ReadingGroupGuides.com -- Tips

Monthly Book Club Tips

May 2008

Read a book where the relationships between mothers and daughters are a theme. We suggest Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble, The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs and The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty

April 2008

In honor of National Library Week (April 13-19), stop by your local library and ask what resources they have available for book clubs.

March 2008

As this is Women's History Month, think about reading a biography that celebrates a famous female.

February 2008

February this year has 29 days as this is Leap Year. The 29th is called Leap Day. Think about discussing what period in time members of your group would love to leap back --- or ahead --- to read about.

January 2008

Empower yourself for the new year by reading a biography of someone you admire and then share something you never knew about that person with your group.

December 2007

Go around the group and discuss your favorite holiday title and why it has meaning for you. If possible, bring a copy of the book to share with your fellow group members.

November 2007

Share your favorite cookbook with your group and a recipe.

October 2007

With the spirit of "trick or treat" in mind, each bring a book to your meeting that you want to pass along. Have a grab bag where each person picks one. For the recipient, may it always be a treat.

September 2007

Share your all-time favorite book with members of your group.

August 2007

Spend a lazy August afternoon or evening shopping at your local bookstore with your book group making it an outing to share the books you have loved and time to discover some new ones.

July 2007

The One-Book Book Club: Think about selecting a book to read with friends who you summer with at the beach, the pool or in the mountains, and make this a special one-time book discussion event.

June 2007

Talk about the books that you would want to share with a new graduate.

May 2007

Write a list of books that have meant something to you as a woman and share it with your fellow book club members.

April 2007

Read something that makes you think of spring like the novel TULIP FEVER or the nonfiction book CHASING SPRING: An American Journey Through a Changing Season.

March 2007

This year the clocks change on March 11th so think about reading a book with "time" in the title : THE TIME-TRAVELER'S WIFE, THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, or even Dickens' HARD TIMES.

February 2007

In honor of Black History Month, share lists of titles from some of your favorite African-American authors.

January 2007

Share your favorite title about self-improvement with members of your group.

December 2006

Each bring a children's book to your meeting and donate it to a local school or shelter.

November 2006

Share the title of a book that you love to give to others.

October 2006

Read a book by a local author and invite them to join your discussion.

September 2006

Bring a list of all the titles you read this summer with annotations next to them and share this list with members of your group.

August 2006

Discuss a book that takes place at a destination that you might like to visit.

July 2006

Ask those who you meet in your summer travels what they are reading to get new suggestions for your group.

June 2006

Weddings, Father's Day and graduations are on the calendar. Think about a themed title to match one of these occasions.

May 2006

Read a book where the story's theme is about mothers and daughters.

April 2006

April is National Poetry Month. Share thoughts about your favorite poets and the poems that have inspired you.

March 2006

Take a look at our "Books Into Movies" Oscar feature on Bookreporter.com and take a vote amongst your readers of the ones you would choose to win.

February 2006

Since winter can be cold and blustery in so much of the country, think about reading a title set in a warm place or with a summer theme to think about warmer carefree summer days.

January 2006

Make a resolution to read a book in a genre that you do not explore regularly.

December 2005

Surprise someone outside your book club with a gift of a book that you and your group read over the past year and really loved.

November 2005

Volunteer at a soup kitchen, food collection bank or shelter with your book group this month. Check to see if they accept book donations and bring along some titles you think their guests might enjoy.

October 2005

In the spirit of Halloween, dress up as your favorite character from a book for your October meeting. If this sounds like too much work, instead think about describing a character and having other group members guess who you are talking about.

September 2005

September means back to school. How about exploring a classic this month? Go for something "readable" like Edith Wharton's House of Mirth, Leo Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilyich, Charles Dickens's Great Expectations or Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.

August 2005

Each month have each member bring a book that he or she has read beyond the group's book club selection. Tell other club members about it in a couple of lines. Once you go around the room sharing your selections think how many books you will have learned about.

July 2005

July is the anniversary of the founding of our nation. For those of you who want to delve into something more serious than a beach read, may we suggest American historical fiction? Perhaps 1776, John Adams, or one of the other works of John McCullough might fit the bill.

June 2005

With graduation time approaching, think about the books that changed your life. Consider one of them for your group's discussion.

May 2005

Write your daughter, mother or another important woman in your life a list of favorite books. Compare these lists with those of other people in your book club.

April 2005

Plan a mother-daughter book club title for May. What better way to encourage a lifelong love of reading in a child?

March 2005

Erin Go Bookish this month. Think about reading something from an Irish Author or something about Irish History.

February 2005

Take a blank book and fill in the pages with some of your group's favorite recipes from your meetings. It will be another way of charting your group's "history."

January 2005

Make a reading resolution. Vow to keep this one longer than the other resolutions that you have made.

December 2004

Buy and wrap a book that was one of your favorites this year and bring it to your meeting. Do a book swap with fellow book members.

November 2004

Collect books to donate to a women's shelter. Think about great picture books for children and books that women may enjoy escaping with.

October 2004

Celebrate Halloween like you are a kid again by talking about your favoritie all-time scary books as part of your meeting.

September 2004

September is a month that is synonymous with "back to school." Why not pick up a title you read in high school or college and revisit it with your group?

August 2004

Read a collection of short stories.

July 2004

On vacation this month and not meeting with your group? Think about organizing an informal book club at the beach, lake or pool, or wherever else you travel. Ask a couple of people to read the same book and then discuss it. It may give friends who have never been in a club before a reason to give one a try. We call it "the one-book book club."

June 2004

June is all about grads and dads. It's a great time to read a memoir and see how someone else may reflect on their achievements and milestones.

May 2004

Consider inviting your daughter or mother to read a book with you --- and discuss it!

April 2004

In honor of Easter and Passover, think about a book where you can discuss religion --- and religious differences in a positive way, like ABRAHAM

March 2004

Explore an Irish Author with your group.

February 2004

No matter how you feel about it, Valentine's Day invades our world in February. With that in mind we have collected five titles with "Red" in their titles and five titles with "Love" in their titles that you might want to explore.

Red
The Red and the Black by Stendhal
The Red Hat Club by Haywood Smith
The Red of His Shadow by Mayra Montero
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Love
All About Love by Bell Hooks
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
LOVE by Toni Morrison
Love Invents Us by Amy Bloom
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro

January 2004

Resolve to read a new genre or an author that you have overlooked in the past.

December 2003

Think about having member bring a book to donate to a children's charity this month, or making a group donation to an organization like First Book or Reach Out and Read. Also, this time of year everyone is stumped on gift giving ideas for at least one person on their gift list. Suggest ideas for books to give as presents. Whether it's an extra stocking stuffer or something that will be perfect for your recipient's interest, why not have some input from real booklovers?

November 2003

Think about bringing the fixings for a holiday meal to your next meeting so they can be donated to a local charity or food bank. Also, think about bringing a favorite holiday recipe to share with your group members. If your recipe came from a cookbook, remember to share the title of the book!

October 2003

Have each person in your group keep a Reading Diary for the month, and share it at your meeting. It's a great way to learn about titles you are enjoying outside what you are reading with your group.

September 2003

September is back to school month. In memory of those days, think about a classic title this month. Something to get you thinking again after a relaxing summer.

August 2003

Think about holding this month's meeting outside and think about a title on the lighter side to take advantage of the lazy days of summer.

July 2003

Think about starting a book discussion with friends who you may meet on the beach or another vacation spot. Select a title you all might enjoy reading and have the same kind of chat you might do with a more "formal" book club, but here enjoy that your group may only meet once or twice, and that the sound of the surf or the rustling of trees will be your backdrop.

June 2003

Think about starting a book club with a child, including your own son or daughter, a niece or nephew or a grandson or granddaughter. We have ideas on how to do this at Kidsreads.com, Teenreads.com and a special feature we are running for a program called Readers Circle that you can read more about at Teenreads.com or Readers-Circle.com.

May 2003

Our tip this month comes from Laura Peurach of Madison Heights, Michigan. "For my book club known as 'Table Talk' I created book marks which list the titles we've chosen for the year. There's so much room for creativity and they make a wonderful little gift!"

April 2003

April is National Poetry Month. It may be a nice time for you to have members of your group share favorite poems with one another, and discuss them.

March 2003

Think about reading an Irish author, or, since winter has been so horrendous in most of the country think about reading a book that inspires thoughts of spring!

February 2003

1) In honor of Black History Month think about adding a book froma black author onto your group's list.

2) In honor of Valentine's Day think about donating a book to a charity in your group's name. Think about a local adult or children's charity where this might make be well appreciated.

January 2003

Have each member of the group make a yearlong reading resolution. This can be something like vowing to read new authors or explore a new genre. Write these down and re-visit them in December to see how many have been kept!

December 2002

Think about sharing your BEST OF 2002 book lists with each other. Print them on pretty paper and pass around.

November 2002

Think about donating some of your favorite titles to less fortunate readers via a local book drive or library sale.

October 2002

Think about donating books to a holiday charity. Start researching where you are going to donate NOW!

September 2002

Fall into Classics. Try reading a classic title this September. It will be a lot more fun than reading one for school.

August 2002

With September being back-to-school month, we want to know if your book club has read any children's titles. What did you read? Did they lead to good discussions? Which would you recommend to other reading groups?

July 2002

Think about selecting a travel book for your discussion.

June 2002

To celebrate summer and summer reading, think about having a "summer book exchange" where you each brings a favorite summer beach read for a grab bag. Each member goes home with a new book to read! Perhaps you may want to include a line or two about why you liked the book.

May 2002

Think about great Mother/Daughter titles, or starting a Mother/Daughter Book Club. What a great way to spend time with your Daughters.

April 2002

Think about bringing a bouquet of flowers or a small plant to exchange with other group members at your meeting to spread spring around. Or a flowery-themed bookmark.

March 2002

Think about hosting a movie-themed evening.

February 2002

In honor of Black History Month, think about reading a book by an African-American author.