Pictured above: Brookside Country Club’s Book Club – Pottstown PA
(I’d love to feature your Book Club! Drop me a line at amy@amyimpellizzeri.com)
New to Book Club Hacks? This is where I share Secrets and Shortcuts I’ve stolen (with permission, of course!) from my favorite Book Clubs from across the country (and those I’ve met through my Tall Poppy Sisters, as well).
This week I asked: How do you Pick Your Next Book?
Some Book Clubs choose a year’s worth of selections at the beginning of the year, noting that it cuts down on, ahem, lack of preparedness (non-readers!) and stress. Others let the selections roll in as the year goes by. As writer/reader, Jill O’Connor Anderson (The To-Hell-and-Back Club) pointed out, if you schedule too far in advance, “you can’t schedule books … that you maybe won’t even hear about for another month or so!” Sometimes the hostess chooses. And sometimes the group throws names in a hat and votes. Some clubs only read bestsellers, whereas others try to mix it up a bit and read beyond the usual suspects. Here are some more options I’ve heard from readers/writers that you might enjoy:
1) Have a “Librarian’s Choice.” Clair L from the UK said that her book club has allowed their librarian host (literally, the book club is held AT THE LIBRARY! Genius!) to choose the book club selection twice a year.
2) Google your mood. One reader told me recently that she googles “unputdownable” or “books that make you cry” or “books that make you laugh” to come up with her next book club selections!
3) Plead your case! Writer/reader Kathleen Barber (Are You Sleeping) tells about her mother’s book club in which “they have one meeting in the summer where they pick all the books for the next year, and every member comes in with a book selection and a short presentation about why the club should read it.”
4) Read local! Casia S of Winnipeg tells of the Driven 2 Sew Quilt & Craft Shop that hosts a Local Author Book Nook. Casia’s Book Club reads books from locals sold by this innovative shop!
How do you pick your next Book Club selection? I’d love to hear!
xo
Amy
