenging for book lovers to have to pick only one favorite but at the same time it will give all members an opportunity to reflect on all of the books that they have read over their lifetime which is really a great way of revisiting your past and examine your life.

5. As a club you chose to read local authors and then invite them to come and speak to your book club. Writing can be lonely and isolating and while authors like Stephen King may say no thank you most local authors who are just getting started are going to be honored to be asked and humbled to share their story with your members.

Any or all of these suggestions can be incorporated into how your book club chooses a book to read and discuss as a group. One other very important thing to remember is that if you are a lover and a reader you are not limited to only the books chosen by your book club. You can go to the bookstore any day and pick up any book you want and get lost in adventure, experience lover or heartache or learn about a new culture. Just remember to read, read, read. There really are few things better then a great book.