Motivation Monday: Book Club

 My job requires me to read a ton of books, mostly young adult but nonetheless books. And while I enjoy my tween/teen literature, I'm ready for some adult reads! My goal this summer? Join a book club! Here are steps to start and facilitate your own book club!

 

Step One: Identify Your Book Club

• Determine the type of book club you want to start (or join). If you solely want to talk books, you are seeking a book club that might be run by a professional book group facilitator or is under the auspices of your public library. Or, if you want to chat about books, maybe sip some wine and mostly socialize join a book club with friends, co-workers or neighbors. 
• Think about the types of books your club primarily read. Fiction? Non-fiction? One particular genre, such as romance, bestsellers or biographies.
• Do you want to lead the club? If so, for how long, and how much time can you devote to organizing meetings, refreshments and discussions? If not, will other members be willing to take on these responsibilities?
• What are the minimum and maximum number of members your club can accommodate? (This may be dependent upon where you're meeting).
• When will your first meeting take place? How often will your club meet afterward? What about the summer months, and during the winter holidays? 

Step Two: Secure Meeting Place

The location of your book club meetings—a restaurant, library, or your living room—will influence the number of members in the club and vice versa. If it's in your home, you might want to keep it to eight or less. Ideally, no one member will have to host every meeting of the club. Club members are often willing—and usually eager—to host a meeting of the club at their house. If your library has a meeting room available, you may want to open up the club to 12 or more members. Other options for larger book clubs include meeting areas at bookstores, churches, YMCAs, restaurants or hotels. (Some of these may charge a fee—check before you commit.)

Step Three: How to foster a good discussion

• Read the Book. This may seem obvious, but it is the most important step.
• Write down important page numbers. If there are parts of the book that made an impact on you or that you think may come up in the discussions, write down the page numbers so that you reference easily.
• Let others answer first. When you are asking questions, you want to facilitate discussion, not come off as a teacher. By letting others in the book discussion answer first, you will promote conversation and help everyone feel like their opinions matter.  Please be aware that people sometimes need to think before they respond. Part of being a good leader is being comfortable with silence. Don’t feel like you have to jump in if no one answers immediately. If needed, clarify, expand or rephrase the question.
• Make connections between comments. If someone gives an answer to question 2 that connects well with question 5, don’t feel obligated to ask questions 3 and 4 before moving to 5. You are the facilitator and you can go in whatever order feels most appropriate. Even if you go in systematic order, try to find a link between an answer and the next question. By connecting people’s comments to the questions, you will help build momentum in the conversation.
• Occasionally direct questions toward quiet people. You don’t want to put anyone on the spot, but you want everyone to know their opinions are valued. If you have a few talkative people who always jump right in, directing a question to a specific person may draw out the quieter people.
• Reign in tangents. Book discussions often meander off topic, which can sometimes lead to great topics of conversation or debate. As a facilitator, it will be your job to recognize tangents that are no relevant and bring the discussion back to the book.
• Don’t feel obligated to get through all the questions. The best questions sometimes lead to intense conversations. That’s a good thing! The questions are there as a guide only.
• Wrap up the discussion. One good way to wrap up a conversation and help people summarize their opinions of the book is to ask each student to rate the book on a scale of one to five.

Discussion Guides: Many publisher's websites offer free guides. Check them out!

HarperCollins
Random House
Penguin Putnam, Inc. 

What books do you suggest for your book club? For a list of reviews, check out Good Reads!