Party Ideas for a Book Club

Generally, when thinking of a party, we think of a holiday or event connected to it. However, any day is a good day for a party.

For the Book Club, if each member takes turns proposing the book of the month, may be one of the members can throw a party to introduce the book to the others or to discuss the book after everyone has had the chance to read it.

Let's pretend that you, the book club member, decide to host a party to introduce the book. First thing to determine is the genre. Does your book club concentrate on one exclusive genre? Does your book club rotate genres? Or does your book club constantly choose the number one hit, independent of the genre? Does your book club choose a book that has a movie counterpart?

If you choose by genre, once you have determined the one you want to concentrate on for the month, you will need to choose the book.

The rest of the party will be planned around the title of your choice.

Let's assume the title you have chosen is Pride and Prejudice* by Jane Austen (Historical Fiction)

The next thing you will need to decide is if you want the other members to guess the book of your choice or if you want them to know ahead of time of the title.

If you prefer the guests to guess the title, then the invitations will need to capture their attention and the game(s) will need to lead them to the discovery of the title.

If you prefer to announce your book in advance, then your invitations will be specific to the title and so will the game(s).

We are not to forget that the food needs to be appropriate as well.

Let's take this step by step.

For the party you will need: invitations, food, and games.

Invitations:

They would have to be hand written (use Calligraphy) and possibly on a fancier paper with your initials on it. You could choose to roll them up and tie them with a ribbon or you could fold them in three and seal them with some red wax. They should also be hand delivered.

You can choose to just have the regular invitation written on them (when, where, RSVP), or you could possibly have a riddle that will give the first clue as to the type of genre you have chosen (of course you will need to also add the when, where, and RSVP).

Food:

You could serve, for example, tea and crumpets:
Elizabeth Raffald's recipe:
"To make tea crumpets Beat two eggs very well, put them to a quart of warm milk and water, and a large spoonful of barm: beat in as much fine flour as will make them rather thicker than a common batter pudding, then make your bakestone very hot, and rub it with a little butter wrapped in a clean linen cloth, then pour a large spoonful of batter upon your stone, and let it run to the size of a tea-saucer; turn it, and when you want to use them roast them very crisp, and butter them."
---The Experienced English Housekeeper, Elizabeth Raffald, [unabridged facsimile 1769 print with an introduction by Roy Shipperbottom [Southover Press:East Sussex] 1997
www.foodtimeline.org

For more recipes, from breakfast to dinner, please look at the first link under resources. This is actually a link to foods and respective recipes that would have been served during Jane Austen's time period.

Games:

Have your guests already guessed the title of the book? Then the games could be just a fun pastime to kick off the new reading. You could play, for example, pictionary, using only things that relate to the time period of the book.

If, however, your guests have yet to determine what you will be reading next, then the games you could prepare and play could be games that will lead to the discovery of the author, the location and the time period of the book, and ultimately its title. If all else fails, you can always play hangman to lead the guests to the correct answers.

For this party, all you will need is a book title, some internet research, your imagination, and friends with whom to share the fun!

*title chosen based on the top 100 favorite novels of librarians.
http://www.the-bookman.com/main/Best.books.html