“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King
I'm a book club veteran. What better way to hang out and talk about books you've read along with eating and drinking wine? ‘Course those are the best kinds of book clubs. I've been in ones where the members cannot agree on what to read, pick books that are entirely too long (I'm sorry I cannot read Kafka on the Shore which is 505 pages. I simply do not have that kind of time.), meet for too lengthy a session, or members don’t regularly attend. My current club is one I’ve been a member of for about 5 years. It’s a mix of moms who stay at home, work full-time, part-time, and all very involved with their kids and communities. We meet monthly on a consistent Wednesday night. Rotate hostesses and bring food and wine. Everyone is very good about showing up relatively on time and staying for two hours. Sometimes we break it up earlier than that time, but we always depart by a certain time. It’s an ideal routine. We have a large enough group that we rarely cancel meetings. People come and go but we have a good core group that’s been consistent.
No, I don’t read the book selection every month – I don’t have time, the book doesn’t interest me, or too many things are going on in life and it’s hard to concentrate – yet go to the meeting to drink wine and catch up. Some months we just drink and discuss the book very little while other times it’s a good discussion on what our opinions are. You don’t have to agree on what you think but it’s enjoyable to listen to what others think. It can give you an entirely different perspective which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Book club is an event I look forward to each month and hate to miss. Ours is successful and we follow the majority of the tips in the article below (link to other tips are here too), but not all. You can mix and match what you want yet I do think most of these do create a good club. Check out the article on 10 Ways to Kill Your Book Club too. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen!
Are you in an awesome book club? What are your tips for a successful one?
