Fun Book Club Ideas

Fun Book Club Ideas! Shake it up! Be Happy! Have Fun!

Fun book club ideas to make your book meetings the talk of the town. Has your reading group/book club become boring? Give it a try! Shake it up! Be happy! Have fun! Here’s How!

Shake it Up!

Are you losing members to other book club groups? Try shaking up your book club meetings to keep your members engaged and coming back every month. Don’t worry if some of your book club members join other book clubs. The world is full of books and people, so don’t worry, everything is okay.

Take heart in knowing that a certain amount of book club member “jumping” is to be expected. Readers are looking to stimulate their minds by reading books they enjoy. Reading is really a lot like sports. Everyone has one or two they enjoy more than others.

Be Happy!

Many book clubs are focused one particular genre. If your group meets once a month to discuss the latest mystery book, that is great! But if your book club membership has changed over time, then it may be time to change the focus of the group and the reading choices as well. If the majority of your current group members prefer a different genre or focus for the book club, then make some changes so everyone can be happy. But, of course, keep in mind that you can’t please everyone all of the time.

If the leader of the book club group is making all the book selections for the group, then it’s probably a good idea for the group leader to request reading selections from it’s members. If the members jump at the idea of making reading selections for the group, then allowing that may well revitalize the group.
That being said, I do know that there are groups in which the members actually prefer to the book club leader to make the book selections. It takes the stress of the members and allows them to pick and choose which book club selections they will read and which meetings they will attend.
Asking your members what books/genre they prefer, or having them write the name of a book/author and place it in a suggestion box might actually be a good idea. It may very well turn out to be a great way of gauging how your members are feeling about how the book club books are chosen.
Just be sure not to put anyone on the spot when requesting suggestions. I accomplish this by handing out slips of paper for the suggestions. Then members can fold the paper and place it in a small “ballot box.” Then I wait until the next book club meeting to discuss the suggestions, keeping the identities of the contributors confidential. Then usually most of the members talk about the book they suggested, but I have noticed that there is almost one or two who stay mum. And that is perfectly okay. Peer pressure follows us right into adulthood, doesn’t it?

Have Fun!

And it might be fun to add some extra fun to your book club meetings, by having a theme once in a while.

If you are reading a 1950’s noir book, such as: Die a Little, by Megan Abbot, your group could dress up 50’s style. You all could choose to dress up like a 1950’s housewife or businessman, or 1950’s style “smoky-club” dresses and suits.

For fun book club ideas, how about an Agatha Christie murder mystery novel theme? What fun!

If you are reading a biography of a particular actor, you all could dress up in the style from one of the actor’s most popular films.
- Just think, if you’re reading a biography of Marlon Brando, there really are a lot of choices for your book club meeting theme. You might choose black leather jackets and jeans for the Wild One, or dress up as gangsters and gun molls for The Godfather.
- And an autobiography of Audrey Hepburn is a great opportunity to dress up in the iconic “little black dress” with tiara’s. These are just some ideas I’m throwing out here. And if your book club members enjoy historical fiction novels, the theme possibilities are endless.