Getting Started
Gather together your bookclub members. We decided to always keep our number to seven - not too many books to purchase at once and just enough people to have a good discussion without anyone feeling they're not getting a look in! If someone leaves (see Former ) we ask the departee to recommend someone to take their place.

How it Works
There are lots of different ways a bookclub can work but this is how we do it:

Once the members have been confirmed, one person purchases and distributes the first book and a date (approximately one month later) is fixed for the first meeting. It must be a book you have not read yourself - and hopefully one the others haven't read either!

The person who has chosen the book hosts the meeting in their home (we have an agreement that no one is to sweat over a hot stove in advance so the host provides ready-to-eat nibbles, cheese, crackers, etc. and the other members bring along a bottle of something to drink (generally wine!) - to help the conversation along!). You could meet in a pub or restaurant but we find this way is cheaper, more intimate and there's no one trying to scoot you out the door at closing time!

The discussion can go whatever way you like but we have found it useful to put a few conventions in place:

The person who chose the book gets to talk about it first. We then take turns to give initial reactions - ensuring that everyone gets to say something without being drowned out by a chorus of dissent or agreement. After that the conversation can go wherever it goes - we talk about the writer, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the style, imagery, etc and award the book marks out of five. Sometimes if the book isn't that inspiring we diversify onto other topics (life, love, literature), sometimes we keep talking till the wee small hours...

The Best Bit
We take it in turns to pick the book and host the club. The person who is next purchases their choice in advance and brings it along to the previous month's bookclub. This does mean that you have to buy seven copies of one book every seven months or so (and yes, the bookshop owner will look strangely at you), but it also means that every other month you will get a 'free' book chosen by one of the other members. It's a bit like a present every month for book lovers!

Once the discussion on the current book has died down the next book is introduced by the member who has picked it and everyone oohs, aahs and gets excited about starting a new book. A date for the next month's meeting is fixed before we disperse and everyone goes home with a new book under their arm, a tummy full of goodies (sometimes we call it fatclub...) and a head full of ideas.

We love it and we recommend that you Do it Yourself!

Ultimate Bookclub Choices
The femmes have recommended the following books as the 'perfect' bookclub book
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
Old School by Tobias Wolff
Bel Canto by Anna Patchett

How we rate a book