How to Start and Lead a Book Club

One of my favorite things about being a bookworm is sharing my love of books with my friends!

I started my reading journey as an adult during the pandemic lockdown. I’d read a little bit here and there post-college, but I really got on a roll once the world shut down and we were confined to our houses. I had an account on Goodreads (my favorite social media) and found that almost none of my friends were reading. I was starting to read a lot of fiction, and in 2020/21, it just didn’t seem like many other people were reading as much as I was. Maybe I was just in a new mom bubble; perhaps it was the community I was a part of, or maybe it was just me.

But after our move to Los Angeles, I found that many more people were interested in reading fiction, just like me! I was so excited that I started a fiction book club and a nonfiction book club with my women’s ministry at church. I also joined another fiction book club and was part of a non-fiction book club at work. Looking back, I may have gone a little overboard, but I was so excited that other people wanted to read books with me!

I’ve found book clubs to be so fruitful in my life. They allow space to build friendships and relationships, offer a space for vulnerability and honesty, and teach me about my community, the world, and the varied topics we discuss.

We’ve since moved back to the Bay Area, but I look back on our time in LA with my book-loving friends with such fondness. Many of the book clubs I started are still continuing without me, and I couldn’t be more proud to have brought these people together to read good books and learn.

Whether you’ve moved to a new community or want to start a book club with your current friends, this post is for you!

How to Start a Book Club

It might seem simple, but first, you’ll need to gather your friends. If you have an established community, you might already know the bookworms in your group. If you’re new to a community, and as you’re meeting new people, maybe ask them what they’re reading or share what you’re reading to gauge whether they’d be interested in joining your book club.

Determine whether you’ll host a fiction or non-fiction book club. Different people might fall into different categories, but sometimes, people interested in fiction might also be interested in non-fiction! It takes some conversations to find out what people enjoy. If you’re well-read, this should be an easy conversation to carry.

Once you know which group of friends might be interested, let them know you want to start a book club and ask if they’d like to join!

From there, starting the book club is primarily a logistics game (and for me, this is the hardest part!). If you’re a scheduling pro, you might love the challenge of coordinating multiple people’s schedules and preferences. If not, you can rely on apps like Doodle to help determine the group’s best meeting time. My most successful meeting times for groups of moms are usually after kid’s bedtime — around 7:45 or 8 pm. I’ve also had successful book clubs meet first thing on a Saturday morning. Ask your group their preferences, or pick a few dates that work for you, and the group can tell you which dates work best.

Encourage your readers to find the chosen book at the library, through Libby for an audiobook or ebook, or through a local bookstore if they want to buy it. Instruct them to read the entire book if it’s fiction or two to three chapters if you’re slowly working through a non-fiction book.

On your chosen meeting day, gather your group around books and food. I love having a simple snack like popcorn or fresh cookies, tea, and decaf coffee for my nighttime book clubs. Maybe some pastries or light snacks would work best if you're hosting in the morning.

How to Lead a Book Club

Now that you’re all gathered together, how do you keep a discussion going? Often, non-fiction books have discussion questions at the end of the chapters. These questions are usually constructive and keep the conversation flowing for your time together. Fiction books occasionally include discussion questions; if not, you can generally find discussion questions posted online. A simple search of “(book title) discussion questions” should come up with a few good leading questions about characters or circumstances in the book.

Here are a few more I like to ask for fiction books:

• How many stars would you rate this book (out of 5) and why?

• Which actor would play each character in the film?

• Which character resonated with you and why?

If you’re running a Christian non-fiction book club, I’d also encourage opening and closing in prayer.

A sample book club meeting might look like this:

7:45 - 8 pm: people arrive, grab snacks, chat with each other

8 pm: open in prayer if applicable

8:05 - 8:45 pm: book discussion time

8:45 -8:55 pm: pick your next book (or chapters), confirm the next meeting date

8:55 pm: close in prayer if applicable

9 pm: end, chat as people are leaving

As a final note for leading, I will say that the discussion leader does not also have to host. Ask if others would be interested in hosting, or find a fun meeting spot in town if you can’t host the book club. Make it work for your group! Invite people in, allow others to invite them in, or gather wherever you can — it’s worth it!

Next up, here are some ideas for books to read based on the type of book club you’ll be hosting. I’ve read each of these and discussed many in book clubs, so I know they’re worth it! It’s not exhaustive, and I could’ve added so many more! Hopefully, this list is one you can revisit when you need ideas for your book club. Happy reading!

Book Ideas for Fiction Book Clubs

Mystery/Thriller

• The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel

• Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

• The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

• Curfew by Jayne Cowie

• Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

• The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

• Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

• The Maid by Nita Prose

• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Literary/Social Commentary

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingslover

• Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Claire Pooley

• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

• Beartown by Fredrik Backman

• The Nix by Nathan Hill

• The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

• Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

• Any classics would be great as well!

Book Ideas for Non-Fiction Book Clubs

General

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

• The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton

• A Fever in the Heartland: the Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

• Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

• Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention — And How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari

• The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

• That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph

• The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi

Christian

• Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do What He Did by John Mark Comer

• Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton

• The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel Earley

• Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer by Tyler Staton

• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer

Book Ideas for Christian Moms

• The 6 Needs of Every Child: Empowering Parents and Kids Through the Power of Connection by Amy Elizabeth Olrick

• The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch

• Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow by Jamie Erickson

• Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms by Justin Whitmel Earley

• Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren

• Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope For Everday Moments by Emily Jensen

• Raising Passionate Jesus Followers: The Power of Intentional Parenting by Phil Comer