A great way to run a book club

When I lived in Richardson, TX, I was invited to be part of a men’s book club. I was very impressed with how it was set up.

The setup

We completed the following steps in a perpetual cycle

1. A host volunteers or is chosen.
2. The host chooses three book candidates and the others vote* on which book to read.
3. The host chooses three or four Thursday evenings and the others vote* to decide which one to meet on.
4. The group reads the book.
5. The host decides where to meet—generally at the local ice cream shop.
6. The group meets to discuss the book.

* We used GroupMe polls for these votes.

What I liked about it

There’s a lot of genius to this setup. Since you’re voting on the book, you generally end up reading a book you’re at least somewhat interested in.

Because you’re voting on the date, the meeting is generally on a day when most people can make it and you can vote for more or less time depending on the length of the book and your own schedule.

Anyone can host regardless of their home situation since the ice cream shop is a default location. (Sometimes we met around a campfire in someone’s backyard, but most of the time we just went to Braum’s. Either way, it was a lot of fun and didn’t require much prep.)

Because the schedule of reads isn’t decided in advance, newcomers have a better chance at hosting and the group can adapt to new book releases.

A few of our reads

• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
• His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
• Putin’s World by Angela Stent
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
• Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

The future

Now that I’ve moved back to Utah, I’m starting a book club in the image of the last one.

Credits

Tanner Garrett ran the Richardson book club. I’m super grateful for his good idea and his invitation.