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Thank you to everyone who has been sending in their fantastic
Top Tips from their own reading group experiences. Below are just
a few of them which we will update on a regular basis, so please
keep sending in your suggestions and see your name on screen.
 Back
to Top Tips main page
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Find
a volunteer to introduce the book
'Make sure that you have a volunteer to introduce the book at the
next meeting. The way that different people do this adds a dimension
to the start of the discussion which would be lost if the same person
does it every time. It also stops the desultory 'I liked it' start
which does not help anyone.' |
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No
Rules!
'We have a relaxed atmosphere with NO RULES. We have dinner together,
something simple, and a glass of wine. We can turn up if we haven't
read the book or given up half way through!' |
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Meet
in the Local Library
'Meeting in the local library also has the large advantage of getting
the books for us with all the resources that a library can.' |
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Choose
books 6 months at a time
'We choose our books for 6 months at a time with input from everyone.
We take our lead from reading guides and Radio 4 Book Club where
we listen to the recording of the interview with the author.' |
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Choose
a method of studying the book
'We have a general discussion about our chosen book, and then take
one of the following methods of studying it, we find this very rewarding:
- What we bring to the text as readers from our own life experiences
- Setting the book in its 'time' - the kind of world the author
lived in or is writing about (its relevance to now)
- The themes (is there a message?)
- The language - how the author creates their effects
- How the book is structured - repeating themes, flashbacks,
patterns, etc
- The characters
- The story itself'.
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Plan
a programme of several books
Plan a programme of several books. This gives time to obtain and,
if necessary, share books. A balanced programme might include:
- A classic
- At least one recent (or new to paperback) publication
- Something from a different culture
- Some non-fiction - a political writing, travel writing etc
- An author (book unspecified)
- A theme - World War I, The Indian Raj etc
- A particular genre - sci-fi, feminist writing etc.
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Twin
with another reading group
'Last year we 'twinned' with a reading group in Texas, USA and we
communicate via the internet. We keep each other informed of what
we are reading and exchange comments and views on books that we
are reading.' |
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Start
a 'Postal' Book Group
'The newBOOKS.mag advertised on my behalf for people who
wished to join a POSTAL BOOK GROUP. At the end of each month when
everybody has read their book and written their comments in the
accompanying blank notebooks, they go to the next person on the
list. The difference with this postal book club is that at the end
of the cycle, when we all get the books we started with, they can
choose either to keep the books OR to 'release them into the wild'
by registering them at www.bookcrossing.com
and leaving them in a cafe, park, nursery, tube station or wherever
for someone else to find and read.' |
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Sign up to our newsletter now and enter the chance to win free copies of our book of the month for a year. There will be five lucky reading groups!
Click Here to win a set…
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