Start your own Book Club

Start your own book club this new year using our tips and tricks. Invite friends, neighbors, and family members to join. The Sunset Palms Blog is featuring our favorite books and a checklist to help you start your book club. We hope that you get the chance to read a good book and spend some time with friends this month.

Book Club Checklist

— Decide which genre your book club group will read. Are you a fan of fantasy? Graphic novels? Science fiction? Pick a genre that you love and find friends who love it, as well. Or if you’ll be sampling from a variety of genres, be upfront about that and make sure everyone’s on board.

— Decide when and where you will meet. Pick a time that works for all of your group members. An easy way to find a time that works for the majority of your group members is by using Google Forms or Google Calendar. Have your group members mark days and times that work for them, and then pick the date and time that works for the majority of your members.

— Pick a book. Have group members nominate and then vote on which book to read (again, Google Forms is a great way to do this). Remind your book club members to nominate books that fit your genre. Or you can have a different person choose a book each cycle.

— Nominate a discussion leader. Your discussion leader will come up with questions and guide your book club discussion.

— Have members sign up to bring treats. No book club is complete without a good meal! Make salads, sandwiches, snacks, and desserts for your everyone to munch on while you discuss your book.

Book Recommendations

Emma by Jane Austen

“Beautiful, clever, rich—and single—Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.”

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

“When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. [...] I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.”

What’s your favorite book? Let us know in the comments. Head to your local library in Hollywood, FL for a good book this month. Thanks for reading our post!