8 Ways to Make Your Book Club Fun Again
Mimosas are mandatory
You love to read and see your friends, but lately your book club has been feeling a little, um, lame. Here, eight ways to breathe new life into your favorite literary hang.
Send a Doodle to Coordinate Calendars
The most frustrating part of a book club? Finding a convenient time for everyone to meet. Your options: You can start what will become an annoyingly long group text chain. (Ugh, the worst.) Or you can rely on the Internet and send a Doodle, an online schedule solver that asks everyone to input their availability. Yay, at a glance you can see who’s free and when.
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Then Decide What You’ll Read Via an Online-Only Vote
Picking a book doesn’t have to be tedious. Instead, invite the club members to submit book suggestions via email and then use Survey Monkey to generate a free survey where everyone can anonymously vote. Once the results are in, majority rules. Done and done.
Host a Book Club Brunch versus Dinner
We love baked ziti, but chatting about the latest Maria Semple novel over mimosas is a nice way to switch things up.
Or Serve Cocktails and Snacks That Are on Theme
It requires a bit of extra prep, but depending on what you’re reading, you can get creative by setting out drinks and food with subtle ties to the characters or plot. (An example: You could serve up Manhattans for NYC-set The Nest.)
Watch the Movie Version of Whatever You Read
Your club elected to read Girl on the Train. Instead of meeting to discuss the book, get together to watch the movie in the theater. And this doesn’t just apply to new films. It works for older titles like The Joy Luck Club, too.
Opt to Read Long Articles Instead
If the members of your group are lamenting the fact that they have zero time to finish a book, make it easier on everyone and read a long article—like a deep analysis of the Brad and Angie breakup. Don’t worry, everyone can still vote on the selections, but the goal is to keep them short enough so that, worst-case scenario, everyone can plow through the article day-of.
Turn the Occasion Into a Potluck (With Wine)
A food-free book club is the saddest book club. The host provides the entrée (something easy that you can make in a large batch, like chili) and everyone else brings an app—or a bottle of red.
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