How to Start a Book Club and Pick the Books

Most clubs use one of three systems, and the one you choose matters less than everyone knowing what it is.

• Take turns. Each member picks once a round, and nobody argues with the person whose turn it is.
• Vote. Members suggest books through the month and the club votes on the shortlist.
• Do both. The person whose turn it is chooses from the books people voted up.

• Check that the book is out in paperback or at the library before you pick it.
• Keep most picks under 400 pages, and give a longer one an extra month.
• Alternate heavy books with lighter ones. A club that reads three grim ones in a row tends to lose people.

Once a month is the norm, on a fixed night like the last Tuesday. A fixed night is easier to remember than a date somebody announces each month, and people plan around it.

• Homes are the classic, with the host rotating each month.
• A café or a quiet bar works if nobody wants to host, though it gets loud.
• Many public libraries lend meeting rooms for free, and some lend book club sets.

Two hours is plenty. Spend the first half hour catching up and eating, then move to the book, so the discussion doesn't get interrupted by arrivals.

• Have one person guide the talk each month, usually the one who picked the book.
• Ask open questions rather than quiz questions about the plot.
• Make room for the people who didn't finish. They still came.
• Save the last ten minutes for choosing the next book and the next date.

• Which character would you most like to have dinner with, and which would you avoid?
• Was there a moment you almost stopped reading? What kept you going?
• Did the ending feel earned?
• What did the author leave out that you wanted to know?
• Would you recommend it, and to whom specifically?
• If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?

Book clubs rarely end in an argument. They end when a meeting gets skipped and nobody sets the next one.

• Set the next date before everyone leaves.
• Keep a running list of books people want to read, so the next pick is never a blank.
• Keep a list of what you've read. After a year, people like seeing it.
• Welcome new members now and then, since a few always drift away.

Joinue is free, with no paid plan and no ads. A book club Space shows the current read with its author, the date to finish by and a countdown.

• Members add books to a to-read pile and vote, with the most votes on top.
• The club page shows whose turn it is to pick next.
• When the next book becomes the current read, the last one moves to your past reads, where you can rate it.
• Add a standing meeting, like the last Tuesday, and it lands on every member's calendar with I'm in.
• Turn on the spoiler gate and posts marked as spoilers stay blurred until each member has finished.
• The club starts private, so only people with your invite link can join.