Creative ideas to make your club fun & unique!
Try a theme...
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Sometime a great way to start a club and find members with similar interests is by centering the club around a theme. There are many kinds of themes one could choose:
- Genre: Choose a favorite genre, such as romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, biography, non-fiction, etc., and base book selections on the genre.
- Format: Choose a format to focus on, such as graphic novel, comics, audio books, etc.
- Location or Time Period: Choose books that take place in a certain setting or time period.
- Character: Center your club on books that feature a certain type of character. This category opens up many possibilities. Character type could focus on a character's ethnicity, gender, age, profession, etc.)
- Subject: Choose books that revolve around a specific subject. Again, there are many possibilities; some examples include WWII, apocalypse, psychics, the immigrant experience, friendships, etc.
Do more than just read and discuss ...
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Your club doesn't have to be all about reading, and it doesn't always have to include formal and meaningful discussions. You could try:
- Book & a Movie Club: read the book, see the movie, and then discuss (Example: Read Sarah's Key and then watch the film).
- Book & a "Field Trip" Club: read the book and meet at a place related to the book (Example: Read Middlesex and then visit a Greek restaurant).
- Book & Cook Club: read the book and then cook something mentioned in the book. Believe it or not, there's actually a cookbook for this: The Book Club Cookbook, Rev. Ed.: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp (Example: Read The Secret Life of Bees and cook something that calls for honey.)
Set the scene...
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If you are hosting a meeting, do something special to "set the scene" and create an atmosphere unique to the book your club read. Here's a few examples:
- Music: while members are arriving, play music related to the book (Ex: If you read The Shoemaker's Wife, play opera music).
- Dress: Have everyone dress up as their favorite character.
- Food & Drink: Serve snacks or beverages related to what you read (Example: If you read The Mango Season, serve mangos or a mango-based cocktail).
- Decorate: Add some flair to your meeting place with related decor. (Example: If you read Dracula, you might drag out some Halloween decorations. Plastic fangs, anyone?).