How to Select Book Club Books - 7 Dos and Don’ts

Selecting books - it’s what book clubs do, isn’t it? Books are what you’re all about, so you should be pretty good at choosing them. But let’s be honest - book selection time isn’t always the happiest moment for everyone in your book club. Some members come away feeling frustrated, hurt that none of their suggestions were chosen. Maybe some are tired of shelling out $34.95 for the new hardcover. Or maybe the page assignment is too long - 800 for the next meeting. (“Hey, pal, I gotta a life.”) By following some fairly simple DOs and DON’Ts, you can help make your book selection process run a little more smoothly. These ideas won’t unruffled everyone’s feathers, but they can go a long way to making everyone feel a little less picked on. DO consider monthly rotation,. Many clubs use the voting method whereby members suggest books, followed by a discussion and then a vote. It’s a good method and a common one. But it can leave people out - shy people, or those unskilled at the art of pitching, the ones who simply aren’t persuasive enough at convincing others that their books should be chosen. Try rotating your book selection on a monthly basis so that each member gets one month to choose a book. Okay, so you may end up reading something you would never have chosen for yourself, but isn’t that the point of a book club - to expose you to a variety of reading experiences…i.e., get you of your rut? DON’T select favorite books. We all want everyone to love the books we love, to feel the same way we do about our favorite book. But be careful - reading tastes vary widely, and some people will absolutely despise the very thing we adore. So don’t choose someone’s favorite book; it can only lead to hurt feelings (ouch!). To avoid this, some clubs have a rule that no one can recommend a book they’ve already read. That’s going a little far - it’s a bit rigid, I think. The best solution is to stick to books recommended by neutral sources: librarians, book club websites, periodicals and newspapers. DO set some limits. If you establish a few practical rules up front, you can avoid problems down the line, particularly when it comes to the cost of books and the length of reading assignments. Some groups choose only books that are issued in paperback, considering hardcovers too expensive. Other clubs limit the page number to around 400 or some to 700. If they decide to choose especially long books, some clubs will break it up into two meetings. No one should feel like the book club is a burden, financially or timewise. DON’T choose for the whole year. Many clubs do so, but it can be limiting and inflexible. If a book comes along that’s particularly exciting, it has to wait till the following year. And choosing once a year can be unfair if you have to miss that one meeting. DO choose 2 or 3 books at a time. This gives members a chance to read at their own pace. For those out of town for a month or two, it provides the chance to read ahead for the next meeting they’ll be able to attend. DON’T read one type of book. Try to vary your selections - not just contemporary fiction, heart - rending stories, or light - hearted ones, romances or mysteries. That can lead to boredom or burnout. Vary your choices - read some lighter fare…or something heavier than normal. Try reading older classics, a short story collection, a play, humor, biography, current events, or history. Variety is the spice of…. well, you get the point. DO consider themes. It can be interesting to devote two or three months to a single topic/theme like travel or stories based in India, say Slumdog Millionair (Swarup) or Midnight’s Children (Rushdie). Maybe you want to compare childhood memoirs, like The Glass Castle (Walls), Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (Fuller) and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Bryson). Or try reading books by the same author, like Jodi Picoult or Khaled Housseini. Book clubs should be a special time and place, where all of us feel wanted, heard, and appreciated - where our ideas count and where we feel we matter. The book selection process sometimes upsets the ideal…but putting in place a few basic guidelines, even those few rough spots can be evened out.