Introducing a new series on Book Club Girl! Kristen, the creator of Book Club Classics, a site that provides book club kits for specific works of classic literature will offer her insight with the five-part series entitled "How To Make Your Book Club More Effective." Here is her first post -- look for one a week for the next four weeks. And check out her site, there are some wonderful resources there.
Through the years, I have been blessed to be a member of a number of book clubs and, as the creator of BookClubClassics, I spend a lot of time considering why some book clubs are more satistfying than others. Most would agree that the common goals of most book clubs are to share what is usually a solitary experience -- reading -- and to learn more about themselves and each other through their interactions with literature. However, sometimes the literature gets deemphasized to the point of frustration and the original intent of the members is lost.
One of my goals when I create a custom kit for a book club is to facilitate an experience where the members engage with a work of literatre on a deeper level, and this largely depends on the existing tenor of the group. So, when a member first requests a custom book club kit, I send a questionnaire with questions like: What brought your group together? What is the best and worst book, discussion-wise, that your club has tackled? How much time is spent on the book vs. socializing? What is the nature of the dynamics of your group?
The last question can be the hardest to answer... Groups of people who meet with any regularity tend to develop an identity composed of, but still separate from, the sum of their parts! So how can your group bcome an even more effective book club?
I think one key is to have a defined purpose or mission as a community of readers. For example: choosing to read the classics! Or choosing to read works that no one in the group has read before. Or choosing favorites the members have read before. Or political non-fiction.. chick lit...hopeful romances...etc. Recently a book club ordered a series of custom kits based on Edward Mendelson's The Things that Matter: What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life. The seven novels are: Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Middlemarch, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Between the Acts. According to the answers from their questionnaire, this book club is very effective and satisfying to its members. Every reader finishes each work prior to the book club and discussion largely remains focused on the chosen work.
Agreeing upon a theme seems to result in a more successful and fulfilling book club. The nature of the theme really isn't important, so long as the group agrees upon it. Personally, I like to be challenged with works outside of my usual milieu, and I'll read just about anything that is well-written or interesting or ground-breaking. As a former writing teacher, content (including plot) is less important to my enjoymnt than the quality of the actual writing. However, I have discovered that when someone holds a book near and dear, "poor writing" becomes insignificant. People just don't want to believe that they could love a book that was poorly written or insignificant with regard to the world of literature.
So I suggest agreeing upon a theme to provide focus and to avoid so many common complaints of book clubs: drifting conversations, avoiding selections, condescending questions of "merit." I would love to hear what "themes" or missions other book clubs have. And if you need inspiration, check out my upcoming Instant Classics series on Pulitzer Prize winners!
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