Anyone been to or organises a book club? Looking for tips

[lavenderbongo]

I am about to host my first book club meeting to sort of organise it all between us. But none of us really know what we are doing so any tips you have would be gratefully recieved.
How often do you tend to meet? (we thought
every 6 weeks would be achievable.

Where do you get your books from? Money is sparse for everyone at the mo plus is NZ books are very expensive.

We are thinking of buying one book each which we think looks good and then swapping them round. This obviously means that we wont all have read them at the same time which will make discussions a bit wierd - anyone done anything similar?

How many of you are there and does it matter?

Do you all just sit around and one of you gives their opinion on the book to start a discussion?

Food, nibbles, wine, a must?

thanks in advance

Hi

I've been a member of a book club for about a year now. I really enjoy it, but it can be hard work rounding everyone up! We meet every 6 weeks - it gives us enough time to read the books and pass them around if necessary. We tend to get our books from our library as we can borrow as many copies as we need and keep them for about three months - plenty of time! We have been known to buy books, but they are very cheap here.

We read the same book, but I know of a book group that do the same as you intend to do. Apparently, it works really well, especially if all the book are themed (they have read Indian authors, science fiction and 1940's).

We have 6 members, and to be honest, I don't think its enough. It's very rare to get everyone to attend or to have read all of the book. So sometimes it's just two or three of us joining in the discussion. We are very informal, usually the one who has chosen the book will start and everyone chips in. I have seen book group notes for various books, but we aren't that deep!

To avoid having to tidy up and squeeze too many people into a small room (we would have to sit on each others knees in my home!), we meet in pubs.

Good luck with the group, I really enjoy mine. Some of my favourite book are the ones I would never have picked up left to my own devises.

Hi,
Our book group tries to meet monthly, although it sometimes stretches to 6 weeks. There are 8 of us altogether, which normally means that about 6 come to each meeting. We meet in the pub, so it seems like more of a night out, although we have occasionally met at someone's house if they have babysitter issues etc.
Our local library will get us 8 copies of the same book if you set yourself up as a book group with them - not sure if you have access to something similar? It is free and everyone reads the same book at the same time so I think it makes for better discussions. To be honest we tend to talk about the book for 10 mins then just chat for another few hours!

Yes, we get books from the library - this is the cheapest option! However, we have bought books from Amazon, and if you decide on a list of books in advance, people can look out for second-hand copies. Classic titles are often available in cheap editions, and we have read some of those including Dickens (not the lengthy ones)and Jane Austen. Six weeks sounds realistic, and from experience, shorter books are better! Food, nibbles and wine are a must - we have met at each other's houses all bringing something, or sometimes in a local pub. Book groups evolve in their own way I think, depending on the people involved, and their interests. We also have a set of favourite books (one donated by each person) which are circulated round the group to add to the discussions.
Hope you have fun! - book groups are great.

You might find book group info a useful site

We plan our books two or three months in advance so that it gives us lots of time to find the book (in the library, borrow someone else's), never mind read it!

Thanks for all your help - I like the idea of meeting in a pub but unfortunatley there aren't any near here. So this Tuesday everyone is coming around to my house. Should be interesting.

We plan our books way in advance (6 months), so people can share books, borrow from friends, or order them in from the library. I haven't bought any books specially yet.

Everyone takes it in turns to host, and there's now a tradition of refreshments in the style of the book.

We try to stick to about an hour's discussion of book, then refreshments, then general gossip.

People who haven't finished reading the book are expected to come with some extra research done to contribute instead - e.g. having looked up the biography of the author, or a contemporary review, or a related film clip, etc.

Good luck lavender! Book clubs are ace. We have a "book swap" rather than a book club. Everyone brings their favourite books and borrows from one another. No one has to spend any money (apart from on wine, ahem) and you're not obliged to read every book. As the weeks go by the discussions get better as more people have read each book.

We meet every month - first thursday - means everyone knows when it is in advcance (or more specifically DH's know when they need to be home).

We have 10 members at the mo althouh prefer 11. Each member hosts once a year (Dec is out for meal !) and does the food and picks the book. We've had different ways of choosing books - this year we're doing decades so January was 2000's and then went backwards from that.

We spend about 1.5 hours eating and chatting and 15-45 mins on the book depending what its like ! We score them and there is a winner at the end of the year.

There is no real pressure to have read the book on time (or at all) although most people catch up at some point. On average about 5 people turn up each month I'd say. Most have young kids so its not always easy getting out/reading the book etc.