Tips for Starting a Ya-Ya Reading Group

A reading group or book club is a great idea. It’s a great way to talk about the newest book by Rebecca Wells, Ya-Yas in Bloom, to be released on March 29, 2005. If you are not already in a group, here are some tips to get you started.

1. Decide what type of books you want to read. If your group is drawn together by a common desire to read, for example, Women’s Fiction, then the choice will be easy. If not, talk together to decide on your group's goals. Remember, periodically you can change categories of books, such as taking a few months to read classics or nonfiction, rather than sticking with just one type of book. Compare and contrast the books you read with the books of Rebecca Wells.
   
   
2. Ask a few friends. Three or four people is enough, but some book clubs have as many as twenty members. Meeting once a month is a typical arrangement. Allow at least two or three hours for discussion. You would normally talk at least that much to catch up on events. This time you will have a compelling and exciting focus for conversation.
   
   
3. Decide if your group would like to discuss books over refreshments. Food with conversation is always more fun. Each month a different member can play host to the gathering and provide the drinks and snacks. Some book clubs reserve meeting rooms in restaurants and hold their reading groups there -- over lunch or dinner.
   
   
4. Upon selecting a title, you can ask the person who recommended it to find out more about the author. Check to see if the author has a Web site,or go to the publisher's website to see if there is a reading group guide and print it out. Here is the link to HarperCollins Reading Group Guides.
   
   
5. Have questions to ask about the book. There are thousands of questions to choose from, but the best ones to get the ball rolling are: Does the book work? If so, why? Are the characters portrayed in a believable way? Does the writer create a world that you can visualize? Is there a narrator? Is there a dominant theme or a message to the book? Does the book move you emotionally. Does it make you think? Are you inspired after reading it?
   
   
6. Disagreement is good! It will spark the liveliest conversations, and it can often lead to new ideas on potent and complex issues.
   
   
7. We highly recommend that everyone in the group read the book. It will make for a much livelier and fulfilling discussion.
   
   
8. Keep track of the books your group has read. One person can be designated as a record keeper. Your group might also want to create a brief critique of the book or a simple rating system (number of members who liked or disliked and a one to ten scale on plot, characters, etc.). You can explore places to share that critique with others, via an email tree, church newsletter, or local newspaper.