Living Fun, Free and Sober

Make up a FLIER  that show exactly what your hosting ( Starting a Book CLUB); Date of your Book Club, the Gender you want to attract,  the Address of where the Book Club will meet, and the Time of your planning to meet. Then post your flyer at your local AA clubs/meetings (make sure you announce it as non-AA announcement, though). Put a sign up sheet or an R.S.V.P. email, and then WAIT PATENTLY!!! Check the sign-up sheet once a week. I would give a good 3 to 4 week notice. Start looking at books in the meantime as to what you might want to introduce as your picks, But remember, just cause you host a Book Club doesn’t mean you pick the book. Majority rules!!!  Put Titles in a hat … choose 1..or a pick of hands vote ,,,
You also get to think about
what snacks you will have and don’t forget to clean up!!!..LOL…The Beverages and OH what fun it will be with your with your new found FRIENDS,,,, Please, Let us know how it goes…


So, you want to start a book club. Sounds easy, right? Think again. Putting together a book club is trickier than it sounds, but we’re here with some pro tips to help your literary circle thrive.

Step One: Focus on the members
The first step in starting a book club is deciding who your fellow readers will be. A book club can be comprised of two readers or 200, and it can take place in person, on the phone, or online. Think about the people in your life who you’d most want to talk about books with and extend an invitation to them. Consider which people would be serious about diving into a new book each month, and who might be less inclined to.

If this is your very first book club, we recommend keeping the group small because it will be easier to coordinate schedules when it comes time to plan meetings and to find common ground when picking new titles.

You might also want to consider asking your new members to join in a fun and creative way that reflects the vibe of the group you hope to create. The Bookish’s Club started  by inviting fellow readers to her home for food and drinks, and then surprising them by asking if they’d be interested in meeting again to talk about books!

Step Two: Location, location, location
Congratulations, you have your members! The next hurdle is where you’ll all meet. Bars and restaurants may seem alluring, but are often loud and can make discussions difficult. You want a place that is comfortable, quiet, and welcoming. Very often, the best location for a book club is in the home of one of the members. For groups who live nearby, rotating houses can ensure that everyone has a turn to host!

Don’t despair if members live too far away to meet in person. Some of the most successful book clubs hold their meetings over Skype, on phone calls, or online through sites like Facebook and Good-reads. Think about what would work best for you and your fellow readers.

Step Three: What time is the meeting?
If only time would stop for book club meetings. It’s likely that the members of your club have a multitude of commitments (school, meetings, family, work) that may make scheduling meetings a challenge. Consider everyone’s schedules and find a time that works for everyone. Book clubs tend to be synonymous with wine and dinner, but think outside of the box if that doesn’t work for your group. Maybe your club best works when meeting over coffee at the beginning of the day, or on quiet Sunday afternoons. We find it often easiest to first narrow down the day of the week your members are most likely to be free and pick the time from there.

Step Four: How often are you meeting?
Starting a book club can be exhilarating. It’s tempting to dive in head first and try to meet as quickly and often as possible. Keep your excitement, but take a breath and think about logistics. Many clubs meet every month, some every six weeks, others every season. Talk to your members about their personal reading goals, their vision for the club, and their schedules. Work together to find a pattern that allows everyone time to read the book, but not so much time that they may forget their comments about it.

Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far into planning you’ve nailed the basics. The above are some of the biggest hurdles that prevent book clubs from succeeding. Now that you’ve had them set you’re ready to move on to the fun stuff.

What will you read?
The traditional book club structure might not work for you and your group. Don’t be afraid to mix things up a bit. Another Bookish staffer is in a book club that assigns a theme each month (rather than a single title) and allows members to read a book that they feel fits the theme. If a standard formula works for you, go for it. If you want to try something different, don’t be afraid to try.

But seriously, what are you reading?
A bad read can be the kiss of death for a book club. Some clubs choose to set a page limit, to ensure everyone has time to read the book and to stop anyone from picking Infinite Jest (which clocks in at over 1,100 pages). Some blacklist genres that few are interested in. But we think the best thing to do is to encourage your members to make thoughtful choices and listen to the other readers. You might find a classic that no one has read, or you might learn that they’d prefer to read new books (in which case a trip to your local vintage bookstore could help make the selection easier).

It should go without saying, but don’t force anyone to read a book they don’t want to. If someone takes a hard pass on a book, let them skip that month or be open to changing the selection.

How are members reading?
In the Bookish book club, some like hardcovers, others love audiobooks,  we like ebooks, you may prefer to read library books,  and  it’s all about paperbacks… When selecting titles, pick books that are easily accessible to all of your readers and let them dive into the story in the format of their choice whenever possible. Ask members if there are any formats that don’t work for them or aren’t accessible to them to help the group make the mindful choices.

Branch out
Some of the best book clubs hold meetings that have nothing to do with sitting in a room and discussing a book. Is an author coming to speak at your local bookstore? Take the club on a field trip! Is there a writer’s walking tour in your city? Go for a stroll! Attend library events….

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/book-clubs/getting-started/