Choosing Books For A Book Club

A book club can be a lot of fun - after all who doesn’t enjoy having pizza and a few drinks with friends while they discuss one of their favorite books? Plus with talk show hosts like Oprah and Ellen Degeneres recommending their favorite book right and left the interest and creation of book stores is definitely on the rise. It can be a really great thing to do if you have lots of friends or family that like to read but there is usually one main source of contention that everyone struggles with. How do you choose a book?

For some people they instantly assume that whoever started the book club should be the one to select the reading material but this doesn’t always work as sometimes that person has no interest in choosing, doesn’t know what to pick, or perhaps the group was brought together by more than one person. Other times people will suggest that everyone takes a turn picking their favorite book or that you all nominate different ones and vote on the choices to see which one will be selected that time around. There are endless options and it can be difficult and confusing to know what is best.

The first thing that determines how a book is chosen is how dedicate your members are to your club. If everyone is there more to talk and hang out then it won’t be as much of an issue as to what is being read and it’s best to pick something light, cheerful, and easy to read. On the other hand if you’re meeting with a bunch of die-hard literary critics you don’t want to go recommending some fluffy beach read for the next months book. This is an instance when it’s best to suggest things along the lines of a list of classics that everyone would like to read or reread and then take votes along with stating why certain books should be the ones picked. This can be difficult if you have a lot of strong opinion people in the group that won’t easily back down from what they want to have as the groups book. If you can’t seem to come to a conclusion without an argument ensuing one of the fairest ways to go about it is to have everyone write their chosen book on a slip of paper and have someone draw out of a hat to see which one gets to be the next book. You can also take turns letting each person choose a book they want to do but this only works if everyone in the group is fairly agreeable and will take the other members into consideration when choosing a selection. It’s also important, with that kind of an arrangement, that the group be going for a fairly long amount of time so that each person will have a chance to choose a book for the group.

You’ll want to make selections that suit everyone and that are appropriate for each member of the group as well as their beliefs and choices. If you have younger children or teenagers in your group it’s also a good idea to get books approved by their parents before selecting them just in case. Make sure that everyone is on board with your book before you start reading it otherwise it can make the meetings a lot less fun if people are unhappy with the choice. Choose wisely and you’ll be much better off when it comes to selecting books for your book club.