Here are FIVE tips to help you recommend a great book club book. Select a book that everyone wants to read and talk about!
I used to belong to a book club, and each member took a turn choosing our next selection. Talk about the pressure when it was on me to select what we’d be reading next!
Of course, I wanted to choose a book that would appeal to everyone in the group. And, it had to be one that would inspire ideas to make our next book club meeting a roaring success (or, at the very least, not yawns-ville).
It would take me days to decide, and still, I was never confident about my choice. This dilemma, I soon realized, wasn’t just my own inability to be decisive (although being wishy-washy didn’t help). As it turns out, deciding which book to read next ranks as one of the biggest challenges most book clubs face.
And it’s not that there aren’t great options out there. It’s quite the opposite. There are too many choices to select just one book. But, of course, a selection must be made at some point, for better or worse.
How do you choose a great book club book for your next meeting?
After hours of reading through description after description and living through several book club discussions that either fell flat or ran red hot, I discovered some common themes all great book club books have in common.
If you want to wow your friends and fellow members by being the go-to for recommendations, consider these five essential tips when choosing a book club book. Keeping these in mind may save you time and angst! Once you know what to look for, you can make a quicker and better decision.
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Great Book Club Books…
May Not Be the Best Books
You may be surprised to learn that well-written, highly acclaimed novels don’t necessarily make great selections. Why? When everyone agrees, the conversation over the book becomes reduced to simple complementary phrases. “It was great” is followed by “I agree,” which then is followed by the sound of crickets. You get the picture.
Save your book club from hitting the snooze button and choose something with a mixture of good and bad reviews. It’s crazy to admit it, but the more flaws, the more to discuss. Ever notice how there’s so much more to debate when a plot desperately needs improvement or when the characters act in a way that’s so frustrating or, especially, when the ending is all wrong?
Have an Interesting Premise
Stories with an exciting premise have so much potential! These books often veer from the usual and the predictable. They tend to offer a different perspective and allow you to broaden your worldview.
Aim to choose books with characters facing unusual circumstances. Look for settings that take you to remote locations or different worlds. And search for a plot that’s richly involved in a controversial topic.
Plus, it’s far easier for you and your fellow book club members to start something new when your curiosity is piqued. And, as a bonus, that interesting premise often leads to interesting discussions.
Spark Discussions
Most of all, a great book club book offers much to discuss. The best selections provoke questions with no easy answers. Look for a book that will inspire healthy debates. For example, discussions might revolve around the author’s point or what the characters should or shouldn’t have done in the story.
When you choose a book featuring offbeat characters with complex lives facing difficult decisions, you don’t need to work to inspire fascinating discussions. It’s so gratifying to share your analysis and listen to other people’s points of view about the characters and their motivations.
One word of warning – be aware of mental or emotional triggers. It’s all well and good to have a passionate discussion about a controversial topic, but not if it’s at the expense of the well-being of a fellow member.
Are Easy to Finish
Keep in mind that your taste in books may not be the same as the rest of your fellow members. While reading outside your comfort zone can be a great way to read more diversely, it also comes with the possibility that you or one of your club members won’t get through the entire book.
Keep in mind that you don’t want to stack the odds against the majority of the members in your book club fully finishing the book. If reading an overly wordy literary novel or a thousand-page tome is your desire, you might want to reconsider making it your next selection. Unless the other members of your club agree to it, skip selecting it and go with a page-turner instead.
Inspire a Theme
When it comes time to meet, a book that inspires a theme can make your event so much easier and more fun to plan. Choose a book with an exotic setting, a different time period, or one that includes fantastic food or drinks. Then have a blast setting into motion how you’ll make your book club selection come alive.
From decor choices (or zoom backgrounds) to dressing the part to planning tasty treats and exciting beverages, a theme can turn a meeting into a celebration. And really, aren’t book clubs partly or mostly a reason to get together with friends? Plus, the added benefit of that party atmosphere means that it’s easier to break the ice to discuss the book.
Final Thoughts on Selecting Book Club Books
There you go! Armed with these tips, you can research with a keen eye what makes a great book selection. Who knows? If you can handle the pressure, your book club may look at you like you’re some kind of “book sommelier.” How cool would that be?
So, go forth and discover books that have the right vibe. Suggest books with a unique edge or an exciting premise. Look for plotlines and characters that spark lively discussions. Select books that are easy to read through to the end. Finally, go for a selection that offers a theme to inspire fun book club gatherings.
