Having a book club is a great way to meet new people and read a host of new books. However, to really drive discussions along after you have read them you need to think of the types of topics you will discuss. Having a preconceived list of questions and areas you want to cover will help prevent your discussions from becoming stifled.

There are different types of topics you should discuss for fiction and non-fiction titles. Fiction books are a good place to start as you can discuss with your group important things like the characters. You can ask the club whether they identified with the main character or, if not, was there something about their personality they didn’t like. Fiction books also often have a number of plot twists and unexpected events, and you can ask the group whether they thought these devices worked within the context of the novel of whether they seemed forced.

Reading non-fiction titles is less common in book clubs, but can provide a wealth of opportunities for discussion none the less. Reading a biography of a famous person is perhaps a good place to start. You could ask the group to make a list of ideas and impressions they had of the person before they started reading their biography and then see how these impressions change as you progress through the book. Other non-fiction books on debatable topics such as religion or climate change can also provide some fascinating discussion, although it must be made clear that you are dealing with people’s personal opinions and any attempts to offend will not be tolerated. You can discuss with the group whether they thought the author provided all the facts in a well balanced manner or whether they thought the argument was valid. It is also important to think about how the book has increased your knowledge on the particular subject.

If you are looking for a new hobby or pastime, one great idea is to join a book club. These clubs offer a host of benefits that will spice up your life.

Obviously the best reason to join a book club is you will get to do a lot more reading. However, you will also come across a number of books that you may perhaps not normally read. Joining a book club is a great way to learn about subjects you had never heard of before and discussing the books with your other book club members can be just as interesting.

Joining a book club will also give you access to a range of different opinions and perspectives that you might not otherwise get to see. If you are reading a book on your own, you pretty much have only one way to look at it. However, if there is a number of you reading the same book the others may pick up on themes and subjects that you perhaps had missed.

One of the best parts of a book club is often the food! Most clubs usually meet in an evening in different people’s houses. This gives them the opportunity to put on food for their guests, or people can each bring an item of food to share with the other members. Either way, you may get to try a whole new array of food and wine by joining a book club.

Book clubs are also great because they provide you with motivation to read. Often people would like to read more but come up with excuses like “If I had more time”. When you are part of a book club, the rest of the group is relying on you to read a certain amount by a set period of the week, ensuring that you will follow through on your responsibilities.

If you are setting up a book club, there are many things you need to think about. Not only do you have to sort out what type of books you will read, but you also need to think about where the club will be hosted. However, by far the most important aspect of having a book club is the people you ask to join it!

Book clubs can be enticing for a number of people. If you work in an office, you may have coworkers who might be interested in joining your book club. You could send an email around your office to gain levels of interest or put up a notice in a communal area like the kitchen. If there are enough people interested at work you could even arrange to have the book club in your lunch hour.

Putting a notice in your local library is also a great way to meet new people whoa are interested in books. You will have to decide whether you want to have similar people in your club or a wide range of characters. Having a diverse set of people means the discussions are bound to be more interesting with more varied points of view, although there is a chance that you may not find that many things you have in common. The only real way to know for sure is to try it out.

You should also think about whether you want to have mixed gender books clubs or people of the same sex. Again, same sex book clubs are probably more likely to find common areas of interest, although discussions are bound to be more entertaining with viewpoints from both men and women. Having a mixed group will also ensure that you read books from a wide range of genres, instead of sticking to romance of thriller novels!