Running a book club can be great fun. It can give you an opportunity to meet new people, and discuss books that you enjoy. It's always fun to hear other people's perspectives on a book that you've just read. And it can be even more fun to have a debate or a discussion about the things you disagree on. However, book club discussions don't always run smoothly. Sometimes people won't have much to say at all. In other cases, one or two people may dominate the conversation. To host a great book club discussion, here are a few tips that you can follow.
Do some preparatory work before the book club meeting. It sounds very basic, but as the book club leader, you should have read the book in depth. Some leaders may read a book several times to make sure that they understand it. It's possible to miss things on a first reading. Take notes as you read, noting down important events or quotes. You should also make a note of any important pages. You can use these particular events to guide your book club discussions. You can also use them to encourage people to talk if they've slipped into silence, or to kick start discussions around a particular topic or theme.
You should make sure that you have a series of preplanned questions about the book. These can be used to guide discussions, or to get them back on track. Useful guides for such questions can be found online, or you can design your own. Ensure to ask about things such as whether people liked the book, whether the plot worked for them, and the different themes they encountered in the book. It's always a good idea to ask what people thought the book was about, and how this was conveyed. Ask questions about the plot, characters, and the writing style. Also ensure that you ask questions about character motivations and the role of the author. It can also be interest to ask whether the book is similar to anything else they have read by the author or that they have read in the same genre.
One trick to guiding book club discussions is to encourage participation from other members. Let the others answer a question first before you begin to speak. However, make sure that one person does not dominate the response. Ensure that everyone gets a chance to speak. You may need to take turns going around the group, or raising hands. You may also need to explicitly direct questions to people who are quieter than others to encourage them to speak.
Another key point to leading book club discussions is to make sure that your questions are linked. Don't just read them off your list of key questions. Rather, ensure that they relate to each other, and flow from the conversation. This will encourage more open dialog and discussion about the book in question. However, you may need to ensure that people stay on track and don't go off on tangents.
Finally, ensure that the conversation is appropriately wrapped up. Don't cut off the conversation half-way through, or finish without touching on a particular important theme. Take the time to go over these points, as they can be fruitful and interesting to your club.