All book clubs are different. Including whether you meet in someone's home or a public space, serve dinner, snacks or dessert and coffee or even if wine is part of the evening. I have been in three different book clubs, in three different states (New Jersey, Michigan and now Florida) and none have been the same. But, each has built wonderful friendships and connections based around my love of books.
Perhaps the biggest difference, is how books are chosen. Some groups rely on best seller lists, some have the hostess pick and some pretty much wing it from month to month, with no set plan. In my experience, it is better to have a plan in advance or the most well read of the group will end up having more of a say in the picks. I prefer more diversity, because then I read books I either didn't know about, or more importantly, would have never given a try.
My current book club chooses our books ahead of time and our reading year begins when the snow birds return to Florida in October. We all submit up to six choices, then vote for our top five on the list of submissions. A lot of the members like this because they can read in advance, if they choose. We also can volunteer to lead a discussion for a book that we are the most interested in. ( I'm leading for The Last Romantics) We meet on the first Thursday of every month, in our clubhouse and bring wine and snacks to share. In January, we go out to dinner as a group and do not hold a book discussion.
You can see our list for next season is quite eclectic and I am looking forward to reading every one of them. I thought perhaps you might be interested in reading them as well.
Happy Reading!
It’s so awesome that you belonged to all of those book clubs. My mom belonged to a few clubs and read many books too. I will add these to my reading list.
ReplyDeleteChoosing the books ahead makes a lot of sense since everyone reads at different speeds. I would be one who read ahead. Sounds like you found a great group to belong to!
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about choosing books ahead. In ours the host gets to choose and usually does either at the previous meeting or shortly after when settling on a date. We're a pretty eclectic group too -- that makes it more interesting, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great group of books. I read The Last Romantics. Have fun.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it the best having a great list of books to read? You should see my Amazon reading list too :-)
DeleteIt is SO nice to see what you are reading! I know you enjoy the books and the get-together with your book club friends. Have a beautiful dear dear Vicki, HUGS!
ReplyDeleteI’m going to read those picks along with you...and pretend I’m in your book club!!!
ReplyDeleteJust finished The Mother In Law....interesting as now I’m MIL to 3 women. I’m asking them read it too so they’ll see how lucky they are!!! Heehee
I like the range of your reading picks! My book club picks a few months out as well, it's very helpful for planning ahead and making time to read when life gets crazy at times.
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