Start Your Own Reading Group
Looking to join a reading group? Why not set up your own...
Setting up your own group couldn't be easier, you can always start out by just meeting up with a few interested friends or work colleagues and progress from there. Consider the following:
You will need to decide who the group is for, will it stay just for your friends or do you want to try and recruit some new people? Do you have a particular outcome in mind, like helping your work colleagues to socialise together more, in which case you will already know who you need to recruit. The ideal size for a reading group is around 10 people, this means that it is not too large to manage but is big enough to survive if two or three people can't make it to a meeting.
Most reading groups tend to meet monthly because that gives everyone time to read the chosen book/s and not long enough to forget what it was about! You could meet more often if your group are all avid readers, or less often if they struggle to get the book read in time or have too many other commitments. Many groups with working members meet in the evening because that is the time that their members are free to get together, but if your group is retired you could consider a morning meeting over coffee, or perhaps an afternoon meeting over tea. A group of work colleagues also has the opportunity to meet in a lunchtime - perhaps the boss could be persuaded of the benefits to staff and allow them a little extra time?
You can meet anywhere you like where the group members are comfortable and able to freely discuss the book. A pub is a useful venue as long as it is not too loud, or alternatively some groups meet in a favourite restaurant or in a member's home. Perhaps members could take it in turns to host the group? Libraries are also an excellent neutral venue that reading groups can use to meet in. You should decide whether food is going to be required or just drinks and if the venue does not sell refreshments, who is going to be responsible for providing them and how it will be paid for.
Your group may have decided to read only a specific genre of books, or to tackle anything that takes your fancy. Either way, everyone should have a chance to choose a monthly title or theme in order to keep it fair for everyone. Here are some ideas for choosing books to read,
- Pick a theme such as food or travel and then group members can all pick a title on that theme to read. They can then report on their choice to the other members.
- Pick an author and each read a different one of their books.
- Follow a book prize such as the Booker or Whitbread Prize and either read one book each off the longlist, or you could all decide to read the winner.
- Pick a title off a suggested list such as The Big Read Top 100, you can ask at your local library for booklists and suggestions or find them on the library web pages
- Let a group member suggest a book they either want to read or have read and enjoyed.
- Browse the books available in your local library for ideas, or look on the library website for book reviews by staff, customers and other reading groups
When your group first meets up it may be a good idea to have a general discussion about everyone's favourite books and reading habits. You could ask them to bring along a book that made them laugh or cry or discuss childhood books that the group still remembers now. This will help to get everyone talking and learning about each other.
The group will always need one member who does some research into the author and the book and provides this information for the others. This person should also help to direct the discussion, perhaps with the aid of some pre-prepared questions, and prevent more talkative members from hogging the limelight as well as encouraging opinions from the more reticent members. It is up to you as the founder whether you want to always be the person to fill the facilitator role or whether members would prefer to take it in turns. Information on authors and books, plus suggested questions to consider, are freely available if you follow the links below:
 |
Listen |  |
Feedback |  |
Downloads
Reader Questions (13kb)- Reader Type (19kb)
- Library Support for your Reading Group (45kb)
- Recommended Reads For Reading Groups (451kb)
