Trish commented on my inaugral post (thanks!) that she was also in a book club and that they sometimes had a hard time coming up with selections. It's only been in the last few years that we've been organized enough to set the selections ahead of time, at the beginning of the year. We're a lot happier this way - less time futzing around going "what are we going to read next month?"
Also, we are all very very cheap, and like to recycle books through the group or get them out of the library, and having the list ahead of time helps us do that. There are definately books I was really glad I didn't purchase.
Here's our 2003-2004 list:
2004-2005 list:
and our 2005-2006 list:
Download book_club_schedule_2005.doc
We also got organized enough to figure out what restaurants we'd meet at ahead of time, as well as assigning someone each month to make the reservations, call around to do the reminders, etc. That was a big relief for me, as I did all that junk the first few years. Sometimes people really get motivated to do some background research and pass it around (eg, biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, background to Mau mau uprising) but...well, usually it is me, since nobody in my club quite loves Google the way I love Google.
Thanks for the book lists, Sophe! I'll bring them with me to my next meeting - and maybe we can get organized enough to plan well ahead too. I can see how that would save a lot of time. Our group takes turns hosting, and we have the exact same easy meal everytime (store-bought lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and 2-bite brownies for dessert) so that it is in no way stressful. But I think I'm going to suggest that we try eating out maybe once, just to see how that goes. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteTrish.
Well, our rationale for eating out is that nobody has to clean up their house, except maybe for the baby sitter. And we figure we can afford to eat out with the money we save by planning ahead and sharing the books, ha!
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