A quiet circle of gray heads in armchairs, with untouched cheese cubes in the middle, and a thick classic on lap: that image of a book club is outdated. People in their twenties and thirties have stuffed the concept: reading lists are kept in group apps on WhatsApp of Signal, inspiration comes from Goodreads And have you not read the book? “Then treat you to a round in the pub.”
NRC Speaking experts about what makes their three amateur book clubs a success, so that you can start flying.
1Let yourself be pulled out of your book bubble
A book club gets you from your literary comfort zone; You have to be open to that. Floris van Goudoever (28), who has a preference for philosophical books, felt little enthusiasm when someone I’m free Van Lale Gül suggested. “I would never have chosen him myself. But it was really an amazingly good book. ”
Of course you will also read ‘stupid’ books, but according to Dennis van Velzen (31) that is a small price to pay for discovering new stories and authors. And if you are really very dissatisfied, “you can express your grievances in a figure at the end of the evening.”
Perhaps it is even a good idea to kick off with a bad book, Tips Paulina Moerland (25): Complaining together is fraternizing. “We read for our first book club Beautiful World Where Are You From Sally Rooney, we found it so bad. Then the tone was immediately set. ”
2Dostoevsky does not have to: determine the level of ambitions for itself
Do you want to use a book club to read Proust’s oeuvre, or to experience the latest Booktok phenomenon? It is good to coordinate the ambitions of the group in advance.
For example, Van Velzen’s book club knows the compromise that they read one (“max two”) science fiction times a year. Moerland’s book club is unanimous about the ambition level and calls itself “the most mediocre book club”: complicated literary details is not necessary, and they don’t get their nose for the Bridgerton-series.
3From non-readers to no shows: monitor the composition
Do not start with a book club, but start with a book, Van Velzen advises, then you know if it tastes like more. He and his friend started dinner for a small group of people. “The starting point is very simple: reading is fun and talking about books is fun.”
Via via hooks colleagues, distant acquaintances or neighbors. But also give new members the opportunity to quit. “I once invited my sister, but she thought it was too great a time investment. She has been once and never again. ”
In the past three years, the composition of the Moerland book club has changed once. Then someone hooked up, but he didn’t read the book, so that was short -lived.
“The smaller the group, the easier it is to maintain and to be able to agree consistently,” says Moerland. They are now “a closed book club.” “I have the idea that we have something special with four. It is good to agree on whether you can just bring people into people. “
4Which language doesn’t matter, but choose one
Well translating is an art. Unfortunately, not every attempt is equally successful, says Van Goudoever, and that is why it is very important that everyone reads the book in the same language. “Otherwise you really get a different reading experience in which one found it beautifully written in the original language and the other, who read a translation, was unable to get the same depth out.”
5Cherish the unofficial oddities of the club
Do not start with a too strict framework of rules, Van Velzen advises: that scares off. Start by simply gathering to discuss a book. “The composition and traditions grow organically.”
As with the book club of Moerland: the evening ends with a game of Jenga, the winner can determine the next book. And every meeting they traditionally order tacos and a portion of nachos to share.
6Keep the reading list
Every book read is an achievement that it deserves to be recorded.
That is possible in notebooks, or in apps such as Goodreads. In addition to the figures, the book club of Van Goudoever also records everyone’s opinion in one core sentence, as you can see on the flap text of a book. To capture everything, the group uses the description of their WhatsApp-Chat. By the way, that is not necessarily recommended, according to him. “We are now facing a character limit.”
7Don’t fear a good discussion, but too thick books
Van Velzen’s book club traditionally starts with a minute in which all eight members briefly tell what they thought of the book. Then the biggest pain points immediately come up – fertile soil for discussion.
The brighter the disagreement, the more fun the book club, says Moerland. According to her books, good material is “with a little relationship drama, family drama, or a discussion of who was right in the book, instead of the entire dry classic.”
And be cautious with too thick books, Van Velzen advises. At 400 pages, people start to sputter. “There is a natural limit.” His book club makes an exception: they have a summer break of about seven weeks in which they choose one thick pill. “Last summer it was Hillary Mantel. It was 900 pages or so. Really an investment. ”
8Figures are there to be changed
At the end of the evening the denouement follows: the allocation of numbers. This is possible, for example, on the basis of stars, such as Van Goudoever (“Half Stars are not allowed, that makes it difficult”) or on a scale of 1 to 10, such as Van Velzen (“with only one decimal behind the comma, there has been a discussion about that”).
It is good to note your own judgment before the discussion erupts. You will notice: your opinion will change. “You really only go up,” says Van Velzen. “Because of course you find out: there is much more in this book. As you talk about it longer, you get more admiration for someone’s work. ”
9Self -confidence is growing (also to criticize the classics)
“The highest figures are for the books we read in the initial period. We have become increasingly strict, “says Van Velzen. “Your taste develops and you know better what you are watching.”
At the bottom of the grade list of Van Velzen’s book club are two classics: The fall from Albert Camus (5.3) and The evenings from Gerard Reve (5.8). According to him, a book club should not know shame. “With ‘high literature’ you can feel a kind of obligation to have to find it right. Reve is of course also the big man. But it’s good if people feel the freedom to just say: I think it’s a stupid book. ”
10Before the evening is over: Picking a new moment
After the figures have been divided, and the new book has been chosen, there is one more thing: choosing a new date. “We don’t separate before the next appointment is in the agenda,” says Moerland.
Moerland’s book club meets once every two months, at Van Velzen that is once every four to six weeks. “That rhythm is important to make reading part of your routine,” he says. “You can really read a book in a month, and at the same time it has to be. You have a stick behind the door. ”
When Van Goudoever says in the pub that he is in a book club, he often gets the same light jealous reaction: “Oh my God, that seems so nice to me”. Are – perhaps something obvious – tip: “Just do it.”
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