If you haven’t heard, Readmore has created our very own book club where every month we will explore one or more novels and talk about them. This is exciting news for book lovers everywhere!
Some of you may be thinking, “I love books, but can’t be in a book club! I’m not sure how a book club works!”. Well, no need to worry, because book club discussions are not stressful and are very simple.
By following these tips, you can successfully create dialogue among others in your book club and talk about the books you love.
Keep track of page numbers and leave yourself bookmarks
If you found a page insightful, important to the plot of the story, or even just entertaining, bookmark it! You can bring up these pages in your book club discussions later because often enough, someone else has it bookmarked as well!
Some of my favourite book club discussions have been analyzing pages that everyone in the group found interesting. It leads to very intellectual and thoughtful conversations.
Choose interesting and thought-prompting books for reading
When you are choosing a book to be read during your book club sessions, it is good to choose a book that people can interpret differently, that is educational, and that is engaging. Book club books are amazing when readers feel like they have learned something afterwards or feel like their perspective on certain topics has shifted. As well, books that engage everyone in the group in complex topics are great for dialogue because everyone will have their own opinion.
This is a discussion, not an argument
Book club discussions are not an argument of opinions, is it a conversation. If someone disagrees with what you think or if you disagree with what someone else says, this is okay and there is nothing wrong with this. Everyone is allowed to see the novel through a different lens. However, it is wrong to shame someone for their opinions just because it is different than yours.
Make sure you are listening
Your thoughts and ideas are just as important as everyone else in the group, which is why it is so crucial to listen.
The commentary of other people in the group is highly significant. Everyone in the book club may come from a different background, may have grown up differently, may be of different ages, and therefore, will have different ways of thinking while reading. These differences are often viewed as a negative thing, but if you had a book club of all of the same people, that would be boring! It is interesting to hear how others interpret different parts of the novel and from them, you can learn something new.
Here are some general questions that you can ask others during book club discussions. The great thing about these questions is that they work for any book and aren’t specific to what you are reading! If you are looking for specific questions, I recommend searching the internet for book club discussion questions for that particular book or the genre the book is in. Sometimes there will even be discussion questions on the back pages of a novel, so go check that out as well!
Generic Book Club Discussion Questions
- What is the significance of the title? Does it relate to the story? Would you name this novel something different?
- What are your thoughts on the book’s cover? Does it represent the story accurately or would you make any changes?
- What were the main themes of this novel?
- How important was the time period and setting in this story?
- What would be different about this series if it had a different time period or setting?
- Which location in this novel would you most like to visit and why?
- What are your thoughts involving the writing style of this book?
- What quotes or paragraphs stood out to you in this novel?
- What did you like most about this book?
- What did you like least about this book?
- What emotions did you feel while reading?
- Did this book evoke any memories or personal experiences for you?
- If you have read any other books by the same author, how would you compare that book to this one?
- What connections do you see in this novel in comparison to other books you have read?
- If you could speak to the author, what questions do you have?
- What do you think the author’s message is? What is the evidence of that message in their writing and why did they want to send this message?
- Would you read another book by this author? Why or why not?
- Did you find the conclusion satisfying?
- What characters did you love?
- What characters did you hate?
- Do you feel any connections to any of the characters?
- If you could have a conversation with any character in this book, which character would you choose and what would the two of you speak about?
- Did your opinion of certain character’s change after the story had ended?
- If you were making a movie adaptation of this novel, who would you cast?
- Do you think this book is unique and original?
- If you could hear this same story from another character’s perspective, who’s point of view would you choose?
- Did you hear about this book before reading it? Do you think this book is overhyped or underappreciated?
- What are your thoughts on the pace of the book? Were things too fast, too slow, or the perfect speed?
- Do these character’s seem believable?
- Is there anyone in your life that resembles any of the characters? How so?
- What are your thoughts on the motives of these characters? Were their motives reasonable?
- Could you predict any plot twists? How believable was this plot twist or big reveal?
- Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?
- Would you enjoy reading this book again?
- What was your favourite chapter in this novel?
I hope you found this blog post insightful, and I hope it helps with your future book club discussions!
Let’s read more!