If I were to ask 50 women today what their favorite book was as a child, my hunch is that all 50 would be able to tell me in a heartbeat. Each one might even recall where she was when she read it, how old she was, or the lesson she learned from it. Now, imagine that I ask you what your favorite book as an adult is. Or when was the last time you read a really good book? You’ve already lived through your share of book reports, summer reading lists, and more college reading than you care to recall. But ever since you’ve started your career, life has become more complicated. Reading, even if it has once been a favorite pastime, has somehow slipped by the wayside. You might pick up every magazine you can get your hands on, but a book symbolizes a serious commitment. Maybe when you retire you can get back to your passion for reading.
That might only be true if you never join a book club, or better yet, start one of your own. Book clubs not only enable you to read more, they “give you permission” to relax a little, enjoy some quiet time, and learn to discuss topics other than the market or a bailout of one kind or another. By making a commitment to yourself (and your book club friends) to read a book a month, you are also committing yourself to your own cultural enrichment and opening your mind to a world of insights and information on topics that you never dreamt could appeal to you.
Book clubs have the added benefit of helping you develop or deepen social bonds by turning acquaintances or colleagues into friends. By challenging you intellectually, not only to understand and appreciate given works, but also to discuss them effectively, you can overcome timidity and improve your communication skills.
Start looking around for an already existing book club that might interest you. Check your place of work, local library or neighborhood center, church or synagogue.
What about a book club of your own?
If you are not able to locate an existing group that has a
schedule that works for you, or that has interests similar to your
own, dare to be creative and break new ground. Start by defining
the parameters for your own book club, such as style or genre of books,
frequency or length of meetings, book selection process, or discussion
guidelines. You might decide to set other
parameters of your own choosing as well, such as whether refreshments
will be served, and other considerations, for example, whether only books
available in paperback will be discussed, to keep costs down. Remember,
the main purpose of your book club is to create an atmosphere that is
conducive for discussing the chosen books.
For the next step, you might talk to two or three friends. Tell them of your desire to start a book club and ask them if they would like to give it a try. Share with them the parameters you’ve already considered. Ask them for their ideas, and also whether they have friends who might be interested in joining the group. Aim for a starting size of between three to ten people. Once you have the fundamentals in place, you are ready to select some titles.
One way that I have found helpful is to make a list of five or six books for consideration. These might be well-known classics that I somehow missed along my way, or other titles that I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. I might add one or two titles on topics of general historic or cultural interest that I think could have a broad initial appeal. I don’t put them in any particular order, but I write the title, author and perhaps a very brief description of the book and circulate this list via email or otherwise to those who have expressed interest in the book club. Ask everyone to add any other titles they would like to read and return the list to you. This is not the time to “vote” on the titles. Upon receiving everyone’s recommendations, a new compiled list goes to each one so that each prioritizes that list according to her tastes. After this final review, the top one, two and three become the books to be read for the first three meetings. For the initial meetings, I recommend planning no more than three months in advance. After that, the group can decide whether they prefer to continue down the prioritized list or revise it. Perhaps the group decides to begin the entire selection process over again for 3, 6 or 9 months. I would not advise scheduling books for more than one year in advance, as people’s circumstances and interests may change.
Keep in mind what was said earlier about book clubs helping to explore new fields of knowledge and enhance your cultural literacy. Even if the top three selected books may be historical fiction, a book about modern art and C. S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain, you can still benefit even if your primary interest is in autobiographies. The book club is an ideal way to stretch your intellect and imagination to new levels. Hold onto those prioritized lists in case you want to go over them again later as a book club or even read some of the non-selected titles on your own.
Time
and Place for Discussion
Give yourselves one full month to read the selected work. If
the book is a real “tome,” you might want to read it over
two months. This allows for more in-depth discussion of the first half
and more time to read the second half for a still-better discussion of
the entire work.
Determine whether you will meet in someone’s home or place of work or at an open-space atrium around your neighborhood that is convenient for all. Have a pre-defined start and end time, such as 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday, or 4:00 – 6:00 on the last Saturday of every month. Give yourself some 10 or 15 minutes to settle in and handle whatever greetings or introductions are necessary, and then dive right into your reason for being together.
A good book discussion might have a start time, but is not always so easy to finish. If you are meeting for 1½ hours, plan on 45 – 50 minutes of solid discussion time. Depending on the book you are reading, you may want to get a general feel for how much the book was liked or disliked, talk about major themes or characters, discuss writing style and the author’s skill with metaphors or imagery, etc. Sometimes you might compare and contrast your author’s treatment of the topic with other authors from the same generation or from our day. On occasion, the book itself will serve as a springboard for discussing current events in politics, literature or social justice. This need not be problematic as long as there is no radical change of subject or the group ends up not discussing the book at all.
As the book club coordinator, it is your job to be sure that everyone has a chance to be heard. Encourage all participants to listen and learn as well as add or contradict. You will want to avoid having one person dominate the floor or intimidate those with different opinions. Keep the discussion moving, respectful and on-track. Steer the discourse toward a timely and reasonable conclusion with enough time for some informal chat, refreshments if you wish, and goodbyes. It is better to avoid extending the allotted time for the session simply because some members are enthralled with the discussion. It is more important to respect the agreed-upon timeline so that people don’t think they are walking out early or else held hostage till the wee hours. Individuals who want to continue the conversation on the book can meet for coffee or lunch later to pick up where they left off.
With a little planning and management, organizing a book club is not at all complicated and the rewards are great: rekindle your own passion for reading and experience the joy and satisfaction of sharing ideas with others.
Rosemary
Kite works as a consultant for non-profit educational foundations and
recently starting one of her own. She has been involved in
book clubs on and off for the past 15 years.
Listed below are Rosemary’s suggestions for books that work well
in group discussions.
Classics and Fiction:
Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Alan Paton, Cry the Beloved Country
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O’Connor
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
Mary
Shelley, Frankenstein
Non-Fiction
Daniel
Goleman, Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Intelligence
at Work
Harry Beckwith, Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
Robert
Coles, The Moral Intelligence of Children: How to Raise a Moral
Child
The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor
Kevin
Ryan & Karen Bohlin, Building Character in Schools: Practical
Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life
Terry Orlick, In Pursuit of Excellence
Biographies and Autobiographies
James McBride, The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to
His White Mother
David
McCullough, Truman, John Adams or Mornings on
Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the
Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt
Patricia
Raybon, My First White Friend: Confessions on Race,
Love and Forgiveness
Whittaker Chambers, Witness
Christopher Nolan, Under the Eye of the Clock
C.S.
Lewis, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy
The Diary of Anne Frank
Religion and Ideas
Michael
Pakaluk, Other Selves: Philosophers on Friendship
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Josef Pieper, Leisure, the Basis of Culture
Scott Hahn, Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace
Walter
Ciszek, With
God in Russia: My 23 Years in Siberian Prison Camps (and
its sequel: He Leadeth Me)
Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
© 2009, Rosemary Kite.