Fun


How To Start A Virtual Book Club

During, and following, COVID many things that once were in person had to pivot to become virtual. And some of these things stayed that way, or opened up a new door with countless possibilities. One of these things was the transition of book clubs from gathering in person to online. This certainly presented challenges but also allowed people who maybe never have been to a book club to go from the comfort and safety of their own home, and meet some wonderful people from around the world.

I’m fortunate enough to be in a book club and actually run one with a wonderful group of men and women, primarily along the East Coast of the United States. It’s certainly not big, which is how I like it – kind of cozy and intimate like a real book club. But it afforded those older an ability to have a community during the trying times of COVID and also exposed me to some incredible pieces of literature and interesting perspectives.

During my time in the book club, co-moderating, and now running it, I’ve learnt a thing or two about how to successfully run a book club and wanted to pass on some tips and tricks if you wanted to start your own – either with strangers, you blog followers, or friends and family!

At a high level, this is what you need!

Made with Canva.com

Now to get into the down and dirty with a bit more information and examples of how I run it! 

1. Choose your platform to host it on wisely.

There’s a lot of great places out there that you can host on – I know there’s some in Discord for example. But for me personally, Facebook groups was the way to go. We needed it simple for those less technologically inclined and something which was accessible to many without needing to make a new account. If your group is older, or mixed, some of these fancy new apps and such may not work.

2. Decide if you will make administrative decisions or want the group to vote!

Some groups like to vote on everything. Others like to have the leaders make the choices. I personally enjoy doing a mix because it lets people be involved, but makes sure things get done. An example is, I will have people suggest monthly themes and I collect them all and then I choose what month they will occur on and try and get in as many as I can that were suggested! I’ve tried the collection of themes and having people vote on when they wanted it and let me tell you, it got messy. Sometimes as a moderator you need to just make decisions on your own.

3. Decide how many books you want to read and organize, organize, organize!

Some book groups read one book a quarter, some only a couple a year and others one a month. We are the latter so we get through a lot of book which is fantastic. But it means there is a lot of planning. How many books you want to read will determine how many themes you will need for the year. And this will also dictate when you need to be collecting and posting what people will be reading. You need to make sure to leave enough time to get the book – whether that be buying it or getting it from a library. Make sure you know what is happening when before you start.

If it’s friends it’s a little less informal and you can go with the flow, but if it’s strangers you want to put a good foot forward to have people engage and want to read the books.

4. Make Themes!

Themes are a great way to make sure that you have an array of books (you can see an example of what I do to the left). This is particularly important if you plan to try and read a lot of books. You can make your book club have a theme if that is your desire – so you are a classical book club, or a sci-fi book club. But, if you just want to read anything out there, start with making themes. Before January (or whenever your “new year” will start) it can be smart to know what your monthly themes will be.

How I’ve run mine is that end of November or early December I do a post in the Facebook group and ask my members for theme suggestions. Suggestions can be super specific or very general – but you want the themes to have enough clarity so people know what kind of book to suggest.

Once you collect all the theme suggestions, I’d recommend making executive decisions on what month will be when, and try and be logical! Maybe keep spooky themes to October, travel reads to the summer (or maybe the winter to escape the cold!)

5. Decide on your schedule.

You need to decide what is going to be happening when so people know what to expect. For example in my book club, during the month of January, the first of the month I post what our February theme is. People know what the theme is already because there’s a pinned post so they know what is up and coming and that is decided every year for the following year.

But, I’ll do a Facebook group post stating the theme for next month and asking for suggestions of books. I’ll usually leave that open for a week and choose the date I will accept suggestions until. Then on that date I collect everyone suggestions and do a poll! This allows members to vote on what they want to read – this will be open about a week too. Whatever has the most votes at the end wins! If two tie, then I’ll usually make an executive choice. By about the third week of a month, for this example in January, we’ll have our book for the month of February and we’ll post the winner!

The month of February is for reading and also choosing when we discuss the February book I recommend setting that in stone for your group if you can – i.e.: the first Sunday/the first Friday or a month we will meet to discuss. My group likes to be a bit more flexible so we vote on which of the first two weekends in the following month (so for this example, the following month is March) works best.

So for one book for one month, there’s about a 3 month timeline. It’s a lot of work and a lot of organizing but once it’s set and flowing, it’s worth it! That being said, you can simplify it absolutely! This is just how mine works, and sure it is complicated sometimes, but we have it down to a fine art after many years!

 

After that, you just have to have fun and be flexible! Book clubs should be a social time so it is entirely up to you how you want it to go. Having some structure can help it go smoothly, but if you want to just go with the flow then that is okay too! Just be open to some feedback to best suit it for your group! That being said, if you have a huge virtual book club then organization will be key!

Book clubs are a great way to be exposed to more books. I’ve definitely read books I’ve disliked or never would have read but ultimately I’ve enjoyed the process and community! Also with virtual it means you can possibly meet people from around the world. Starting small is great and growing your community from there is key!

 

Do you have any tips or tricks on how to run a virtual book club that I haven’t mentioned here? Feel free to share in the comments!

 


The Horse That Acts Like A Library

While some of us have to go to our local library, in a village in Indonesia, the library comes to you.

Called Kudapustaka (Horse Library), three days a week Ridwan Sururi and his horse, Luna, go to visit villages and schools.

The best part is, Ridwan is not looking for money to read his books, but really operates it as a library.

From BBC

Illiteracy in Indonesia has been a massive issue however in recent years the numbers have dropped drastically due to interventions.

Is Luna his? Nope! Luna belongs to a neighbor who doesn’t notice the horse missing so off Luna and Sururi go to help spread the written word.

Just like all of us book lovers, Sururi dreams to have his own library one day, but for now is settling on the goal of owning his own horse and keeping up his amazing work.

Read a full story here!

For another adorable mobile library, check out the BurroMobile in Colombia!


Harry Potter: A History of Magic

SO APPARENTLY I HAVE MISSED THIS KIND OF. LIKE I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS!

If you live on the East Cost of the U.S., or may be visiting before the end of January, you may want to check out the New York Historical Society and one of their awesome things going on currently!

Harry Potter: A History of Magic

Read all out about the exhibition, but I mean, it’s kind of a no-brainer to try and go, right?!

Don’t forget to book your tickets though, if you want to go. You have to choose a time that you want to go and schedule it. So make sure to plan in advance.

Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to go next weekend, if all works out well!

This same exhibition was in London some time last year, so have you seen it or heard anything about it? I’ve heard it’s pretty MAGICAL!


Caina by Joe Albanese [Book Review] 5

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Summary

“Twins tend to be closer than typical siblings. They often share a bond that is oftentimes unexplainable.*

For some reason that bond didn’t apply to Grant and Lee Tolan. Grant was always the responsible one. Lee, on the other hand, was always in trouble and in jail, self-destructing to the point the twins hadn’t seen or spoken in years.

In trouble with the Irish mob who wanted him sleeping with the fishes, finding Grant dead of an apparent suicide, Lee did the only thing that made sense. He switched identities.

Instead of making life easier, Lee is plunged into a world the Irish and Italian crime families, the Mexican cartel and the DEA. Pitting one against the other, Lee enlists the help of friends to save his own life. He will need a miracle.

But Grant’s secret is the biggest shock of all for Lee and he must re-evaluate his entire life.

*Maureen Healy, author of Growing Happy Kids.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the summary of this book, I was immediately interested! I love books that have this action/spy kind of aspect and something about the cover had me curious too. I haven’t seen a black and white cover in a while so it was of course something I wanted to add to my bookshelf!

The story itself was highly entertaining. I read it in one sitting while I was sick and flew through it. My edition had decently sized font (not large font but it was bigger than most books) which helped make it go faster, also made it much easier to read when you’re sick. There was lots of action and it was a page turner – it honestly felt like a crime TV show episode.

I really did like the idea of these twin brothers and identity switching and stuff. It was something new – I mean there are books that have it, but I haven’t read one like this in a while.

It will be an adult book because of some of the themes and language, although with some of the stuff out there, I could see it being an older YA read as well.

I did have a few moments of being confused in the book with all of the mafias and lack of background on who was who. It didn’t really detract from the book, in my opinion, but I would have to remember that we had multiple groups of bad guys crossing each other. But it wasn’t a big deal.

Overall it’s a pretty straight forward book. I like how it touched on drones and using them for drug moving – this could be a reality in a few years so I quite liked the ‘reality’ that the book presented. To me, I liked it.

I classify this book as a perfect summer beach read – it’s fast paced, it’s a page turner, not too long and overall quite enjoyable.

For that, I give it 4/5 teacups (I don’t give 5’s often so 4 is pretty common for a good read).

4 Teacups


12 Harry Potter Themed Gift Ideas 11

Harry Potter is one of the most popular books world wide, and even if you aren’t a massive fan of the book, who doesn’t love some good magic and creativity?

A Harry Potter themed gift is sure to be perfect for a range of ages and the best go-to gift when you’re in a pinch, especially for book lovers.

I recently found a handful of really creative Harry Potter themed gifts that I had to share with you. I really want to get a few of these….Santa?

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.


1. 

 

“What’s a Slytherins favorite class? Hisssssstory!”

The Unofficial Harry Potter Joke Book is perfect to get everyone laughing! This would be a perfect gift for the younger ones in your life.

2. 

A Harry Potter cookbook is absolutely perfect for anyone! Create something with your kids or just make it for yourself. I mean I want to know how to make a Knickerbocker Glory!

3.

Besides the main books, you an always get one of the side books to the series which is a perfect companion. Learn about Quizzitch over the years! How fun!

4.

Everyone has a little Slytherin in them, no matter how small it is. Tame and control that side of your life with this really awesome Unofficial Harry Potter Insults Books!

5.

If you don’t know your History of Magic, you will never past your O.W.L. exams, so you had better start to study!

6.

Every Hogwarts fan needs to have their very own Quidditch set so they can practice! It’s also perfect to take some photos with or use as a prop for a party!

7. (Two for the price of 1!)

A coloring book is absolutely perfect for every age! Get a regular coloring book or choose to color in your choice of magical creatures. 

8.

There’s always something to learn when it comes to Harry Potter, so I’m sure that this book will have some good facts for you to share at your dinner party.

9.

Each Wizard and Witch gets their own wand, and there’s just so many options. This hardcover book will be perfect for your coffee table to learn more about which wand calls to you.

10.

Maybe you want to send a special someone a nice letter, or feel like you attend Hogwarts. This stationary set is sure to do the trick. I know that I’d personally love to be able to send letters like this!

11.

As a budding Witch or Wizard, you need to make sure that you know all of your spells, especially to be able to help to defeat You-Know-Who, or whoever may replace him later. Make sure that you’re ready! 

12.

Knowing exactly what kind of creature you may find in the Forbidden Forest late at night, or through your journeys, is important to transform from your Muggle life to Magical life. Make sure to study hard. You never know what kind of question will show up on your O.W.L. exam!