Two Years of Book Group

Two years ago I started a book group, with the help and encouragement of some friends. The advantage of starting a book group is that it runs the way I like book groups to run. Not to say that my book group is perfect, but I like it and attend every month.

We have read a fun variety of books, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young adult, classics, and recently released. And two years later, to my surprise, people are still coming.

List of books we have read and discussed so far:

• April 2013: The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
• May 2013: The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
• June 2013: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
• July 2013: These is My Words by Nancy Turner
• August 2013: Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson
• September 2013: Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
• October 2013: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
• November/December 2013: The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
• January 2014: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• February 2014: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• March 2014: Picture Book Month
• April 2014: The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• May 2014: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
• June/July 2014: Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• August 2014: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• September 2014: Divergent by Veronica Roth
• October/November 2014: A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
• November/December 2014: Poetry Month
• January 2015: Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
• February 2015: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
• March 2015: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
• April 2015: Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins

How the book group runs

Someone volunteers to host (or if no one volunteers, I recruit). That person chooses the book, either one with a book group copy at the library or one with at least a few library copies available. Everyone who wants to reads the book does so. (It’s an open invitation book group, so anyone can attend, and you’re not required to read–we’ve had been 3 and 15 people at every book group.) The hostess holds book group at her home (or at mine, if her own is not an option), leads the discussion, and normally provides some sort of treat. There’s also some socializing at the beginning and the end, but we always spend a decent chunk of time on the book.

Image Credit: Evan Bench via flickr, Creative Commons license