Do you want to read fabulous books and enhance your social life? Joining a Book Club or starting your own is a great way to indulge in your passion while sharing ideas and discussions with old friends and new.

At W. we love to read and share our thoughts, so joining our Book Club is an easy way to discuss the books you love or love to hate. But if starting up your very own Book Club is something you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t know how, we’ve put together a few easy tips to get you going.

• Before you start your club, take into account how many people you would like to join. This will depend on where your meetings will be held, if you alternate between your homes, a smaller group of around 6 to 8 people would be easier to accommodate. If you decide on a café, library or another public place, you will have room for more people.
• Decide on a genre, do you want to stick to fiction or non-fiction? History or fantasy? And remember, it’s always easier to meet with like-minded people. It’s hard for a science-fiction buff to get excited about a romance novel, which might not result in a very enthusiastic discussion
• Consider a mixed group of men and women of different ages, this will promise a more lively and fun discussion as well different points of view. Why not ask each friend to bring along another friend, it’s an easy way to expand your group.
• Work out how often you will meet, it’s common for Book Club members to meet every 6 weeks but you don’t have to stick to any particular time frame. Busy people can meet every 3 months and the quick readers can certainly meet much more often.
• It’s a good idea to pick your titles in advance and always consider the cost of books. If your Club has agreed on buying each book, perhaps paperbacks are a good idea to lower the cost. Some members may want to borrow so letting your library know in advance is a sure way to secure your loan.
• Use a voting system to decide on which book to choose or alternate the choice between members. The alternation system is good because it’s an easy way to decide on who will lead each discussion. The person who chooses the book, also poses the discussion questions to the group, that way everyone has a go.

Leading a Discussion

• It may seem obvious, but the most important step is to read the book to the end. You might also want to finish up a little earlier so you have plenty of time to think about and prepare your discussion points before your club meets.
• Bookmark key chapters and pages and write notes to refresh your memory when it comes to the point you want to make or question you’d like to pose.
• Prepare around ten questions and make sure that they invite discussion. Yes or no questions are the best way to drive your meeting into a dead end. Here are some tips to get you started:
  • How did the characters change throughout the novel, what do you think triggered this change?
  • Did the characters seem believable and did you relate to any particular character?
  • How do you feel about the way the author portrayed the setting, do you think his portrayal enhanced or stunted the story?
  • How has your perception changed regarding the subject matter, has your interest increased or decreased?
  • Discuss an alternate ending that you would have preferred.
• Don’t feel pressured to go in exact order of your questions, if someone makes a point that relates to question 9 but you’re only on question 2, don’t feel pressured to keep in order. You can skip questions if you like, the most important thing is to keep a nice flow of conversation - this will become much easier with time.
• Some people aren’t as comfortable speaking in a group as others, so occasionally direct your question toward quieter people. It will let them know their opinion is valued and give them more confidence to speak up in the future.
• Know when to end your discussion. A good way to do this is to prepare a wrap-up question such as asking for a score of 1 to 10.
• Occasionally swap your book for a film. You could choose a film adaptation of a book you previously discussed with your Club. This is great way to energize members and open up discussions around a different medium.
• But most of all, have fun. Starting your own Book Club is great way to meet new people, have interesting conversations and read fantastic books that you may not have had the opportunity to read, so make the most of it and enjoy yourself.

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