How to Transform your IRL Book Club into a Successful and Supportive Digital Family

Every book lover has at some point formed a book club amongst their friend group or joined one by some other means. I was once an ambitious book club member, but the group was disappointingly dissolved. While some members read the chosen book and were ready and willing to discuss events from cover to cover, others just came to feast on the snacks and wine.

So, I’ve been thinking, during this socially distanced pandemic, how could an age-old tradition of book discussion be transformed into a flourishing digital network of book loving friends?

To start, defining the community as a book club emphasizes what the members must have in common — a love for reading books.

Over time, book club group members will naturally begin to chat about more than their common interest as they learn more about each other’s personal lives. As guards come down interpersonal relationships of trust will be established.

Much like Fabian Pfortmuller states in his article about digital communities, people can become transformed by joining an online community. They arrive and present their usual “Me” focused behaviors but once engaged and sharing experiences and thoughtful advice with others they quickly shift into performing more “We” behaviors that can be rewarding for everyone.

After a unified community of supportive bibliophiles is formed, the common goal of reading and discussing great books will just become the foundational purpose of the group. Beneath the surface, true friendships of trust, understanding, and belonging are made.

American historian and author, Barbara Tuchman, was quoted as saying that “books are humanity in print”. So, the development of strong interpersonal relationships while participating in a book club are expected. The characters come alive through discussion. It’s because as we read, their experiences and dreams parallel our own and can teach us more about our personal strengths and weaknesses as humans.

How could I ensure that the book discussions are engaging and rewarding?

For one, when structuring a Facebook book club group, I would divide the page into literature subtopic groups. They subtopics wouldn’t be boringly based on commonly recognizable book genres, instead I would use interesting themes such as:

· Personal Growth Is Worth the Work (Self-Help)

· Parenthood Adventures (Parenting)

· Who Done Done It Now? (Mysteries)

· To Infinity and Beyond (Science Fiction)

Secondly, group members could submit books for the group to read help compile thought-provoking discussion questions.

Month after month, the group members could vote for the books they would like to read and discuss via Facebook Live or Zoom. Should they choose to, the person whose book nomination wins could even lead the discussion. In this way, everyone in the digital community would feel like they are contributing.

To ensure that the group is actively engaging with the page, I have two ideas that could be implemented:

· Author Invitation: The group could invite authors to attend the virtual discussions. Those authors could then share their favorite excerpt and present a signed copy of their book to the person who’s question they most enjoyed answering.

· Fun and Games: The group could also award bookstore gift cards to those who are voted as providing the best book recommendations, the most engaging posts, or participating in the most live book discussions.

This digitized book club is still similar to the average in-person club, but it has the potential to reach a much larger audience of readers. I love how although it’s only a virtual version of the traditional book club, it can still allow its members to connect through their shared experiences.

Books are great at opening our eyes to worlds and experiences outside of our own. Book clubs are awesome because they allow you to see the story you’ve read through someone else’s eyes. To allow yourself to then learn from someone else’s perspective helps you grow.

Would you want to join a book club like this?

Comment below so we can get this book lovers clubhouse started!