Last year a goal of mine was to do something that brought me joy with friends. Another was to read more books. I’ve always been an avid reader but life gets busy and that’s one of the first things to go to the wayside for me. Indulging in a good book has always been such a treat.

In January of 2024 at my hair appointment, my stylist told me about her book club and all of the fun things they do. I was SO inspired and she encouraged me to create a community like the one she’s been a part of over the last year.

I left immediately and texted my Mom and cousin about the idea. They may have been a bit reluctant but as always, jumped on board with my crazy idea and the next month we started our first book club meeting. What better way to combine two goals into one and share that with others.

I immediately hopped on my laptop and started researching book clubs, ways to do it, inspiration for themes, and names, etc. I’ve always been a “the book was better” kind of gal when it came to literary works and cinematography, hence the name. So here we are, “The Book Was Better” book club is official.

Of course I’m green and very inexperienced when it comes to this but I wanted to share how I’ve jumped in and some tips I found while researching. Of course this initial inspiration all came from Ashley and I’m so grateful she shared her club with me and the sisterhood that’s come from it.

Getting Started

You DO NOT have to do any of these things. Literally get a book and gather is the easiest way to book club. This is just what I am doing and I’m sure will evolve over time.

1. The first thing I did was made a post and asked if any of my friends and family would like to join. Once I got some feedback, I made a private Facebook group where we could all communicate, I could post our events, etc.
2. This might not be for everyone, but my mom and I host at her home each month. I know other clubs may rotate but we felt like if we committed to hosting, it would be easier to just plan it every month and no one else would have to worry about that. So far, it’s been great! We eat together at book club and everyone helps bring food.
3. I planned the whole year with the books for each month as well as the meal. We always meet on a Tuesday from 6:30-8:30 towards the end of the month. Having a consistent schedule that’s already planned has served us all well. After that was planned, I made Facebook events for each with the sign up list for food. I’ll explain what we do now in the next part of this post.
4. Then, we had our first gathering!

Some book clubs go all out, some don’t. We are going to do a little bit more in ours this year but the whole purpose was to create community, gather together for some girl time and break bread. Some gatherings we ate and talked more about life than we did our books. Some we read books that had movies to them so we’d eat and then watch the movie to see “if the book was better” on my moms outdoor pavilion. We even met at the movies to watch one of our books we had read. That was a blast! We had a friendsgiving Thanksgiving gathering and a super fun Christmas party. It’s just a night we all really look forward to.

Our Book Club This Year

As stated above, here’s a little bit of what we are going to do this year:

1. We are going to stick to the same Tuesday evening schedule and still have a meal, but this year, we’ve decided to do an activity at our meetings. The first hour we will discuss the book we read for that month while we eat, and the second hour we will have a fun activity or craft. I’m going to do my best to document each month to share here.
2. Last year, I was throwing the club together and just picked some popular books. At our November meeting, I asked everyone to bring three book suggestions to throw into a hat, making sure no one in our club had read them and was interested in reading. Then at that meeting, we drew one for each month so it would be something new and fresh. We LOVED this and will be doing it again at the end of this year. It’s no fun reading something the majority of the group already read.
3. We are trying to have a fun theme each month with our activity. I can’t wait to do these and expand this group creatively.

Some Things to Note

1. Planning the whole year has really helped. What’s on the calendar is there and if you can come, great, if you can’t, we will see you next month! Life is busy and there’s no possible way every person can always be there. That’s okay! But being consistent in your schedule is important and trying to make the meetings is too.
2. We all have different preferences and reading styles. Some of us like historical fiction, others thrillers or romance, but we all make sure we have a mix. Some books may not be everyone’s cup of tea but we try to have a variety and expand everyone’s literary experience. Just make sure you have a balance for the group as a whole. With that said, we all agree we aren’t into anything “extreme” if you know what I mean when it comes to any one of those genres. There have been a couple we didn’t do research on and didn’t finish. This year we’ve tried to be more proactive in that. Make sure you all are on the same page so others aren’t uncomfortable. Our group are all is composed of Christian wives and moms so this isn’t an issue with us but I can see where it could be with a mix of individuals.
3. I think it’s hard to want everyone to join that wants to but it’s important to keep your group somewhat manageable and small. If it gets too big, it’s hard for everyone to visit and discuss. Make sure everyone that does join, is committed to coming to most of your meetings. Having those that only come to one or two a year takes away from someone else getting to join and be a part of this. They miss out on so much of your group and community.
4. Have fun! Don’t stress about having a perfect meeting, decorating to the nines, or serving an elaborate meal. The point of this club, for us, was to have some adult girl time and share a mutual love of reading. Breaking bread and just being together is enough.

I was going to share our book list from last year but there were a few we didn’t enjoy. I’ll share some of our top favorites below from 2024.

• Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe
• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (This also had a short series adaptation on Apple TV we watched.
• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

I hope this helps! If you have more questions, please leave them in the comments and I’ll try to get those answered. I’m so thankful for our group and what it’s been for all of us over the last year.