Basic Tips | Reading Guides | About
Quote from: Dodson, Shireen – The Mother-Daughter Book Club: How
Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh, and Learn Through Their Love
of Reading
Have you ever thought about starting or joining a book club? Or are you
just interested in learning more about the possibilities……? Following are some
basic tips and resources that you may consult to get started.
Basic Tips:
- Check if there are any book clubs in your area that you are interested in – the
South Milwaukee Public Library currently has a group that meets every 2nd
Thursday; click here for more information.
- Who should be in the group
? There are several different directions you can choose to
go with this, (women only, mothers and daughters, coed, single or married, etc.). The
important thing to remember is that the type of members you have in the group will guide
your book choices and discussions. If you are interested in starting a group or would like
to join a current club, contact Bob Pfeiffer, Library Director @ (414)768-8195.
- Where and when do you want to meet
? The time of day you choose to meet will also
greatly influence your membership; try to be very flexible with your time and place of
meeting. Some possibilities for a meeting place can be:
- Member’s homes
–
rotate between members homes
- Public Library
– a room at the library can be used during library hours; contact Bob
Pfeiffer, Library Director @ (414)768-8195.
- What kind of books do you want to read and how will they be discussed
? Many groups
choose a theme or genre for their book selections, such as mystery, romance, science
fiction, etc. Some groups choose to rotate the book selection, allowing each member to
make a selection; others may go with the current best seller. Your choice will vary with
your focus or goal for your club; are you all about fun or would you like to provide some
educational choices also. You may choose to write your own discussion questions or just
have ‘free’ discussions with little direction. Some direction will provide for a
more organized and thoughtful conversation. There are many websites that provide free
discussion guides for several titles; see the reading guides section below. Some ideas for
book choices can be found in:
– a publication found near the new books at SMPL that lists reviews
for new titles, or consult their web site http://www.bookpage.com
Ask the Reference Librarian – your friendly SMPL Reference Desk Librarian would be
happy to suggest various titles
Best seller lists – to access the fiction and non-fiction best seller lists at
Publishers Weekly, click here
These are just some basic tips, for a more in depth discussion on how to start a
book club, consult the following books:
READING GUIDES:
Reading guides are available for many titles and can provide discussion questions,
notes of explanation from the author and author biographies. Some publisher sites may
allow you to contact the author and even invite them to your discussion! Click the links
below to check out the many guides available.
Reading
Group Guides.com –
‘the first website built especially for reading groups’
Book Group Corner – Bantam, Broadway, Dell, and Doubleday books
Random House Reading Group – Search by author, title, subject
Crown Reading Group Guides – ‘Invite the author’ link
Ballantine Reader’s Circle – ‘Author phone chat’ link
Vintage Books Reading Group Center – Features Vintage and Anchor titles
Book
Browse.com – Provides
access to excerpts of various titles
Time
Warner Bookmark – Time
Warner Publishing titles
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