What Is a Book Club?

Identification

• A book club is a group of people coming together to discuss books, share opinions, raise questions, offer comments and critique books. It can be large or small, and loosely or tightly structured. Members usually lay out ground rules and considerations when they start their book club. One member serves as leader, initiating discussions, ensuring adherence to rules, keeping conversations on track, encouraging participation and making reading suggestions. Depending on the type of book club, the rules, frequency of meetings, reading lists and other aspects vary.

Benefits

• A book club expands one's learning process. It gives readers the opportunity to explore various perspectives and interpretations, besides their own. Other benefits of a book club include spending time with other book lovers, meeting interesting people, improving communication and public speaking skills, and learning about books and authors. Aspiring writers may find that membership in a book club helps them analyze different genres and authors' writing styles and inspires ideas. Book club members may also receive discounted prices and introductory offers.

Types

• In the most common type of book club, a group of people meet regularly at an agreed-upon venue to discuss general interest books (e.g., best sellers, biographies) or special interest books (e.g., books about gardening or writing). The members of the group usually choose books together and meet at a library, a bookstore, a coffee shop or someone's house. In work book clubs, colleagues decide upon a book to read and discuss it at periodical intervals, during breaks at work or after work. Similarly, a book club for children brings together a group of children, usually in the same age group, to discuss books they have read. Online book clubs offer the opportunity for people to join discussions regardless of their geographical location. They use forums, email and various social media tools to facilitate the discussions.

Considerations

• Before starting or joining a book club, give some thought to what your goals are. Do you wish to expand your knowledge of a particular subject, meet like-minded people, learn about a variety of cultures or improve your writing or communication skills? Also, think about the size of your book club. Does a smaller group appeal to you, because there is more personal interaction and higher level of comfort among members? Or would you rather meet a larger group where you are exposed to a broader variety of opinions and experiences? Consider the venue and frequency of meetings. Will the members take turns hosting the meetings? Or will there be a common venue used for every meeting? How will you decide the reading list? Do you want the discussions to be structured? Or does a free-for-all seem more like your style? How will the leader be chosen, and what will this person's role be?

Disadvantages

• There are disadvantages to book clubs that you should consider before joining one. It is possible that your book club will choose a certain genre or book that does not interest you. If you do not like to be told what to read and have strong, personal reading preferences, then this is a disadvantage. It's also possible that the book club discussions will not be stimulating enough, or members will ignore or bend rules.