Book Club Hosting can be just as exciting as it is daunting. It’s a great opportunity to meet with your friends to talk about your favorite books. What could go wrong?
It can be overwhelming to consider book club discussion questions, food, drinks, decorations, and more. Hopefully, these book club hosting ideas help ease any concerns!
The Ultimate Guide to Book Club Hosting
1. Book Club Invitations
It all starts with an invitation! Sending an invitation via text or email is a great way to let guests know what to expect, what they need to bring, and to get them excited about your event.
There are many free invitation templates available on Canva that you can download and send in a text or email to your guests. Here are some examples of book club invitations for inspiration:
2. Set the Scene with Book Club Party Decorations
Creating an immersive atmosphere is essential for a successful book club meeting! Some of the easiest ways to incorporate your book into the decor include finding themed napkins, plates, and table decorations.
For example, if you’re hosting a Fourth Wing book club, you could find dragon-themed napkins and plates for your guests to use. You can also add small dragon figurines around your space to really make your guests feel like part of the world your book takes place in.
You can even use the book itself as decor! Do you have any special editions, or a favorite page you want to have your book open to? These stands will keep books open to certain pages you want to display. These are great options for adding decor that fits perfectly with your book club theme.
3. Book Club Food and Drinks
Everyone loves to snack, and you can really elevate your book club by providing food and drinks that fit the theme of your book!
Does your book mention any favorite foods of the main characters? Does a scene include the characters at a winery, or drinking a special type of ale or mulled wine? If you are hosting a book club, make sure to take note of anything the characters eat or drink so you can incorporate it into your gathering!
Bonus points if you can come up with creative names for your food and drink offerings (ChatGPT would be a great assistant here!).
4. Book Club Activities
When hosting a book club (especially if not everyone knows each other), it can be a good idea to have an activity to start the event. This allows people to get comfortable with each other and acts as an “opening ceremony” to the discussion. Some ideas are below:
- Book Bingo: Create bingo cards with different genres, themes, or tropes. As members share their favorites, they can mark off their cards if something is mentioned.
- Favorite Book Share: Ask everyone to briefly share their favorite book and why it resonates with them. This helps create connections among members.
- Literary Trivia: Organize a short trivia game related to the book or general literary knowledge. It’s a fun way to kick off the meeting!
5. Book Club Discussion Questions
One of the best parts of a book club is getting the discussion flowing. It’s a good idea to have a list of questions about the book to kick off the conversation. Usually, after a few questions, discussions will branch off and flow freely, but keeping questions on hand is always important.
The best way to encourage discussion is to ask specific, open-ended questions. Questions like “Did you like this book?” can be too general and lead people to provide one-word answers. Asking about the motivation of a character or whether anyone in the room can relate to what a character has experienced is much better for fostering discussion. Here are some examples of questions you can use. You can also check out this list by bookclub.com for inspiration!
6. Incorporating Visuals/Media in Your Book Club
These days, many books are adapted into films and TV shows. This is the perfect opportunity to watch a clip of a favorite book chapter and see how it plays out on screen. If your book hasn’t been adapted, you can often find fan art online to share with your guests.
This can be a great conversation starter to discuss whether the portrayal of a character is similar to what your guests had envisioned.
Another option is to find an interview with the author. This can be an article or a video, but it’s always enlightening to hear an author’s perspective on the story and can provide even more discussion topics for your group.
7. Consider a Book Club Potluck
Playing host can be stressful, whether you’ve done it once or a hundred times. It takes a lot of work and effort to clean and prep your home, organize food and drinks, and ensure everyone is having a good time.
An easy way to lessen the burden is to have each person bring one item. It could be a specialty cocktail, a dessert, discussion questions, an appetizer, etc. Hosting an event takes a village, even if it’s just for a handful of people!
This is why an invitation can be so important, as it helps people understand what to expect. The invitation is a great time to request specific items to be brought.
I hope this book club hosting guide has been helpful for you! I look forward to sharing specific book club guides in the future, so stay tuned!
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