The following article first appeared in Syosset Public Library‘s monthly, Register Your Book Club – The Newsletter, on August 17, 2012. This monthly newsletter is available via email to book clubs who have registered with the library. Book Club registration benefits include:
- Advance notice of new Book Club in a Bag titles
- Priority book reservations
- Discussion questions and other book info via email
- Assistance with finding new members
- Monthly Book Club newsletter
- Prearranged pickup of your selected titles
Visit the Readers’ Services desk on the second floor to register your book club.
Register your Book Club – The Newsletter is available to the general public at all the library’s public desk’s two weeks after the registered members receive it.
WHAT TO READ NEXT?!?
With thousands of books from which to choose, this might seem like an easy question to answer. But quite a few books clubs would say that it’s not. Methods used to find the next book to discuss are many. Some groups have one person who always decides on which books will be read and some have all of their members decide together. Other groups choose their books month by month while some set an agenda of books for a few months or a year ahead. Still others just trust that one of their members will come with a ready suggestion for the next month that will be acceptable to all. If the method that your book club is using has become monotonous or is not working well, your group might try one of the following ideas for use in scheduling the books to discuss in the months ahead:
Read a New Genre Each Month Your club might be concentrating (some might call it stuck) on just a few genres that members feel comfortable with. Why not step outside of your group comfort zone and deliberately schedule titles that are outside of those genres? If your group is mostly reading “Historical fiction”, try a Mystery, a Classic, a Science Fiction or a Thriller. There are discussable books in every genre and enough genres in existence to not repeat one for months.
Tour the World Your book club can choose books set in different countries or cities. Or you can pick books by authors from other countries. Perhaps you can stay in the United States and pick books set in different states.
Holiday or Seasonal Choose books by a holiday occurring during the month or by season – a mystery with a Halloween theme for October or a historical set in a cold climate for Winter (or to cool down in Summer), a poetry book in April for National Poetry Month or a book set in a school or college for September.
Award Winners Pick titles that have been nominated for a major book award such as the National Book Award or Pulitzer Prize. You might concentrate on one year and read books that won different awards for that year.
More-
- Pick titles just because they contain a certain word(s).
- Use the alphabet: start with a book whose title or authors name begins with an A, then one beginning with a B and so on (or reverse it and start with Z).
- Revisit authors whose books have led to the most interesting discussions and read another book by them.
- Pick a profession and find a book whose main character is a memb
If your group is intrigued by any of the above ideas, the librarians at the Readers’ Services desk would be happy to help you explore the many resources available at the library to help you and your group choose titles that will satisfy any situation. Let us help you find books that are just right for the discussions of your group. – Sonia Grgas, Readers’ Services Librarian
-posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services
