Book clubs are an amazing way to bond with your friends over the summer and take advantage of your free time by reading something fun! Here at CF, we’re all about starting your own book club with friends, and this series shows you how.
My last post on celebrity book clubs gave you suggestions on book clubs to emulate when starting your own club and this week I’ve come with a few tips to make your club extra fun and as unforgettable as the characters you’re reading about!
Read on for some fun book club ideas to make your club an amazing experience for your friends:
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1. Alternate the responsibility of picking the book & creating discussion questions for the group.
I know that this idea might not sound fun because it sounds eerily similar to a homework assignment for school, but tasking one person with creating the discussion questions can actually be a great jumping off point for getting the conversation going. Some books even come with suggested discussion questions at the back of the book and there’s no reason you need to require that you get through every single question.
The beauty of this being your book club is that you get to decide your rules! So experiment with what works best for you and your friends and go from there!
2. Pick a theme for your books and stick to it all summer!
Do you and your pals love murder mysteries? Rom-coms? Historical fiction? Whatever your passion, picking a theme can be a great way to add continuity to your club and provides even more opportunity to spice things up by turning every book discussion into a mini party. Bonus points if you can come up with a cute or punny name for your book club!
3. Take turns hosting a brunch or dinner for everyone to meet and discuss the book.
Dining in is typically cheaper than going out and provides a great opportunity to play hostess for your friends! If you’re concerned about not being able to pull of an entire meal by yourself, consider doing a potluck where everyone brings one dish, drink, or dessert. If you live somewhere with nice weather you could even make a picnic and take your book discussions into the great outdoors.
Wanna be even more creative? Incorporate the themes or setting of your book into the dinner. For example, a traditional afternoon tea service would be great if you’re reading a Jane Austen pick or you could always cook classic southern dishes for The Help (but maybe stay away from chocolate pie!).
4. Pick a book that’s been adapted for the big (or small) screen and plan a movie night once everyone’s finished the book.
There are a fair amount of books being made into movies this summer and there are few activities more quintessentially summer than going to the movies. So why not incorporate movie nights into your book club?
If you can’t find a title that’s coming out soon, you can pick a book that already has a movie and have an old school movie night in. You could even turn it into a sleepover for a fun throwback to your junior high days! This is also a great way to incorporate a theme into your book club because you could do only classics like Gone With the Wind or To Kill a Mockingbird.
Are the members of your book club scattered across the country? No problem! Use the website rabb.it for a group-video chat that allows you to all watch the movie at the same time!
What do you think?
Are you and your friends planning a book club for this summer? How do you stay in contact with your friends over the summer when you’re scattered across the country? And most of all, have you seen Book Club yet? Let us know in the comments below!