The Book Club Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Reading Group Experience

by Diana Loevy

Booksellers know very well how ubiquitous the reading group has become, and The Book Club Companion is full of innovative ideas designed to entertain their members and enrich the book club experience. Inside, club members will

- The 10 Indispensable Titles across several literary genres including Beloved Lit, Brit Lit, Book Club Favorites, Classic Lit, Black Lit, Noir Lit, Literary Respite, Nonfiction that Reads Like Fiction, and Memoir
- Childhood favorites
- "Guilty pleasure" titles
- Conversation starters and tips for keeping discussions lively
- Theme gatherings and special places for meetings
- Drink and food recipes
- Craft ideas
- And much more

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Reference, Book Club

338 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Always looking for ideas to improve and enrich book my ladies book club! This was a quick and easy read as most of it is short overviews of books the author recommends for book clubs. I really appreciated that she gave the overviews without spoilers as this is often not the case. The author also had other fun things in the book to help make book club meetings themed and memorable according to the books you're reading (cocktail recipes from the books, menu ideas, meeting place ideas, etc.). The book was divided up into different chapters by genres of books with a list at the end of each chapter of books your book club might be reading according to what was published each decade over the past ten decades. I did find a few books that interested me but her book recommendations were heavy on contemporary writers which I am not much interested in. She did give some advice on hosting and leading discussions which I found helpful.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books. I love talking about books so I am always looking for ways to make my book clubs better, and a bonus if I find more books to read. Which is why I checked out "The Book Club Companion" book. It had book lists, food & drinks, events and discussion points. I thought this book was well-organized and easy to read. I especially enjoyed the "fun facts" and the "how to sell (insert book's name) to the book club. Something I hadn't expected was the addition of music choices. One member in one of my book clubs loves music so this will be a nice tie-in for her.

If you are thinking of starting a book club, or want to improve your book club this is a book for your research. If you need some book recommendations this would also be a book for you to read.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is meant to be an idea generator for fairly serious literary book clubs that maybe rotate to members' homes and have thematic meals. This is not my kind of book club, thankfully! I was looking for generic discussion questions we could use in my Audubon chapter's book club meetings -- and I did find one page that was useful.

[Robyn Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compilations of book choices by genre, decades, and themes. Also recipes and costume ideas for meetings.

[Anthony Salazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book. It's filled with book summaries, recipes, book club etiquette, and plenty of lists. It's fun, but mostly irrelevant for those who aren't nuclear wives in the 50s.

[David Freudenburg · Rating 2 out of 5]

This uplifting and fun book gives a 1-2 page summary of lots and lots of possible book club selections. For each book there are also suggestions for things like food and drink to pair with it, why it is good for a book club, and how to convince club members they will like it. Extra articles and side bars deal with perennial book club issues like food and recipes, pets, discussion questions, leaders, how to make a selection, and where to meet.
For me, this book offered a way to get a short summary of each one of hundreds of well-known books I haven't read! The 2006 copyright date means there are no recent books described, but I still found it very useful to read about books that most readers have read, or at least heard of.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally, I didn't think this book was that great. It was not really organized that well. There were bursts of random information all throughout the book. I didn't enjoy reading it. Yes, there were some useful tips in it. The lists of books she gave were just that... lists. I could just go to a bookstore and pick those books off a shelf by looking. It wasn't really that inspired. Many of them were your typical book club selections anyway. If you are new to the book club scene, this book may be helpful, but all in all, I would stay away from it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird book, it feels like a series of random blog entries with mixed recipes. Much of this was about the mechanics of book clubs, moderated vs unmoderated, keeping the shy people engaged, pet control, food presentation, etc.

The costume party meetings, dressing in period or character dress might be a bit extreme for the working folk book clubs.

I hadn't realized how big the book club movement has become, I should crawl out into the light more often. Might be useful for people starting book clubs.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book not as someone looking for book club selections but rather as someone just looking for personal suggestions to add to my list. However, I did not find that many books that interested me that I hadn't already read. There were quite a few tips on taking care of pets during book club which seemed common sense and were just wasting space. I would have rather had more descriptions on titles to help me find more books!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

as if I needed more ideas of things to read....but I got some from this book. Being relatively new to book clubs, the book gave me a good sense of the variety of ways clubs are handled. It is not a book that you need to read cover to cover. I skipped the descriptions of books I've already read and moved on if the description didn't interest me early on.

[Melly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book -- it is very quirky (has a lot of entries about pet etiquette at book groups, for example) but I enjoyed it. And -- its lists of books are excellent, as well as her recommendations for book editions with good discussion questions. I came away from this with a looooong list of books to read; it's worth buying just for that.

[Marah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is poorly organized, but it was interesting to read the lists of books for suggestions. The plot summaries were too brief and conclusive--I want to know more so I can decide for myself if my book club will like the book.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good summaries of books popularly read by book clubs - gave me a lot of good ideas for things I want to read. Skipped the recipes and ideas for hosting book club parties as they seemed a little silly. Could use an index - hard to find what you are looking for.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started, but fascinating! Might have to buy this one... it has book selection recommendations and ideas for drinks and food to go with certain atmospheres/places, as well as tips for handling common issues.

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could have done without the recipes and book club ideas, but for the lists and reviews of great books, this can't be topped. The only down side to that is, I know how many great books I'm missing out on.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great ideas for book club reads, but not so sure about the various formal parties w/invitations, etc, that are suggested. The scrapbook idea is interesting, but I'm not that ambitious--isn't enough that we post everything on www.goodreads.com?

[Karen]

I did not "read" this book, but it is an excellent resource for people starting or running a private book club. It has many great book recommendations and some fun food and drink recipes to go with them. However, it is basically useless for anyone inheriting an institutional book club.

[Gwendolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars: There are some good book recommendations in here, though most of the extraneous text doesn't add much. The pet etiquette chapters (and there are quite a few of them) are particularly bizarre.

[Phair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I buy a lot of this type of book for the library and always at least skim them for ideas & insights. This seems to be a good comprehensive work to help those in or wanting to start a book group.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd pastiche of recipes, lists, brief reviews, and questions. Flip through it, rather than read it.

[Jan]

Adding to read if I can't find a good book club to join in our new location.

[Denise Levenick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book when I was teaching high school English literature and looking for summer reading book ideas. Great ideas for themes and book selections for any kind of book group.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book if you're starting a bookclub

[Linh Nguyen]

The concept of these kinds of book club is not familiar with me. I actually read this to see if any book worth reading but it focuses more on how to run a book club with different protocol thay actually seems tiring and not fun. The titles I got from the book does not really interest me much either apart from some. I can't rate this because I'm still confused 😶