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How to Host a Virtual Book Club

Photo credit: Pornsawan Sangmanee / EyeEm
Photo credit: Pornsawan Sangmanee / EyeEm

From Country Living

For better or worse, creating digital spaces for people to connect is definitely the internet’s superpower. It’s natural, then, for that gift to translate to other areas of life where we love to congregate and gab about a shared topic—like, say for instance, the 40 best books of all time—that brings us joy (preferably with something yummy to stuff our faces with, too, if we’re being honest).

Whether you’re stuck inside for an unforeseen amount of time, have friends scattered around the world, or (let’s be honest) just really prefer to chat about topics that get your inner fangirl buzzing from the comfort of your living room with a glass of mail-order wine (just me?), a virtual game night or book club is the perfect solution. Of the latter, author Rosiee Thor says, “For three years and counting, I've had a weekly phone call with a friend who lives 2,000 miles away, and we spend hours just talking about what we're reading. It doesn't matter if we're reading the same book or not; we just have a blast talking about what we're liking, what we're hating, and what we're reading next.”

Sounds like a pretty perfect way to spend an evening inside, right? So we reached out to a handful of authors to get their tips on how to host a successful book club—virtually.

Step 1: Pick a “Place” to Meet

"Technology makes it so easy to connect with other, often far-flung readers and have the sort of fruitful discussions that book clubs make possible," says children's book author and illustrator Jarrett Lerner. Jarrett even meets with book clubs and readers digitally, where he's able to share his home studio, which is "full of cool, book-related stuff I can share."

There are no shortages of digital "places" to meet now, too. Popular options will always be platforms that people are the most familiar with, but here are some that authors like Jarrett have used and recommend:

  1. Google Hangouts: a fast and easy platform to get up and running on, though it is limited to 10 people at a time.

  2. Zoom: another easy platform to get going on in a hurry, with the added bonus of easy tiling on the screen that you can see each other at once. The downside: Unless you pay for a plan, the free version is limited to 40 minutes (which can go by pretty fast once you get chatting).

  3. Slack: While you might think of Slack as a forum/chat room platform used for workspaces, it's also great for a book club's digital HQ and allows for easy video chatting too (up to 15 people).

  4. Skype: another easy, free option, this time with up to 50 people!

Step 2: Invite Your People

While my club came together organically out of a desire for long-distance friends to share what we're reading and keep in touch, others have been going on for so long that people can't remember how they came about! That's what happened to author Sarah Lyu, whose book club met locally until recently. "We just had our monthly dinner meeting via Zoom. It was so nice to be able to see everyone and check in with them, and it actually made things feel a bit normal even though we were on Zoom. We even got to meet everyone's pups and kittens, so that was a nice bonus to meeting that way!"

No matter how you reach out, we recommend keeping it casual, so that you don't introduce the idea in a way that might intimidate people or suggest more of a time commitment than they think they can tackle.

Photo credit: monkeybusinessimages
Photo credit: monkeybusinessimages

Step 3: Pick a Book

When it comes time for my digital book club to select our next book, we rotate! Because each of us tends to read in different genres, our club is all about reading outside of our comfort zones, and this means that we alternate who picks a book every month. Often, the selections are not books I would pick up on my own, which has been great for broadening my literary horizons. It also ensures we have lively and interesting conversations. We just finished Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez and—wow!— did we have a lot to talk about!

Best-selling author Beth Revis hosts a monthly digital book club that utilizes numerous online platforms in different ways, so when it comes time to pick the club's next book, they jump on Facebook. "At the end of each month, we use Facebook to hold a discussion and poll to vote on what the next month's book will be. Facebook works easiest for this as everyone has an account and the discussion is really casual. Also, anyone can add suggestions to the poll and easily vote for whatever book they want."

Beth goes on to explain the rules her group put into place when making a selection (admit it: We book-lovers do need some parameters to help narrow down the endless choices we have). "It has to be released within the last year or so, for ease of access and to stay current," Beth says. "It has to be the first in a series, so people don't have to read multiple books to catch up. And if anyone has a legitimate reason for not wanting to read a book, it can be vetoed, no questions asked. In the Facebook polls, I encourage people to defend their selections and sway others to their book choices, which has led to interesting conversations before we even pick the book! Having a guideline for the type of books to select and then encouraging discussion while picking a book has meant that everyone feels involved from the start, and we've had great participation and fun."

With Sarah's club, selections alternate between fiction and nonfiction, "doing one book per month. We're very forgiving of those who don't finish the book because discussion can still flow from those who've read something and questions from those who haven't."

Author Anna Birch's book club started when everyone was newlyweds and has continued ever since. "We have a wide variety of reading interests, and not all of them are compatible, so rather than pick a monthly book, we developed a seasonal reading challenge! For spring, we'd have challenges such as a book with a flower in the title or a book with a main character who enjoys gardening. It's a lot of fun!"

Whether you alternate whose turn it is to pick, set up a poll, or brainstorm another egalitarian way to choose, be sure to talk this out beforehand so that everyone understands how selections will be made and feels included and heard in the process.

Step 4: Pick a Date

This one is straight-forward. Once everyone's on-board, select a day and time that works, and pencil (or Sharpie!) it in on the calendar.

One last word of advice from Beth: "I suggest everyone do more than just praise a book in a book club. True discussion talks about what works and what doesn't work in a book, or raises questions about why an author wrote about one part of a story instead of another. Our best discussion so far has come from a book that half the group hated and the other half loved. It's not necessary to have the same opinion—in fact, it was far more fun when everyone had a different opinion! Our last pick was Scythe, by Neal Shusterman. It was a great book because it promoted a lot of conversation."

Optional: Share a Recipe!

The trio I share my small-but-mighty digital book club with all love wine, so we pair our book picks with something that ties in with the book in some way. (For Invisible Women, we selected vintages from wineries run by women.) While it's totally optional, adding a food component onto your club adds a fun element, because who doesn't love to try something tasty when they get together with friends? (If you need inspiration, we've gathered a collection of easy cocktails that are perfect for a hot summer day.)

Digital Book Clubs You Can Join Now

These clubs may not be local to you, per se, but are still great communities to join (after all, they love to read, so you’ve already got that in common!).

Andrew Luck Book Club

The former Indianapolis Colts’s quarterback has a book club that started out of a pure love for reading. Each month, he suggests a book for younger readers and adult readers. Conversations take place over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can also tune in for his podcasts with authors. Follow #ALBOOKCLUB for more.

Reese’s Book Club

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Reese Witherspoon’s book club. (But you know about this one by now, right?) Reese’s club is 1.5 million strong in Instagram followers and features a female-centric novel each month.

Oprah’s Book Club

The reigning queen of digital book clubs, Oprah's been gathering readers together for her book club since 1996. (You can peruse a list of every selection here.)

Ladies Lit Squad

An all-female group based in London (but don’t think you have to be local to join; good literature knows no geographical bounds!), this power squad is thousands strong and meets on Instagram Live as well as for in-person groups for those in town.

Quarantine Book Club

Founded recently, the Quarantine Book Club allows you to connect with authors via Zoom to chat about their books. All genres are covered, ranging from young adult with Zan Romanoff’s Look to nonfiction with Ariel Waldman’s What’s It Like In Space? (Each meeting is $5, with a need-based waiver available.)

Reread Podcasts

Ever heard of a reread podcast? Me neither, but Rosiee explains: “As more of an introvert, a book group seems a little overwhelming. I've had great success feeling connected through my reading by listening to reread podcasts for some of my favorite books. It's like getting to be in the room with hilarious, intelligent people without actually having to leave my house!” You can find reread podcasts on everything from Harry Potter to Game of Thrones via a quick search online.

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