So, it’s time to start a book club. Whether you’re looking to start one at work or in your local community or at your church or even online, here’s your golden guide for how to start a book club.

I’ve had the joy to be a part of a few book clubs in my day. Some have been around for a while and some were short-lived, so I feel like my experience can help you set up one of the successful ones.

1. Choose your why.

This seems like a silly thing, but you’re less likely to be successful if you try to start a book club because “you just want to talk about books with someone.” Find a book bestie for that.

The best book clubs have a general purpose behind them. Are you a group of moms or dads who need a night out of the house? Coworkers who want to read books relevant to your industry? Romance girlies who have to talk to someone about the smut?

There’s no real logic behind the process of figuring out the why (or maybe even the who in some places).

2. Choose your books wisely.

Remember, not everyone is going to love every book that you read. If you have a group that all reads the same genre, it might be simpler to choose books. If you have a more general group (like your neighborhood), it might be harder to choose something everyone agrees on. If not everyone reads the same genre, be sure you rotate through genres!

Do your best to keep the process as inclusive as possible too. Whether you allow people to submit choices or vote on the book, the more engaged they are in the selection, the more likely they are to participate.

If you’re on the bookish social media channels, you’ve probably seen the groups who put a bunch of books into a cup and then keep drawing to see what books they won’t read until they get to the last pick (or even the ladies who wrote the titles on the bottom of Solo cups and played mimosa pong until they had a final cup).

Additionally, you could forego picking any one book at all (though this setup is really only recommended for the more “casual” book club setting). One of my most active book clubs reads on theme. Our facilitator chooses a different theme for the year, and then each month has it’s own theme in there. For example, we’ve read around the world with each month being a different group of countries or continent (looking at you, Australia). We’ve read through time, themes in titles, words… It’s a very creative way to read a variety of books AND have lively discussions that will still put books on your TBR.

3. Set a smart meeting time.

The type of book club you have will help influence the meeting time you are best suited to choose. If it’s a book club at work, will your company be okay with you all meeting at lunchtime? If you’re a group of moms, do you want to turn it into a playdate or find a time when the kiddos can be with another caregiver?

4. Be flexible!

No one wants to feel like they’ve been roped into a grade 10 lit class discussion, diving in to the themes and allegory or whatever. If you’re leading the book club meeting, come prepared with some discussion questions, but allow the conversation to flow naturally!

Also, don’t shame anyone for NOT reading the book. Life happens, and sometimes people just want a little community (and an excuse to leave the house).

Great Book Club Picks to Get Started

Depending on your type of book club, you may be interested in some of my picks for beginner readers. Keep in mind that these are NOT books for people who don’t know how to read, but rather for people who want to get more into reading.

I’ve gone back into the archives to books I’ve read in my various book clubs. I’m only including the ones that yielded good conversation AND that a majority (or semi-majority) of people enjoyed.

• Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
• A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab – Take this one with a grain of salt. We all enjoyed it, so we made the second in the series our pick for the next month. However, some of the others didn’t continue the series, so it became a bit alienating for others.
• Defending Jacob by William Landay
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

You can also follow Read with Jenna or Reese’s Book Club for ideas. Keep in mind that these programs are designed (most often) around NEW books.

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