How does your book group choose…

[ThatAgileCoralBird]

How does your book group choose which book to read?

I have recently joined a new book group and am struggling and hating the books chosen to read and discuss. The people are lovely, it’s dominated by retired and current teachers but they seem to have a hive mind; the same few people get their books chosen each time and the books are all very similar despite a different theme.

Each month the solitary male member of the group, chooses a theme,
each member can put forward a book and then he runs and administers a poll: the winner is the one who gets the most votes.

for the past six months I have gone in with an open mind but each book selected has been awful and a little bit of my brain has died.
I feel like it’s getting to be a waste of money and time.

Previous book groups I have been a member of really opened my mind to amazing books which I would never have picked up and the book group was run differently: each member in turn chose a book
or in the comic book group i used to go to, a theme was selected and each member came with their book, they championed its brilliance and we discussed.

how does your book group choose? I’m thinking of leaving if it doesn’t improve or suggesting a new format where everyone chooses in turn (I may be kicked out, I’m already on the naughty for being contrary)

Reading a book someone else has chosen is the pits, it takes all the enjoyment out of it. Ask any child who is forced to read a particular book at school. I’d never buy anyone a book, always a book token 😊

Yes @Northernladdette its starting to feel like that😂

Each person gets a turn at picking 4-5 books and then we all vote on which one we want to read.

I like Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place book club.

We take turns choosing three books and then we vote, the chooser only votes if there is a tie.

I am part of the chapter 25 book club and go to the one in my local town

The admins send out an email every few months with the next lots of choices from all different genres with 3 books in each one. You then vote for 3 of the genres that you like the sound of and then admins will them chose the book. Different regions will then have a different book from the one that had the most votes

This them gets emailed out to everyone so people can look out for them

We take it in turns alphabetically each month. We previously used a ‘spinning wheel’ to select who chose that month, and removed those from the wheel who had already chosen.

We also don’t pick a specific theme, with the exception of an autumn and Christmas read, as those are themes we collectively enjoy and we mutually agree a read for October/December to fit. We are currently reading The Shining to review in October!

Find a different book club would be my advice!

We meet at a different house each month, whoever hosts chooses the book to be read for discussion the following month.

I’m part of a book club of 8 and we take it in turns to choose a book we haven’t already read, we’ve read so many different genres etc, then whoever chose it hosts the evening at there house the next month with a correspondent alcolic beverage !

I’m in 2 book clubs (all friends). We take it in turns to choose and host. It’s a bit irritating when someone chooses something boring or too lightweight but probably 4/5 books in each group I am happy to read.

We just suggest books, no set rota, people bring ideas to each meeting and we usually agree a couple of months ahead. Usually try to avoid hardbacks for cost reasons. Often deliberately choose a thick tome over the summer, and something suitable for the season at Christmas - anything from a Christmas Carol to a frothy Christmas romance. I love our book group, I studied English Literature at university many years ago, so I love having the opportunity to discuss books again. Also enjoy reading books I would not have chosen myself. The glass of wine and takeaway with friends makes for a lovely evening - I'm so glad I instigated it over 20 years ago!

Whoever’s hosting puts forward about 5 suggestions and we vote. Which reminds me I’m hosting next week - better look up some books.

I’ve been going to the same book group for 20 years and am currently the main admin. We’ve pretty much always run it the same way. We take it in turns to nominate. When it’s your turn, you put forward 3 books and the rest of the members vote from that. We get really good variety that way and it feels like everyone is having a say. One person loves historical (fiction and non-fiction), one person loves short books, one person loves really unusual book, one person loves translations. It great! The only time it changes is for October when we do a spooky book. Anyone who wants to can put forward a nomination then. Oh, and we only have a social meeting in December so if it’s your turn over December and January, you can choose a really long book!

We take it in turns, and then a couple of times a year will make a joint choice off a prize longlist or on a theme. I’d say I enjoy maybe 1 in 3 of other people’s choices…

I don’t think you’ll change an existing club’s practice though, especially if there’s a domineering man ☹️

This is what we do. The next host picks a short list and we vote when we meet

We pick a theme at the end of each meeting - a topic, season, Booker shortlist, specific author. Sometimes someone has an idea they bring with them, sometimes it arises in conversation. ‘Leader’ then finds five or six books to put it the book club app and we vote. I’ve read quite a few unsuccessful options as well as the ones chosen!

Takes the pressure out of one person choosing a book. The meetings when at least one person hates the book are usually fun!

I used to be in a book club - it has folded now. We took it in turns to choose and it was interesting that some people chose something they had already read and loved while others picked something they would like to read. Occasionally the chooser put up two books and asked for comments/votes from others - but that was their choice. I liked that it got me reading things i would never have chosen for myself - some good and some I hated!

We are ladies only and take turns to host. We usually choose in a frantic Amazon search 5 mins before we go home after several glasses of wine.

In January we decided on 12 themes, one for each month. We have a google doc where whoever wants to suggest a book can make a slide with a summary of the book. Then at book club we have a look at all the slides and vote using a WhatsApp group poll.

last year we didn’t have the themes but would still did the voting in the same way.

In a few different book groups over the years in one we took turns in hosting and if you were hosting the next meet up at your house then you choose the book - another one we all put forward ideas and one person creates a poll in WhatsApp and then we choose 2 books and read them over 6 weeks - if it’s a really long book we do one!

For mine, like one of @JudyP's groups, we take turns to host. The person hosting chooses the next book. It was me last month and I chose a horror novel they are all going to hate. 😁

We take it turns to choose too, and whoever needs to or wants to hosts.

Ours do tend to be quite literary but could be old or new. Sometimes people will choose hardbacks but they're normally balanced out throughout the year. We have done a couple of non-fiction and a graphic novel but generally we're all fans of literary fiction.

There are 7 in our book club and it's been going for 20 years with one or two leave and join. We take turns to host and whoever is hosting chooses the book.

We usually choose fiction but there are preferences for different genres. A couple like fantasy, a couple like thrillers and quite often something is picked following a recommendation of another book club such as Richard & Judy or Oprah Winfrey. We like to support female authors but not exclusively.

In the reading group i belong to, we all choose a book towards the end of the year for the following year.
The main criteria is to not choose one that has just been published as that can make it very expensive to get hold of.
We have a person who technically 'runs' the group, and she makes sure we all get a turn.
Of course we sometimes change the order, if someone is away, etc
The majority of the group are women but we do have a couple of men who go.
Generally the books vary and makes for a good discussion.

We all make suggestions then I do a poll and people vote for all the ones they like then the top two or three are lined up for the next few months.