Saving this post to dig into more! On January 1, I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH... I’ve been dreaming of starting an in-person book club for long enough. I sent one simple text to have one friend buy in and then posted on social media. I even sent a note to my son’s daycare owner and she shared it with daycare parents. In two days, I have 15 interested participants! So many have said, “I’ve been looking for this for so long but haven’t been able to find anything!” To keep it simple, I picked the 12 books for the year and we’ll meet the last Thursday of the month at a local brewery/coffee shop/restaurant. Here’s to hoping even one person shows up to chat books and connect! ❤️
These book club guides are AMAZING! 🤩 I invited myself into a book club recently, and I’m hosting this Monday night. This says a lot about my personality. 😅
I LOVE your book guides!! They are beautiful! I went to Target with one of my two friends. She doesn’t read. She can though. So that’s a start. And she agreed, she wants to start reading. When she leaked this information, I asked if she wanted to start a book club and she told me it was just what she’d been thinking! And then we forced two other people to join who don’t know each other! SO this could be totally fun or a total disaster! I’m excited!!
I’ve been in a book club for about 7 years, and it is one of my very favorite things! We meet the last Thursday of every month. One thing we do quarterly is have “book pitches” where everyone picks 1-3 books to recommend to the group for a future meeting, and then we each pitch out picks. Then we vote on our favorites, and the top choices become our books for the next several months! We end up with pretty diverse books this way, and it keeps things fun.
this is such wise advice, Ashlee! I've been wanting for *years* to start a no-book book club (as in, everyone shows up and talks about something they've read/listened to, whether it's a book, article, podcast) and have not actually done it, for a variety of reasons. I think having a co-hosting buddy might be the key--you've nudged me one step closer to actually getting this idea off the ground!
I'm in two book clubs because I'm a crazy person 🙈 But they're both quite different! The one is a mix of 30s to 70s women and we meet every other month. The discussions are so rich, I think in large part due to the wisdom and perspective years bring. The other is 20s to 30s and tends to pick more contemporary/buzzy books. We have wine & fun convos! Book club has truly been the highlight of my last few years ☺
One - this is SO fun! I've been leading or co-leading a book club for almost 3 years now, and it has been an incredible way to build connection within my Army chaplain wives community. Book clubs also brought a former small town of mine together monthly, with 25-35+ people of all ages showing up at the library once a month for a rousing and delightful discussion!
One tip: conflict and different opinions are a good thing in book club. Even if everyone hates a book, they all hate it in different ways. I don't know if it's human nature or not, but I've noticed people tend to be able to say more about what they don't like in a book than what they do. Second to that is if the book makes them unsettled or question something. And if they all love it, then that does bring a welcome sigh of relief!
Another (final) tip: if you need to get discussion questions off the internet (esp. with fiction), consider looking at many, many sources. A lot of book club guides copy and paste from one another and ask yes-no questions or questions that dead-end the discussion. But if you find some lists that have questions that really make you say, "huh!", then you've probably found a winner!
I joined an existing book club (a spin off from a larger regional Moms Facebook group) in 2020 when I needed something. The group has started meeting on zoom, and we have continued to do so (every 2 months, usually the last Thursday of the month also!). What we have rolled in is periodic in-person hangouts at the fancy mall food court that is fairly central to everyone. We calls those “MAMHO” for middle-aged mom hang out 🤣 I didn’t know any of my book club friends prior and now am grateful for this regular opportunity to think critically, listen and offer my perspective.
I love this! Great advice. I too would love to start a book club, have tried in the past, but it didn’t work great. I love your tips, especially to find someone to co-host with and invite specific ppl.
Also, can you link the lounge wear set you put on the mood board for the minimalist book club guide?? So cute!!
I kid you not, Ashlee, I started a group text about a book club THIS WEEK because I was tired of wishing I was in one. I moved away from a beloved reading crew several years ago, and this post is making me so thrilled I jumped back in and took the lead. :)
I love this! Book clubs are so incredible. My friend started a theology book club last year and we work through a chapter of a book each month, really giving us time to linger and learn from each other. It’s a highlight of my month!
I love that The Measure was the book that inspired y’all to start! I’ve been in a book club for nearly 10 years and somehow about 5 years ago I became the one in charge - despite being decades younger than everyone else. We’re discussing The Measure this month upon my insistence because I too needed to hash that one out! Book Clubs are the best.
I live in a really small and isolated area. I had been traveling 80 miles to a book club for a couple years before 2020, then everything kind of fell off. So in 2022 I texted a handful of women who live nearby and said, ‘could we get together once a month for a glass of wine and talk books?’ Viola! We have a group text of 14 (though we’ve never been all together in one gathering). We take turns hosting. One of my favorite things is choosing what to read next, we all bring up a couple titles and read synopsis together. I always leave with more than one new book on my TBR. The friendships that have grown from acquaintances is by far the best part.
Thanks for sharing this, Ashley! My best friend and I were talking about our book goals for the year and then talked about how we both read your book club post, so even though we live states apart and have a two hour time difference, we’re going to start a virtual book club! Even if it ends up being just the two of us at least we get intentional time together!
Saving this post to dig into more! On January 1, I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH... I’ve been dreaming of starting an in-person book club for long enough. I sent one simple text to have one friend buy in and then posted on social media. I even sent a note to my son’s daycare owner and she shared it with daycare parents. In two days, I have 15 interested participants! So many have said, “I’ve been looking for this for so long but haven’t been able to find anything!” To keep it simple, I picked the 12 books for the year and we’ll meet the last Thursday of the month at a local brewery/coffee shop/restaurant. Here’s to hoping even one person shows up to chat books and connect! ❤️
These book club guides are AMAZING! 🤩 I invited myself into a book club recently, and I’m hosting this Monday night. This says a lot about my personality. 😅
I LOVE your book guides!! They are beautiful! I went to Target with one of my two friends. She doesn’t read. She can though. So that’s a start. And she agreed, she wants to start reading. When she leaked this information, I asked if she wanted to start a book club and she told me it was just what she’d been thinking! And then we forced two other people to join who don’t know each other! SO this could be totally fun or a total disaster! I’m excited!!
I’ve been in a book club for about 7 years, and it is one of my very favorite things! We meet the last Thursday of every month. One thing we do quarterly is have “book pitches” where everyone picks 1-3 books to recommend to the group for a future meeting, and then we each pitch out picks. Then we vote on our favorites, and the top choices become our books for the next several months! We end up with pretty diverse books this way, and it keeps things fun.
this is such wise advice, Ashlee! I've been wanting for *years* to start a no-book book club (as in, everyone shows up and talks about something they've read/listened to, whether it's a book, article, podcast) and have not actually done it, for a variety of reasons. I think having a co-hosting buddy might be the key--you've nudged me one step closer to actually getting this idea off the ground!
I'm in two book clubs because I'm a crazy person 🙈 But they're both quite different! The one is a mix of 30s to 70s women and we meet every other month. The discussions are so rich, I think in large part due to the wisdom and perspective years bring. The other is 20s to 30s and tends to pick more contemporary/buzzy books. We have wine & fun convos! Book club has truly been the highlight of my last few years ☺
I loved every word of this! My book club has been such a gift to me. We’re on year six!!
One - this is SO fun! I've been leading or co-leading a book club for almost 3 years now, and it has been an incredible way to build connection within my Army chaplain wives community. Book clubs also brought a former small town of mine together monthly, with 25-35+ people of all ages showing up at the library once a month for a rousing and delightful discussion!
One tip: conflict and different opinions are a good thing in book club. Even if everyone hates a book, they all hate it in different ways. I don't know if it's human nature or not, but I've noticed people tend to be able to say more about what they don't like in a book than what they do. Second to that is if the book makes them unsettled or question something. And if they all love it, then that does bring a welcome sigh of relief!
Another (final) tip: if you need to get discussion questions off the internet (esp. with fiction), consider looking at many, many sources. A lot of book club guides copy and paste from one another and ask yes-no questions or questions that dead-end the discussion. But if you find some lists that have questions that really make you say, "huh!", then you've probably found a winner!
I joined an existing book club (a spin off from a larger regional Moms Facebook group) in 2020 when I needed something. The group has started meeting on zoom, and we have continued to do so (every 2 months, usually the last Thursday of the month also!). What we have rolled in is periodic in-person hangouts at the fancy mall food court that is fairly central to everyone. We calls those “MAMHO” for middle-aged mom hang out 🤣 I didn’t know any of my book club friends prior and now am grateful for this regular opportunity to think critically, listen and offer my perspective.
What is everyone's favorite book club reads?
I love this! Great advice. I too would love to start a book club, have tried in the past, but it didn’t work great. I love your tips, especially to find someone to co-host with and invite specific ppl.
Also, can you link the lounge wear set you put on the mood board for the minimalist book club guide?? So cute!!
I kid you not, Ashlee, I started a group text about a book club THIS WEEK because I was tired of wishing I was in one. I moved away from a beloved reading crew several years ago, and this post is making me so thrilled I jumped back in and took the lead. :)
I love this! Book clubs are so incredible. My friend started a theology book club last year and we work through a chapter of a book each month, really giving us time to linger and learn from each other. It’s a highlight of my month!
I love that The Measure was the book that inspired y’all to start! I’ve been in a book club for nearly 10 years and somehow about 5 years ago I became the one in charge - despite being decades younger than everyone else. We’re discussing The Measure this month upon my insistence because I too needed to hash that one out! Book Clubs are the best.
I live in a really small and isolated area. I had been traveling 80 miles to a book club for a couple years before 2020, then everything kind of fell off. So in 2022 I texted a handful of women who live nearby and said, ‘could we get together once a month for a glass of wine and talk books?’ Viola! We have a group text of 14 (though we’ve never been all together in one gathering). We take turns hosting. One of my favorite things is choosing what to read next, we all bring up a couple titles and read synopsis together. I always leave with more than one new book on my TBR. The friendships that have grown from acquaintances is by far the best part.
Thanks for sharing this, Ashley! My best friend and I were talking about our book goals for the year and then talked about how we both read your book club post, so even though we live states apart and have a two hour time difference, we’re going to start a virtual book club! Even if it ends up being just the two of us at least we get intentional time together!