For many people, the last year and a half have been a time of adapting and reshaping, as we continue to rethink our work lives as well as how we spend our free time. With the temporary closing of businesses like movie theaters and restaurants, we had to find safe, at-home ways to occupy our time. As the months carried on it felt like we continued to look for new hobbies and interests that would keep us entertained and engaged. I mean, there’s only so much Netflix you can watch, right? It might not be a surprise to find that people around the world began to discover or rekindle a love for reading. In fact, since the pandemic, 35% of people say that they read more, with 14% saying they read significantly more. Pair it with the fact that reading reduces stress levels by 68% and there is really no reason not to pick up that book you’ve been wanting to read.
On top of a resurgence in reading, worldwide lockdowns have also led to many companies switching to remote work. Though most companies were initially forced into work from home models in March 2020, studies predict that nearly 50% of companies will allow employees to continue working remotely full time, with 80% allowing employees to work from home at least part of the time. As your company continues to adapt to this new normal, you might be looking for remote ways to bring people together. What better way to not only encourage a hobby but to keep coworkers connected than to start a book club? If the idea of starting a book club seems daunting, don’t worry; we already started our own and have laid out exactly what you need to do to get your very own book club started.
This person will ideally be the person who decided to start the book club or will be someone who is equally excited about the prospect. They will need to be responsible for keeping the communication going and ensuring that the following steps are accomplished. This is also the point in which the leader can announce to the company that they have started a book club. We recommend sending a message in a general message channel so everyone can see that a book club is happening. It also doesn’t hurt to send out reminders along the way so if anyone didn’t see the announcement or was on the fence about joining they can jump right in!
The leader should then choose no more than 5 titles to shortlist for the first book, from which other members will vote on as the starting book. This accomplishes a few things: it takes the pressure off of other members to suggest books; it streamlines the choosing of the first book, as the list of titles out there to choose from is, of course, seemingly endless; it also prevents the club from fizzling out before it could begin as people look into the books and get excited about them.
This step is where you sort through most of the logistics for the book club. Some of the questions you will want to consider at the outset of the book club include:
With your book club, you will want a dedicated discussion space for people to ask questions about scheduling, book availability, and post thoughts as they read. We have a Slack channel for the book club where all of that is done. However, it’s extremely important that if people post their thoughts about the current book they do so in a spoiler-free way, as everyone is reading at their own pace. The leader will want to monitor the channel for any accidental spoilers as well as check-in periodically with members about their progress on the book.
At this point, everyone who wanted to should have read the book, which means it’s time to get together and celebrate finishing! The best way to ensure everyone is able to attend the meeting is to ask a week or so in advance about peoples’ availability. Then, as soon as you can get the date on the calendar you should do so. Finally, feel free to send the discussion questions to people ahead of time so they have time to think it over and feel comfortable speaking out. Though we want to continually make sure the book club doesn’t feel like a chore or homework, which is why reminding members that it’s ok to not come with prepared answers to the questions are always encouraged.
“My favorite part of book club is getting to see co-workers I don’t interact with often and having a fun space to discuss our thoughts and opinions on our reading topics. It’s amazing to hear other’s perspectives and gain new insights I may not have thought about on my own.”
- Ariel Owens, Customer Support Manager
Whether you personally feel like you can breeze through a book in a week or like you need a month or longer to get through one, it’s important to remember that everyone reads at a unique pace. Beyond that, everyone has differing day-to-day responsibilities that may inhibit or encourage more reading. We recommend settling on an end date rather than weekly checkpoints while reading so that people don’t begin to think of the book club as homework or a chore.
Book clubs are not meant to be obligatory. In other words, make sure people know that they can start—or stop—reading at any point. If someone originally committed to reading the current book and then life got in the way, they should not feel guilty backing out. Additionally, remind people that they can join at any time! Even if you are one week away from the finishing deadline people should feel comfortable knowing that they can join whenever they want.
The fact that literature can be consumed in multiple formats—paper books, ebooks, audiobooks—is something that should be celebrated. In fact, audiobooks are one of the fastest-growing sectors in publishing, with downloads of audiobooks in 2020 rising 16.5% from 2019. Unfortunately, there is a certain level of stigma around listening to books versus reading them. But not only are audiobooks crucial for accessibility, they are also fantastic ways to read while commuting, doing daily chores, or going on your daily walk. We recommend encouraging your book club members to consume the book in whatever format works best for them!
We already mentioned that a crucial step in establishing a book club is creating a shortlist of titles for people to choose from as the first book. This is a practice that we recommend continuing to use for future books as well. Having a small list of books for people to choose from takes the pressure off members to sift through seemingly endless lists of good books to come up with suggestions. You can even rotate the responsibility of who creates the shortlist to get a wide variety of books!
Off the top of your head, what is your favorite genre to read? Contemporary? Historical fiction? Memoirs? Mine is fantasy. Chances are, everyone in your book club is not going to have the same favorite genre, which presents a great opportunity. Choosing books from different genres will ensure everyone gets a chance to read a book in their preferred genre while also introducing other members to genres that they may not have picked up on their own!
As the person spearheading the book club, it is important that you take care to investigate any triggering material in the books the club might read. A simple Google search for the title of the book and “trigger warnings” will usually yield a list of potentially sensitive content found in the novel. We are not necessarily suggesting that you only pick books without any triggering material—in fact that may be nearly impossible, depending on the genre. But it is incredibly important that the trigger warnings are listed so that members can decide for themselves whether or not the book is something they want to read. You will also want to ensure that people feel comfortable opting out of a book with no questions asked. They should not feel obligated to explain why they do not or cannot read any given book.
One reason for creating a book club is to foster interesting conversations between coworkers. This will obviously be done at the end-of-book discussion but can also be maintained as people read through the book. You’ll want to encourage conversation and the sharing of ideas and opinions in the channel while also making sure these comments are spoiler-free. Don’t hesitate to remove or monitor any comments that are spoilers for the book and make sure that people know they can move conversations to private messages if they want to get into specific, spoilery details.
While making sure not to add undue pressure to people to read faster, you will want to periodically check on people’s progress. These check-ins can be very casual and are just a great way to see if the decided end date is still going to work for everyone. They can also be a shame-free nudge for people who have fallen behind or forgotten about the book completely.
The end-of-book discussion is an exciting time! People have finished the book and whether they loved it, hated it, or just thought it was okay there is a lot to discuss. Chances are, however, you don’t have hours to chat about the book in the midst of your busy week. Because of this, you will want to come up with a plan for the discussion that includes questions that you’ll send to members beforehand. This is another area for flexibility as you’ll want to let the conversation flow naturally, refocusing when necessary.
“The pandemic definitely impacted how much I read. Before COVID, I read less than 10 books a year and I wanted to improve that. Online resources like Audible and Libby were a game changer for audiobooks, and when I was reading at home I began to actually make my way through the books I bought!”
- Annie Dorsey, Service Direct Product Intern
Naturally, a concern many people will have is going to be about finding the books at an affordable price. It’s no secret that books aren’t cheap and they certainly add up over time. Fortunately, there are many ways to find books at a reasonable price and even tons of options for renting books out so that no one has to feel trepidatious about joining the book club due to funds.
This may seem obvious to some, but to others the idea of getting books from the library may not have crossed their mind. At many public libraries, getting a library card is easier than ever with online applications and ecards. Without even leaving your home you are able to apply for a library card and have access to the library’s resources in just a few days! Once you have your library card you can use OverDrive, an online service that allows you to connect your library card to your local library and rent ebooks and audiobooks with the click of a button.
If you don’t live in a big city or are just interested in seeing what other, larger libraries’ catalog looks like, you might want to consider a non-resident library card. Every library will be different, but in some large cities, non-residents are able to purchase cards that give them access to that library’s vast inventory of books. In Austin, for example, non-resident library cards can be purchased for $120 per year and non-resident ecards can be purchased for only $22 per year! When you consider that the average cost of a new paperback book is around $15, you are saving some serious cash.
Hopefully, your city or town has a local used bookstore that you can check out whenever you are shopping for books. Unfortunately, a used bookstore is not guaranteed to have the book you need, especially if it’s a new release, but there are tons of online resources to find used books at an affordable price. Sites like thriftbooks.com and abebooks.com are fantastic resources for finding used books at a fraction of the price of brand new ones.
If you, like me, love the feeling of a hardback book in your hands, you may want to consider a book subscription service. Generally, book subscription services are a great way to regularly get new books without the hefty price tag that comes with buying new hardcovers at the bookstore. There are numerous subscriptions to choose from, but Book of the Month specifically has been a worthwhile investment for me. For a little over $16 per month, you can choose a hardcover book from their extensive library and have it shipped to you for free! Additionally, it’s super easy to skip a month if you’re not interested or need more time to finish your current read.
We’re not winning any awards for ingenuity on this one, but it does deserve to be mentioned that if you have the means, supporting independent bookstores is a fantastic way to build up your personal library. If you have a local bookstore that you love then you know that there is no better feeling than strolling through the stacks of shelves looking for your next read. If your local indie bookstore doesn’t have the book you are looking for, most bookstores are taking online orders for curbside pickup. Bookshop.org is also a fantastic resource for buying books online while still supporting independent bookstores across the United States.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Educated by Tara Westover
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
