Tonight is the second meeting of our book club, and depending on how it goes i.e. the turnout we’ll open for compling a list for future picks.
If all goes well at the end of the meeting we’ll give “homework” to the group by choosing a few book ideas to bring to the next meeting. Because November and December can be such hectic months a novel will probably be chosen at our October group but the club will not reconvene until January, I think two months is a reasonable time for the season. Or should we begin at the new year and chose a book then?
Lastly, our only restrictions for book club contenders is:
- Paperback only! easier to handle and a little cheaper for those who buy or borrow through the library
- Must be under 500 pages (trade paperback) 300 and under was debated but there are so many good books over that number we didn’t want to box ourselves in.
Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions. Second and third voices are always appreciated.
I've just started a book club…we've only done 3 books so far of which the first 3 were good: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Elegance of the Hedgehog and The Little Stranger. I thought about adding a page restriction together with my co-founder but we decided not to as there are so many books over 500 pages that are good. Of course, we had no idea one of our members would choose Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand…a tedious read and a doorstopper at 1200 pages. No one finished it including the host. It's a good thing you're doing the restriction, you never know what people are going to choose and to force someone to read a long book that they're not interested in at all is sheer torture.
By the way, we're currently reading Breakfast at Tiffany's and other stories by Truman Capote. I loved the film but never picked up the book. I thought it was wonderful and just perfect.
I am glad that you asked this question. My group of friends have just started a book club and I am the host of the first meeting… and the book chooser. I have chosen The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and I hope that it goes well. I would suggest getting on a bookclub website, like The First Tuesday Bookclub's website, and getting ideas from there.
Mrs. B– Good luck with your book club! I've only read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time but they all sound good to me. I hope you enjoy Breakfast at Tiffany's as much as you did the movie.
Becky– I hope your first meet goes well! That's quite a lot of pressure choosing/hosting the first book, but really part of the fun is the socialization.
It's funny that both of you mentioned The Little Stranger, I'll have to look into that, if not only for club but myself.
yay! exit the actress just makes it in under the wire at 484 pages! everything else i am reading seems to be upwards of 700 pages. i read a brilliant book about coco chanel and stravinsky–will go find the title…