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Books, food, wine and friends...Who could ask for more?

If you missed the first three posts on this topic, click here for the first, second and third entries to get caught up.

Last, but certainly not least, choose a name for your book club.
I'm not kidding! You'll find, over time, that this becomes very important to you. We are the Book Babes, or The Babes, for short. My husband even calls us that. I think it came out of a tongue-in-cheek reference to start with, but it stuck, and we love it! It's cheeky, just like us!

You may have guessed by now that I am passionate about my book club. I have just a few more fun tips for you. They are in no particular order, but I think they're important and don't want you to miss out on them!

I believe that it's vital to have women of similar interests, to some degree, in your group.
What I mean by this is that if you have a group that is largely on the politically conservative side, and you invite someone who is far left of center, this may not work out so well. It can make for an uncomfortable situation for all of those involved. On the other hand, if everyone's beliefs are different, perhaps it will all work out. We happen to have a pretty liberal group of women, and I have often had to think twice before inviting new friends to join.

Holiday Book Club
We do a book exchange at the holidays on our regular meeting date. We have often discussed the thought of including our husbands in this meeting but have never quite gotten that off the ground...not sure what that says about us! The book exchange is loads of fun, as we do it with the number drawing, gift stealing one from another, etc. We are totally cut-throat, and I love it!

Summer is often a good time to select a longer book since some of us spend a little more time reading then.
Also, if you do the holiday book exchange, the person who hosts that month should announce her selection at the November meeting, so everyone has plenty of time to get it read over the holidays before the January meeting. For this reason, choosing a longer book can work well at this time, too, though with the holidays, everyone can get awfully busy. We do not read a book for the holiday exchange meeting, although this year we are planning to discuss our favorite non-book club reads of the year at that meeting.

Events outside of Book Club
One of our books, Cold Sassy Tree, was made into an opera and performed at our local opera house, and many others have been made into movies. It's fun to plan a chick's night out to go to those events together. Some of the movies that come to mind are Crazy in Alabama, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and The DaVinci Code (all great, by the way, both in book form and in the theatre...). Cold Sassy Tree in opera form was another story altogether. My sister has been regaling us with her rendition of that ever since. It would be lost in a web post, but suffice it to say that they did not do a very good job of turning Ms. Burns' witty prose into an opera. It just didn't work worth beans! However, it sure has made for hilarious impressions by my lovely sister over the last several years!

I hope these tips have been helpful. Feel free to comment with questions or ideas of your own. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have!

Go back:
Part One - Why Start a Book Club, Book Recommendations

Part Two - Members, Scheduling and Menu

Part Three - Book Selections, Timetable, Discussion Topics, Rules