Tell me what I should do at a book club please

[feralunderclass]

I've been asked to start a community bookclub, it's for women from a particular medical condition support group, so we all know each other.
Apart from choose a book and set a time/date, what am I supposed to do? Do you use the same questions every time? Are the questions distributed beforehand so guests can prepare an answer? Does each attendee answer every question?
This is more of a respite session than a literary debate, so not expecting too much depth. There will be refreshments/biscuits provided, is there anything else that I need to think of?
Thanks in advance!

Check with your local library for their book club resources. They will give you lists of books that are available for book clubs to borrow which will make it free for members.

There are often questions etc for specific books as well.

No need to reinvent the wheel, use the resources already pre-prepared for you!

And always bear in mind that, to quote my book club, ‘it’s meant to be fun, not homework!’.
We don’t insist that everyone has read/completed the book before coming along. If the book raises interesting themes non-readers can still join in. We reckon on about 45 mins to an hour talking about the book (less if it’s dull or everyone just agrees it’s ‘fine’) and a similar amount of more varied chat. Books that tackle big ideas or that split the room make for the liveliest meetings!
A quick round of introductions at the start is good for newbies AND those like me who are terrible with names.

At my book club we don't prepare questions in advance. We just go around the group and each person takes a turn and says if they liked the book (or not) and what they liked or disliked about it. Once we've done that, we take a little break to top up our wine glasses and have something to eat and then we move on to other topics of conversation (we might discuss other books or authors or we might move on to other subjects altogether such as holidays or family news). The book discussion part tends to be more serious and the general discussion part tends to be more lighthearted. We take turns to choose the book.

That's just my book club. Each book club probably has their own way of doing things.

We just go round the group saying whether we liked it or not and why. This usually leads to discussion, often moving away from the book specifically but on topics inspired by the book’s subject matter.

There’s usually some people who talk too much and some people who are shy, so I see the role of the leader as making sure that everyone gets a chance to join in the conversation and also smoothing things over if someone gets argumentative or dismissive of someone else’s opinion.

It wouldn’t do any harm to have a few questions up your sleeve in case discussion is faltering, but I wouldn’t be too rigid about it and if the conversation is flowing, just go with it.

It can sometimes take a few weeks for people to relax and the discussions feel more natural and enjoyable.

Thanks for the replies. I think we'll be more on the relaxed side, good to know that the set questions aren't obligatory. Looking forward to starting now!

I usually come up with three of four open questions about the book so we can get a discussion kickstarted if needed.The person who chooses the book tends to be the one to come up with questions for that month.

Thanks @GolgafrinchamB thats helpful. How long does a session usually last? I think initially we might only have 5-8 people.

That depends on whether you serve tea and biscuits or alcohol and crisps! The tea and biscuit ones are much shorter...

The first few meetings can be a bit stiff as people get to know one another. Persevere, and if anyone isn't saying much, try draw them into the discussion. It's very easy for confident speakers to dominate to the detriment of shyer or more reticent people, especially at first. I know I have to be aware of it because given full freedom I rarely shut up because I talk a lot.

Our started off very serious but 15 years on it's more like wine club 😉

Each person chooses a book every 6 weeks, we go in alphabetical order.

Reading it isn't obligatory, we just chat about what we liked/ didn't like.

We take it in turns to host or go out to the pub or have a meal,it's very relaxed.

You can google book club prompt questions for books

We took it in turns to meet at each house. The hostess usually provided nibbles and snacks. People brought wine etc. The book was chosen by the hostess and we just chatted about whether we enjoyed it and why. Sometimes, the book was not well received and sometimes people didn’t finish it.

We had a mix of fiction and non fiction.

We also vote out of about 4 books anyone can choose. One of mine is chatting about the book , another one the owner has a list of questions that turns into a discussion.
Neither group do you have to finish but we can discuss the ending.

As organiser I think you do need to have some questions & discussion points prepared and also the ability to steer the group back to taking about books .. not just a general social event. There will always be at least one person who hogs the conversation. And have a set time .. 90 minutes should be about right and don't be afraid to 'close' the meeting. I enjoy my book club but it invariably goes on too late and off topic .. (or maybe I am just unsociable ).

We have a little facebook group for our book club and each month a member chooses 3-4 books and we all vote .

Whoever has chosen that month has to ask the questions but if they're too shy someone else will do it. Everyone gets a chance to answer each question. After we always end up having a chat about other stuff whether it's books or life in general. More often than not the book brings up issues we then chat about.