Five ways to refresh your book club
Meeting on a regular basis to discuss books is a trend that’s stood the test of time. Socrates and his acolytes. Women’s literary societies in the 18th and 19th centuries. Reading circles giving rise to abolitionism and consciousness raising. Oprah, Reese and the over five-million readers in North America, seventy to eighty-percent of whom are women, who reconvene every few weeks to exchange ideas and explore their understanding of the world through the written word.
The book club is here to stay.
Anything, however, that’s been around for two millennia deserves a refresh, your book club included. Like stale crackers and even staler conversation, there’s room for a re-do, a new look and feel to energize your fellow members and make your gatherings less like homework or a cocktail party and more like a graduate seminar with a shot of espresso and a charismatic professor.
If you’re looking for a few suggestions to brighten up the works, you’ve come to the right place.
Hire a facilitator. That’s right. There’s an eager graduate student out there ready to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for her favourite author or genre. Not only is she fully prepared so you don’t have to be, she’s also expert at getting the conversation going and kicking up the stakes. Reach out to a university or college English department or simply put out a request on relevant social media sites. A quick online search will also surface professionals who will ensure you come away from your meetings enriched and enlightened.
Zoom with THE author. Why not have the writer of the book you’re reading join you? There’s nothing better than being close to the creative source, the mind and the imagination behind the story you’re reading. Make it happen by checking out the One Lit Place Book Club Recommended Reads Featured Authors List for their roster of superlative authors who are ready to galvanize discussion and take questions from the members of your group. Your meeting will be a highlight and a hit.
Get thematic. Maybe your meetings feel tired because you keep going back to the same trough for your reading recommendations. A hyped novel here and a Goodreads suggestion there is like eating dribs and drabs at a smorgasbord but not coming away satisfied. If you’re looking for a more rewarding experience, try lining up your selection according to theme. How about a year of gripping memoirs (Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Cheryl Strayed’s Wild). A deep dive into dystopian and utopian fiction (Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World). Or, a reconnection with all of Jane Austen for the ultimate vintage reading event.
Shake up your membership. Same people talking all the time? Conversations shifting from book to gossip too fast? Cliques forming and off-side chatter? It might be time to invite new members into the group, people from outside your circle or neighbourhood, to mix things up. Post your group on Meet Up with the goal of attracting individuals with different, diverse perspectives. Reach out to acquaintances, peers, colleagues, friends-of-friends and spread the word you’re looking for new blood. Change the dynamics and you’ll change the mood.
Bring in multi-media. Film adaptations. Author documentaries. Prestige television series. Build your reading year around novels that have made it from page to screen. I know a book club that not only read Hamlet but also watched every cinematic adaptation of the play. Hemingway or Fitzgerald– there are a slew of documentaries about the authors and interpretations of the works on film. Then there’s Bridgerton and Game of Thrones. Cue loads of debate and enthusiasm and watch your book club light up.
In conclusion, to mangle an aphorism by Julia Child- a party without a cake is just a meeting. Similarly, a book club without a twist – like a visit from the author via Zoom- is just a get-together.
Or, as Yann Martel puts it: “Books are something social— a writer speaking to a reader—so I think making the reading of a book the center of a social event … is a brilliant idea."