In December 2023, my mom and I decided to read and watch Lessons in Chemistry together. Our first unofficial “meeting” was just a few minutes of discussing the book in between episodes and snacking– book club is really about the charcuterie board, right? Because the book is 400 pages and the series is eight episodes, we broke it into two months, which worked well for us—plus more cheese and crackers!
After that, we took a hiatus from our non-existent book club until mid-2024 when one of us mentioned Daisy Jones & the Six. This time, we got my sister-in-law in on the act. We weren’t always the most consistent, with summer approaching and schedules difficult to accommodate we took a break until fall when meeting monthly became more of a priority, and we essentially found our groove.
Our book club lineup was:
- Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
- Election by Tom Perrotta
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Wicked by Gregory Maguire
- The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern (aka It’s a Wonderful Life)
A book club should be self-explanatory, you meet, discuss the book nibble on a charcuterie board, and decide what to read next. The three of us discovered that it was a little too book report for us. and through trial and error found what worked for us.
From the beginning, I think our biggest obstacle was setting a regular meeting date. With Daisy Jones and The Other Black Girl, we had several months of gaps between meetings and found ourselves forgetting elements of the book and the series. When our meeting for Election rolled around, we made more of a point to discuss the book and had a themed drink. (themed drinks and/or food is here to stay!) We also saw Wicked and It’s a Wonderful Life in the theater which was a fun way to mix it up.
There is no wrong way to book club. For my group, not taking ourselves too seriously, chatting with book discussion slipped in between charcuterie and watching the adaptation works for us. However, I think a huge game-changer for us staying organized was the website book clubs. The site is a wonderful way to organize meetings and keep track of books your group has read or wants to read. Best of all the site will send reminders to members for upcoming meetings.
Our first meeting of 2025 is this Sunday for Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. At this meeting, we’ll also be picking the next few books for the upcoming months. I have a list going of books/adaptations but I’m always open to suggestions. If anyone has been in a book club what worked or didn’t work for you? And, how did your group go about selecting future books? Also, every time I mentioned charcuterie feel free to take a drink.
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