I wanted to join a Christian book club for a quite some time. But not just any faith-filled book club. I wanted a Christian fiction book club, since I enjoy reading Christian fiction novels, I thought it would be fun to discuss books with other avid readers. So, when I became the Women's Ministry director at my church, one of the first thing I did was to create a Christian book club. We named it the Page Turners' Book Club.
First, clarify you goals for a book club to the people you hope will want to participate. I described the book club to all the ladies at my church, explaining when we would meet, how often we would meet, what we would do at the meeting, and which book we would read first. I placed a sign-up sheet at the welcome center of the church to see how many would be interested in participating. Of course, far more women signed up than actually attended, which is normal. The willingness is great, but life often gets in the way. Which is perfectly fine because you don't need a lot of people in your book club for it to be a meaningful experience. Honestly, five to ten members are ideal. It allows everyone to interact and share their opinions or thoughts.
From the start, I informed our book club that we would read one book per month. Since we have several young mothers in our group, it's often enough of a challenge to read one book every thirty days. Also, reading one book per month allows the ladies to enjoy other reading material during the rest of the month. You don't want to fill up their schedule too much.
From the beginning, I informed the book club that we would read a broad range of novels from various Christian genres. All of us have a favorite genre that we love to read but not all of us enjoy the same genre. So, right from the start, I told the ladies that we would expand our horizons so each lady's preference would be included in our list of books. My group obviously has an adventurous spirit. They loved the idea of reading something that was new to them.
Interestingly, some of the ladies have even found a new favorite genre. For example, most of us had never read an Amish novel. It just didn't seem to appeal to some of us, so we didn't bother with it on our own. However, we decided that we would read an Amish novel for our book club, so we read the first book in the Seasons of the Heart series by Charlotte Hubbard called Summer of Secrets. The first book was so enthralling that we decided to read the next book and then the next one, until we read all six books in the series.
The same thing happened with a suspense/mystery book by Christy Barritt called Just the Nicest Person. It's the first book in the True Crime Junkies series, which takes place in Alaska. We couldn't stop with just book one, so we read them all. At our next meeting this month, we will discuss the final book in this series, and I can hardly wait.
Our book club continues to enjoy journeying through a broad selection of Christian fiction novels, and in the process, we are discovering writers who are new to us, who we can now add to our favorite-author list.
Some of the ladies at our book club love to bring snacks to share. They bring things like lunch meats, cheeses, crackers, cucumber sandwiches, popcorn, fresh fruit, homemade pastries, and more. So, for the first twenty to thirty minutes, we start our meeting with a prayer, and we chat about whatever is on anyone's mind as we enjoy the snacks.
Next, we move to the discussion questions. I always create about 20–25 questions that require more than a yes or no response. The discussion questions take about an hour to an hour-and-a-half to get through. Our group can become quite animated, which is hilarious and causes us to laugh at ourselves.
If you have no idea how to create discussion questions for a book club, check out this Ultimate List of Book Club Discussion Questions for Fiction and Non-fiction.
Our book club tried various days of the week to see what works best for us. We finally settled on Sunday evenings at 6:00. As I mentioned, some of the ladies in our group are young moms, so they have to work around their families' busy schedules. Some are grandmothers of younger children and not retired yet, so they also have full schedules. For that reason, Sunday evenings work best since most fathers are home and there aren't any sporting events for the children. We always meet at our church because it's centrally located, allowing each of us to travel about the same distance.
You will have to decide with your group what is most convenient for everyone. But keep in mind, if your group is large, you may not find the perfect place and time for every person. In that case, choose what is best for the majority. The others will have to choose to adjust, not attend, attend occasionally, or they can form another book club that meets at a different time.
I started our Christian book club over a year ago. We began with five or six ladies. Now we are up to nine or ten ladies. The bigger your group gets, the harder it is for everyone to get a chance to share their opinions during discussion questions. Ideally, a book club with five to ten people is best, in my opinion.
I like to include everyone in the decision-making process of which book to read next. For that reason, I send an email with pictures of book covers of novels in a variety of genres. I usually offer four or five options for the ladies to choose from. I also send a link for each of the books so they can look up the description and read the reviews if they want.
To make it less expensive for everyone, we try to find books that are also on Hoopla or on sale. If you sign up for Book Bub, you can receive great recommendations from other readers and notifications when books go on sale. Many times they are free or at a reduced price for a limited time.
Then, at our next book club meeting, we discuss the options and vote on which book interests us the most. The book that receives the most votes will become the next novel our book club will read.
If you are interested in joining a book club, I'm sure you can search on Google for book clubs in your area. But why not consider starting one in your church or your home? The benefit is, you can restrict your club to reading only Christian books, fiction or non-fiction, whichever the ladies in your church enjoy most. Some Christian book clubs read both Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction. It's your club, so get to know your members, and then decide what your group would enjoy reading and discussing most.
Would your group enjoy sharing snacks at the meeting? If so, are there any volunteers? What is the most convenient location and time for your group to meet? How often do you want to meet? Will you read the entire book and meet once a month? Would your group prefer to read several chapters and meet every week for a discussion until you reach the end of the book, then you can start a new book the following month? Decide what's best for your group and for you as the leader.
Create discussion questions before each meeting. This website is especially helpful with creating discussion questions for a variety of genres. You can find other websites to assist you in your search engine. However, the examples of discussion questions that these sites offer are just a place to start and to get ideas. As a Christian book club, you also want to create questions that allow you to discuss the spiritual lessons learned in the books you've read. Give everyone in your group opportunity to share their thoughts and insights, but don't allow anyone to dominate the meeting.
I'm so glad I created a Christian book club for the ladies in our church. Every month, I look forward to this event, as do the other members of our club. Although the book club is a lot of fun, it's also an opportunity to develop a close-knit community and deeper friendships. As we go through the discussion questions, they sometimes naturally lead us to open up and share concerns, difficulties, and heartaches as we relate to scenarios in the book we just read. These kinds of heart-to-heart moments cause us to truly get to know each other, encourage each other, and care deeply for one another.
If you are an avid reader who longs for a close-knit Christian community, I would encourage you to create a Christian book club or partner with someone and create a book club together. In this way, not only will you discover a close-knit community for yourself, but you will provide the opportunity for others to find the same thing.
If you decide to start a Christian book club, I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to email me through my contact form. If you have additional questions, I'd love to help you if I can, so don't hesitate to write. If you already have a Christian book club, is there a particular Christian fiction novel your club especially enjoyed? I'd love to know the title and author so I can check it out.
Happy reading and happy bonding with other readers!
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October 23, 2023
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