If you love to read and discuss books, starting a book club might be for you. “You don’t have to be friends to begin,” says Louise Riddell-Kaufman, a retired Carmel Valley educator, “but I think you have to grow to be friends. There’s a certain social piece to being in a book club and a certain closeness develops when you see these people once a month for a period of time.”
LAUNCHING A BOOK CLUB
To get started on forming a book club, she suggests finding one or two other people you know who are readers and asking them to reach out to one or two others to gather around a common book to discuss. Then meet and see where it goes.
Riddell-Kaufman started her first book club 38 years ago while serving on the board of the YWCA. The club was decidedly for women, with a focus on reading fiction books written by only women. The group has remained mostly intact with the same members for more than 30 years. This has made for a lifetime of shared stories and experiences, including nursing their now-grown children and coming together to support one another during big life transitions.
If you click with the group you’ve put together, Riddell-Kaufman suggests moving forward to set book club protocols together. Be sure to discuss the group’s desires and limits. You’ll want to discuss what types of books you want to read, group size, attendance, and how often to meet, including when, where, and for how long. An ideal size, she says, is between five and ten participants. Book clubs often meet monthly for an hour and a half to two hours, and members alternate hosting, with the host providing snacks, but these logistics are entirely up to your group.
KEEPING IT POSITIVE
Planning ahead can help when challenges arise, such as when busy schedules and unexpected events throw off people’s availability. For situations like this, Riddell-Kaufman says to determine the group’s minimum attendance policy—how many or few your group needs in order to meet. Another advance consideration is how far along readers have gotten in the current book and how far you’ll allow the conversation to go when not everyone has completed the book. Will the group talk about the end of the book even if others haven’t finished reading it? It’s up to your group to decide what’s acceptable and fair. Sharing that in advance of future meetings helps build stronger relationships for a more positive group experience.
CHOOSING TITLES
Lastly, consider how you will select books and how far your group will aim to read each month. One practice used in another book club Riddell-Kaufman is a member of is that the person who presented the book to the group would also share something about the author, such as an interview with them to read before choosing a book. There are many ways to select titles. Members can bring books to pass around for a preview and discussion. Members might elect to select books from a best seller or new release list. Will books need to be available from the library and in paperback vs. hard copy only? Will you read one book per month or stretch a longer book over two months?
Book clubs are meant to be intellectually stimulating and fun. If you’re lucky, you’ll also develop lifelong friends.
WENDY J. ROSENTHAL is a writer, educator, and graduate student who will receive an MA in Counseling and a PPS credential in school counseling in 2025. She was appointed by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond to serve on his Parent Advisory Council. She and her two teens reside in Salinas with their rescue pup, Sherman.
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