Book club advice

[LaMaG]

I am thinking of starting a book club in my housing estate but I have reservations. I joined one years ago and the "leader' hosted at her house. It was great fun but she kind of dictated everything and it annoyed people to the point that most left. People would recommend books and then she would pick. She would be really dismissive like "oh I hate historical novels" or "that sounds boring". Then if her pals hadn't finished the book she would tell us all we can't discuss it this week cos X didn't finish, even if X was embarrassed.

I am not a natural leader and hate being the boss so my question is really - How do book clubs normally work? What's the selection process? Does someone chair the meeting as such? Am I mad to take this on???

There are loads of ways to do this, but the main thing is to be clear what the rules are. Sounds like this previous book club leader let people think they’d have a say over what they were going to read but then overruled them, which is clearly going to irritate them!

I’ve been in three groups. One was essentially a dictatorship where the two leaders chose everything, but everyone knew that was the deal. The second had a theme every month and the month before people would propose titles on that theme and vote for one book to be read the following month. The third one had an elaborate system whereby we chose eight books in a particular genre or style and read them over the next eight months. Eight was the number of people in the group so everyone had a book picked in every cycle.

You should also think about other possible rules in advance. Will you allow non-fiction, plays, etc.? People can get quite bothered by this stuff!

If this was me I would start it as a reading bookclub not a specific book club

Maybe each event could be 'talk about your favourite biography, fan fiction, classic novel etc.' rather than 'let's all read...'

Atleast to start with

Thanks so much for your help!!

We have a choosing rota, and we host in each others houses once a month. We choose books two months in advance to give everyone time to buy/order from the library and read.

At my book club we meet monthly and take it in turns to host at our own homes. The host provides all snacks and nibbles and chooses the next book to read. If one or more haven't read the book the rest discuss it (maybe emitting spoilers) and there's no pressure. It's all nice and chilled and works well.

We meet every 6 weeks and take turns to host (nibbles wine etc). The host chooses the next book/s usually 2.

It works well, in that it makes you read ones you wouldn’t normally choose.

My book group meet in a local independent wine bar so no one has to 'host', and we have a discussion about the next book at the end of every meeting. If we don't all agree on one, we put the names into a wee poll and everyone votes, so everyone can have a say. It's good as it doesn't feel like a dictatorship, but you're still reading books outside your comfort zone.

I'm also in a more casual book club with my friends, where people will suggest a book that they fancy, or a theme that they fancy (like set in a specific country etc). We meet every second month so that everyone has time to read the books around kids etc, then we meet for brunch to discuss it. That's more casual as if people don't fancy the book then they just skip that round. I usually put a few questions together to lead the discussion so that we do it 😂

We agree about 2-3 books in advance so every third meeting we all bring suggestions and discuss and choose as a group what the next few will be. Hosts just volunteer as and when they want/need to (I’m hosting this month because DH is away and can’t leave DD alone) and usually provide a bottle of wine and some snacks

i def prefer democratic selection over a host choosing

Thanks all. Ive finally done it and suggested this. So far there are only 4 of us. I said I'd pick the book for the 1st month and then we'd rotate. We are meeting in a local pub so there is no pressure.

What I'm wondering now is what book would you recommend? I am thinking a nice not too long mainstream fiction. A crowd pleaser as such.

Every month a different person hosts, and another person chooses the next book. It means everyone hosts, and everyone chooses the book.

There are about 12 of us and attendance usually 5-8 per meetup. We meet the last Fri each month unless it's a holiday weekend. Take it in turns to host and have a bring and share buffet. We cover quite a large area so tend to rotate the host location too, and have a whatsapp group so people can arrange car pool and we don't all bring quiche!