Tips on Book Club Rules

Book club rules makes a chat about literature sound very serious. In our book club we are a relaxed bunch and like to let things flow. But there are certain things you can do to make your book club as successful as possible. And by successful, I mean some easy conversation, laughter and an exchange of opinions.

I set up a book club along with a friend back in 2012. Over ten years and a hundred-plus books later, people and pandemics have come and gone and we're still meeting. It's simple to set it up - but how do you keep it going and run a book club? In this article, I'm going to share what has worked for us.

Bookish Club popularity

A book club is a comfortable space to talk about stories and share opinions, to say what we liked and what we hated about a book. And it allows us the opportunity to drink a glass of wine on a weekday evening. No wonder they're popular.

Even celebrities have set up their own bookclubs - everyone from Emma Watson, Reece Witherspoon and Florence welch (yup, the same as Florence and the machine). There’s also somebody called Oprah, though her bookclub started before us in 1996 so I can't accuse her of copying us.

A bookish club is pretty much the same. Probably a bit more relaxed than a book club, where you don’t even have to read the book. Hell, you might even decide you don’t want to talk about books.

But I'll begin by talking about the ingredients of a successful book club discussion. You can think of these as book club rules in a very casual sense.

How to start a Book Club?

Simply find:

People who enjoy and like to talk about reading,

A comfortable venue.

Some people will answer the question ‘how to run a bookclub?’ with ‘wine’ but I'm not going to include that, because I don’t think it’s as important as people make it out to be. It's usually the comment I hear when I say I'm heading to a book club meeting during the week. ("Ooooh, alcohol on a Thursday night! How nice!") There seems to be a perception that book clubs are just an excuse to drink alcohol and whilst a glass of wine can help lubricate the wheels of social interaction, it's not essential.

When a group first meets up and you're getting to know each other, a glass of wine can help ease people into a book club discussion. But do we need alcohol in every social situation? It's good to talk about a book, to be reasonable rather than overly emotional, and no one wants to be the boorish person shooting their mouth off, talking, interrupting and screaming about why Charlotte Bronte would always beat Jane Austen in a fight. Don't be that person (easy on the wine there).

When our book club first started, I used to drink far too much. I stopped when I realised it was spoiling my enjoyment of the evening - I was losing my train of thought, and I wasn't listening to others, often forgetting what was being said. I'm happy enough with a pint of stout or a glass of red these days, and our group probably drink more tea and coffee than other beverages, but each bookclub is going to be different. One of my own personal book club rules is not to get drunk (easy on the wine there).

People who like reading

Obviously, if you don't like reading, there's probably no point in starting or even attending a book club. It takes a couple of like-minded souls with a love of books to set it up. Then you get the word out to friends and family, maybe post on social media, pick a venue and see who turns up.

Even if you are an occasional reader, a book club is an opportunity to bring more structure to your reading. You get to read a book and instead of turning the last page and thinking how much you enjoyed/hated it, you get to share those strong feelings. You can find yourself reading a lot more because you get introduced to new authors and the passion that others have for books can become infectious. This leads me onto….

People who like to chat and have opinions

Reading is very much a solitary pursuit. I often think of reading a book like my own private cinema - I visualize the characters and the setting and the story plays out in my head. I'm reliant on the creativity of a writer to provide the scaffolding that allows me to do this - but it's very much dependent on my own imagination.

I enjoy hearing how other people related to characters in the book, and what they thought the writer was trying to say. Hearing other readers' opinions deepens my understanding and appreciation of a text. A good book club discussion is hard to beat.

So something solitary has become social. There's no wrong point of view, and sure, you can have disagreements and lengthy discussions on the merits of a book (easy on the wine there). But the right book club should be a safe space for the sharing of these opinions, allowing for open and honest communication.

Our lives have become more isolated and insular since the pandemic, with many of us retreating into our safe bubbles. Book clubs allow us the opportunity to be social and talk about life, art, and all the other stuff that comes up. No need to get hung up on too many book club rules.

So now we've talked about the essential ingredients for how to run a book club…..

How many people do you need?

At our first few meetings, we had three or four people. Within a year we had about twelve, but that begin to thin out as people came and went and we settled at around six or seven. At our Christmas gathering recently, we had nine attendees.

With our nine regulars, we tend to have an average of about four or five at meetings. People come and go and life gets in the way, but we've had the same core group for a few years now. Sometimes people drop out or we pick up a new face along the way.

We have learned that any less than three and it's probably not worth meeting. You need enough people for a good exchange of opinions and we tend to postpone if there are less than three, but it doesn't happen too often as we have our regulars. I suppose you could say that three as a minimum is one of our few book club rules.

When we had between twelve and fifteen readers, the group was more difficult to manage. We did have a chairperson, just to make sure we kept the conversation on track and included everyone by asking questions, but it started to become too formal. The numbers thinned out again eventually.

With larger groups, quieter people tend not to speak as much. The naturally gregarious members tend to lead and voices can get drowned out. If you've got a larger group, I'd recommend some sort of light structure, maybe going around the members at an early stage to allow everyone the opportunity to speak.

Book Club Books

After ten years, we've read a variety of books. Literary fiction, thrillers, memoirs, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy - I'm sure I've left lots out. Generally, we mostly read fiction, but we're fairly open-minded. We'll try most genres.

I'd say the best bookish club book is one that isn't boring. It can be good or bad, but boring kills discussion. Some of our best book club discussions have been when opinions have been deeply divided about a book.

Everyone enjoying a book is good, but it's better when it has talking points. Thrillers can be great but unless there's some meat on the bone to chew on, I've found they can be a bit dull. Historical fiction can bring up some great talking points, and it's hard to go wrong with a multi-generational family drama.

Sometimes you don't know if a book is going to have talking points until you've read it. That's ok too, as once you've established a book club and become comfortable with each other, you'll generally find something to talk about. Very often a subject in the book becomes a starting point for a much longer discussion that ebbs and flows.

I'd say after being involved in a book club for all of these years, I can recognise what makes a good 'book club book.' As a book blogger, I'm constantly 'reading about reading' and my book club radar gets a little ping on certain titles. You know the reading tastes of your group and can identify a title that would be ripe for discussion.

I do think that it’s possible for a bookclub to get stuck in a rut with similar books and genres. That’s why it’s good to shake things up a bit and throw in a title that people aren’t familiar with. It’s good to keep track of the titles you’ve read, then take a look at the list and say - oh, we haven’t read a biography in a while. Or what about that recent prize winner that’s polarising opinions?

Sometimes a book can be challenging and forces readers out of their comfort zone. Personally, I'm ok with that, and I feel the rest of our book club are too. Part of the reason we're there is to be introduced to new genres and authors, and sure it's only one book a month. I think one good book club rule is not to get stuck in one particular genre.

We're all part of communities so there are going to be books that come out that we'd like to explore with the group. We’ve had some fantastic discussions over the years about books that raised questions of identity, family, how history is never far from the present, and the role of the state and the church in our lives.

Topical books are fine, but I'd say be careful with politics, as it can be divisive. A book club community should always be inclusive and a safe space for a frank exchange of opinions.

How do you pick the book?

Our book group used to have a magic hat (it was a tatty brown envelope but the magic hat sounded better) and each month book clubbers put a title on a slip of paper they would like the group to read. The thing was that the bag became a bit crowded and some of these titles would never be seen again. Occasionally we'd pull out titles and the person who had chose it would have been already left the group.

We've settled on a new method now. We rotate by name alphabetically, but when it's your turn you have to be present at the meeting to pick the book. Otherwise, it moves to the next person alphabetically. It's worked well so far and everyone gets to pick a book of their choice. We all enjoy different genres.

Of course, not everyone likes picking a book club book, and it's ok to skip your turn. There should never be pressure on a person to pick a 'good' book. There's generally an element of risk when it comes to picking a book and if you're being judged on your picks, I'd say you're in the wrong book group. But I think a good book club rule is to at least allow people the option of choosing a book.

If it's your turn, think about the title in advance. Not everyone wants to spend money on a brand-new hardback that they might not even like. Unless you agree otherwise, a paperback or ebook is usually better. And if you're meeting once a month, maybe it's best not to choose a 600-page doorstopper.

Utilise your local library and if it's your turn, order the book on the library loan system before you announce it, then you can be first in the queue! There are usually digital copies available on the Libby app as well.

And if you like, you can check on Amazon first. There is often a range of 0.99 titles available that you might be able to pick from. £4.99 or a cheap second-hand paperback has generally worked well for us over the years. As hobbies go, it's quite inexpensive (easy on the wine there).

What is Oprah’s Book Club>

Of course, you can let someone else choose the book for you, which is where Oprah comes in (or Reese/Emma/Florence or whichever celebrity Bookfan you follow). Simply sign up at the this link and read each selection, and you’ll receive a newsletter with information about the title and author.

Usefully, Goodreads also host a discussion group where you can chat with people about the book, bringing your bookclub online.

Theme

Each year at Halloween we try to pick a book with a supernatural twist and it has become a tradition. You can have fun with this. There are lots of dates in the calendar or events in your local area that can spark an idea.

Place

We started off in the bar of a local hotel, mainly because it was central and quiet. It served tea, coffee, and alcohol and the owner occasionally provided a plate of sandwiches.

It was easy to organise, as we'd just agree on a book, a date for the following month and we'd meet at the same time, same place for our book club discussion. The last Thursday of the month generally works for us.

Meeting in the same venue became a bit stale, so we started to move around a bit. We did that for a while, even meeting in a beer garden during one of the weeks in Ireland during the summer when the sun appears.

When covid happened we were faced with the question ‘how to run a bookclub in a pandemic?’ Simple - liked the rest of humanity, we moved online. We had a few fun sessions using zoom and even had our Christmas meet on there.

After we came back, we continued to move around. We've been in other bars and coffee shops, but now we've found ourselves in a comfortable hotel lobby and it works well. It's central, warm, and comfortable and we can hear ourselves speak.

A bit of quiet is one of the most important factors. Too much background music or sports blaring from TV isn't very conducive to discussing a book. When you find a good place, you tend to stick to it. A reasonably quiet environment, or somewhere not too noisy, is a good book club rule.

Accept

Accept that people will come and go. We have a core of three or four who tend to come to every meeting. Some people only come to a couple of meetings a year, as we all have families and busy lives. Others decide they don’t like the book or just can’t be bothered - some people are always going to be more committed than others. But it's good to have a range of voices at your meeting.

Also, accept that life gets in the way, and there will be times when you can't meet. Just postpone it for a month, maybe asking the next person alphabetically to choose another book. We usually take a break for the summer months as everyone is off doing different things. Like lying on a beach, sipping brightly colored liquid out of a glass as they sigh, dust the sand from their pristine white book pages, and start a new chapter.

Be Social

When it comes to running a bookclub a good idea is to set up a WhatsApp group. It's good to let people know when the next meeting is, or to send your excuses when you can't make it. Chat and banter, memes, whatever floats your boat. And of course, any book-related info that you have.

Each year we meet for Christmas and enjoy a few drinks and some nice food. It's something we've done every year since the group started and it's become a nice tradition. With work and busy lives we often don't have enough opportunities to meet with friends, eat, drink, and chat. Simple stuff but vital for our mental health after the previous few years.

Book club Rules

So as you can see, there aren't many rules to book club. But there is one that I’d say is most important:

Read the Book!

It’s annoying when you go to a meeting and someone turns up, and is either halfway through the book or not having read it, and you can't talk about it because you don't want to spoil the ending for them. (I have to admit that I don’t let this bother me; too bad they didn't read it). And they can’t contribute to the book club discussion either.

And come on, it's a book club and you only had one thing to do! Of course, the conversation naturally ebbs and flows into other areas, but the book is very often the starting point and something to keep returning to. And many of us want to hear what everyone thought of the book.

Enjoy

I've met some lovely people and had some really engaging discussions over the years, and it has made me read books differently. When I'm reading a 'book club book,' I automatically think of things I want to say - it has led to deeper reading and appreciation.

Other members have got me to look at books differently, to improve my understanding. My opinions have been challenged, which is always good. The ground beneath our feet should never be too firm.

It's widened my appreciation of books. As a bloke, I now read many more female authors. I've read so many genres and titles and discovered new authors I would never have encountered if I wasn't in the book club.

Conclusion.

So there you have it. Those are some of the tips I've picked up after ten years on how to run a bookclub.

A good book club really runs itself - there's no secret ingredient. It's a conversation between friends using books as a springboard, a chance to talk and listen to others. It's an opportunity to be social and have some fantastic book club discussions that can roam widely and freely. Organising meetings involves people being active, taking part and agreeing a time and place.

If you're thinking about setting up or joining a book club, I say go for it. You only need a couple of fellow book lovers to get going and a comfortable setting. And you can decide on your own book club rules.

Are you in a book club or even just a bookish club? Do you have any book club rules and is there anything you'd like to share? Please comment below!