Starting a Book Club!

By Norah, Grade 8

How To Start a Book Club!  💖

Reading is fun, but do you know what would make it even better? Reading with others! If you have a lot of thoughts on a book, why not get them out at a book club? 

Here’s how to get started →

📚 What is a book club??

A book club is a..club with books. Well, it could be anything you wanted it to be, but most people define it as a club where you gather with people and discuss books and things related to books. 

📚 Prep for the book club

1. Get your people

Maybe your people are your friends, or maybe you find your people by putting a sign up sheet somewhere. They don’t have to be total book people - book clubs are for anyone. Your people are everywhere!!

1. Get your place & time

Once you’ve gotten most of your people, find a place - or some places - and times you can meet up at. (Somewhere near the library could be useful, but your best friend’s basement works just fine). Example: At the park on Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

📚 Hold your first meeting

Holding the first meeting?! After two steps of prep?! Is it that easy? Is that all? It all depends and is up to you. Feel free to go all out and decorate and make little cupcakes, or just have a meeting and blurt out ideas.

Things you should probably do at the first meeting

• • Introductions

No, you can’t get away with having five meetings and still not knowing that one person’s name..

• • Bring snacks

Making it fun was the whole point + food helps everything (conversation starter, no awk silences!!)

• • Figure out a book

Easier said than done, so maybe have everyone bring a recommendation and vote - that way you can talk about a book

• • Act like you’re excited so others do too and then you have an amazing time and people keep coming!!

📚 Meetings

• • Take turns bringing food
  • Take turns with hosting
  • Annotate/write down thoughts (not as bad as it sounds)
  • Talk about anything and everything
  • Have fun!!

📚 Why it’s great and what’s the point

Hm, maybe you haven’t gotten why it’s so great yet? Here it is →

• • Books + friends = good 
  • You can say you’re part of a club and that impresses people ^ ^
  • Feel aesthetic and purposeful when reading books
  • Actually voice all those opinions about that book
  • Meet new people + potential very likely friends
  • Bragging rights  - now you can finally tell people that you’ve been reading!!
  • Potential free food
  • Get better at thinking about books = get better at writing + English class
  • All the perks of meeting with friends - you can talk, get help for things, and get the general awesome vibe that comes from being with friends

Books are fun and so are friends so combining them is double fun and now you can have a book club!