How to Start a Book Club in 4 Simple Steps

Book clubs aren't just a great way to achieve all your reading goals this year, they're also a fantastic way to make new friends!

Books can give a group of people so much to talk about and bond over. So if you're looking for ways to make friends as an adult, try making your very own book club!

Step 1: Name Your Book Club

Every book club needs a name. Having a name for your book club can also help your group bond even more and establish a specific purpose for the club.

For instance, maybe you'll call your club, "Fantasy Writers United," because your book club is all about reading fantasy novels to learn about how to write your own fantasy novels.

Step 2: Invite People to Join

Now that you have a name and a purpose for your book club, it's time to start inviting people to join. A good way to get new members to join your club is to invite a friend or two you already know, and then have them invite a friend or two of theirs.

By doing this your book club will end up with a broad range of people, who all know someone in the group, making the intermingling process even easier for everyone.

Step 3: Establish Your Club's Headquarters

Every club needs a meeting place.

Yours can be wherever you want it to be! Some book clubs meet at a designated person's home while others alternate between each group member's house.

But if you want to keep things neutral, or avoid the burdens of party hosting, you can have your book club meet in public places like the local library or a favorite cafe.

For the really introverted book clubs, you could even meet online!

All you have to do is decide on a preferred online meeting place for your group like,

• Google Hangouts

• Facebook Video Calls

• Skype

• Online forums

• Marco Polo

• Video calls

• Group Messengers like GroupMe, Google, Facebook, Slack, or WhatsApp

Step 4: Create Your Reading List and Schedule

You're almost done! Now you just have to decide what you're going to read and when you're going to read it all.

The best way to hash this out is to call a preliminary meeting where everyone in the group can bring their own book suggestions. You can put each book recommendation into your reading schedule for the year and talk about how long the group needs to read each section before the next meeting.

Just make sure you send or hand out copies of this schedule to everyone at the end of the meeting so that you are all on the same page.

How to Run a Book Club Meeting

Now that your book club is all set up, it's time to start having meetups and discussions.

Your discussions will be much less chaotic if you nominate one person to head each discussion and come to the meetings with discussion questions prepared. That way there won't be any awkward silences while you all desperately think of what to talk about.

It would also be a good idea for the discussion master to send out these questions to everyone before the meeting, so that club members can start thinking about what they might contribute to the book discussion ahead of time.

In Conclusion,

As you can see, book clubs are really easy to start and can really provide a lot of enrichment in your life. You can make new friends, get out more, engage in interesting discussions, and read! Book clubs might just be the most productive social group you could create.