GUIDE TO READING GROUP AND BOOK CLUB RESOURCES

A Comprehensive Guide for Anyone Who Loves to Read

Introduction

Whether you’re interested in chatting about the latest best sellers or you are looking for intellectually stimulating discussions about timeless works of literature, starting or participating in a reading group or book club is a great way to interact with likeminded people. And that’s why we created this Guide to Reading Group and Book Club Resources. Inside, you’ll find 40 individual resources covering every aspect of reading groups and book clubs, including starting a club, locating an existing club, or facilitating a literary discussion; choosing books to read; and finding companion materials to enhance your reading experience.

General Reading Group and Book Club Resources

While the ins and outs of launching and leading a reading group or book club may seem like common sense, some aspects of the process can prove more complicated than you might think. Browse this list of links to discover helpful steps and tips that will help you experience success.

10 Basic Steps for Starting a Book Club

For those who don’t have a clue about how to start a book club, this link has those answers and more. Find a range of information, such as how to decide on your club’s orientation to ideas for giving back to your community.

How to Start a Virtual Book Club

You don't have to leave your couch to connect with others over books! This guide to creating an online book club offers tips on everything from video platforms to book selections to staying engaged from a distance.

Book Club Advice

Starting a book club may seem simple, but it requires more than meets the eye. The important and critical steps outlined here will help your new book club succeed.

Book Club Meetings

The information in this link mainly focuses on structuring a book club meeting. Find details about ground rules, time limit and format, holding a discussion, and dos and don’ts of choosing books.

Book Club Checklist

This easy-to-use checklist from the Penguin Random House website will help you make sure you don’t forget any of the important details when planning to launch a book club.

How to Start a Reading Group

The well-organized information in this link will aid you in beginning an effective and entertaining reading group.

Organizing Great Meetings

This article discusses the basics to facilitating a group. You’ll also find tips and resources for selecting books, setting up the meeting, jumpstarting the discussion, and setting the right tone.

Tips for Leading a Lively Book Discussion Group

Find seven tips, as well as insights, from Kristen Jaques, who has led a book discussion group multiple times. This link also includes a list of books Kristen’s club truly enjoyed reading and discussing.

The Facilitator’s Handy List

Of particular note in this list are samples of dialogue that a book club facilitator can use to keep discussions amenable and on track.

Find a Reading Group or Book Club Resources

Perhaps you don’t want to undertake the task of starting your own reading group or book club. If so, look no further than the links below. They provide search features that will allow you to find an online or local group or club matching your reading interests.

Reader’s Circle

Utilize this site’s convenient search feature to find book clubs and reading groups of interest. Simply select your countryand type in your zip code to get local results.

Goodreads Groups

Find an online reading group that interests you by title or description – there are literally thousands available – or create your own online reading group.

Book Talk.org

With thousands of members and hundreds of forums, anyone can find the perfect online book club or reading group with the help of this site. Read and discuss books from all genres after you join for free.

#1book140

Hosted by Jeff Howe and The Atlantic, readers nominate books and vote on their favorites. The book discussions take place on Twitter at the hashtag in the link.

Join a Girl & Grownup Book Club

Start a parent-child book discussion group in your community. Girls Leadership provides all the resources you need to create a “Girl & Grownup Book Club” focused on books with characters that face challenges, stand up for themselves, and grow in a variety of ways. Selected books and accompanying discussion guides are available for grades 2/3, 4/5, and middle school.

Book Suggestion Resources

Choosing an interesting, worthwhile book can be daunting with all of the choices available. Even if you know which subject you prefer, the number of titles available can prove overwhelming. Next, there’s the dilemma of whether the book lends itself to discussion for a book club or reading group. Relax. Now you can take the guesswork out of choosing the right books by utilizing this list of book suggestion resources.

NYPL Recommendations

This site provides various avenues for you to find your next good read. Look at staff picks or a list of recommendations from the New York Public Library’s blog. You can also utilize the searchable “What Do I Read Next?” database, which features over 70,000 recommended books, or check out a Twitter wall that discusses what library staff and patrons are currently reading.

Featured titles:

1984 by George Orwell
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Book Movement

For current, ranked lists of the most popular book club picks every Monday, join this site for free. Discover what book clubs are choosing to read and why.

Popular Biography & Memoir

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Color of Water by James McBride
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Indie Next List

This link offers a curated and annotated list of recommended books for discussion groups composed by independent booksellers.

Adult Fiction Book Lists

Browse lists such as “50 Books That Will Change Your Life” and “Best Police Procedurals” to find reviews, ratings, and even previews that allow to read the first few pages of books that interest you.

Popular Contemporary Adult Fiction

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Oprah’s Book Club: The Complete List

This printable PDF lists all the books reviewed and recommended by Oprah’s original book club. Print out the list and check off the books as you read them.

Selection of titles from Oprah’s Book Club

Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The Underground Railroad by Colsen Whitehead
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine: The Complete List

Selection of Titles from Reese’s Book Club

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
The Library Book by Susan Orleam
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Flashlight Worthy Books

For lists of books that will keep you up reading at night, check out this website. Find hundreds of helpful, engaging, and thoughtfully composed lists.

Bookstr

This site utilizes the “latest news, curated lists and trends” to further its goal of being the ultimate book and recommendation resource. Bookstr proudly offers book recommendations from members and sources such as The New York Times.

Reading Group Choices

Selecting terrific books for reading groups since 1994, Reading Group Choices is no stranger to the art of recommendation. Search its well-organized archive of recommended, discussible books by title, author, subject, or genre.

Book Trailers

If you appreciate movie trailers, you’ll likely appreciate this resource for book trailers. Visually discover books you’ll want to add to your to-be-read (TBR) list.

Book Analysis/Discussion Resources

Browse the links below to find reading guides and lists of discussion questions or points of analysis for your next book club or reading group suggestion.

Random House Reader’s Circle

Discover tons of book suggestions and helpful reading guides for Random House book titles. Reviews of the newest titles are also available.

Simon and Schuster’s Books with Reading Group Guides

Find links to over 2,100 books with additional links to free reading guides to use with a reading group or book club.

Book Club Discussion Questions

Easily locate intriguing questions for the most popular book club picks to help make discussions flow smoothly.

Book Discussion Resources

Can’t find a reading guide for the book your group wants to read? Utilize these general discussion questions to get the conversation started.

Colorado Virtual Library Book Discussion Questions

Over 75 sets of discussion questions for various book titles are available here. Browse the book covers, click on the one that you want questions for, and receive the PDF document with printable questions.

Lit Lover’s Reading Guides

A one-stop shopping destination for reading guides! Lit Lover provides more than 3,300 guides complete with author biographies, book reviews, plot summaries, and discussion questions. Browse by title or author searches.

Book Notes Resources

Need help analyzing the themes or characters in a book? Or maybe you need chapter summaries to help you become quickly informed for an upcoming discussion. Whatever your need, you can meet it with one or more of the following book notes links.

FreeBookNotes.com

Welcome to the first and most complete literature study guide search engine. Easily locate free literature study aids for thousands of works.

Reading Group Guides

This site offers a database of hundreds of discussion guides, which you can search by title, author, or genre — including more than 200 guides to nonfiction titles.

Novel Guide

Still in its growing stage, this site offers supplementary resources to aid in the study of contemporary and classic literature selections.

Lit Charts

Find plot summaries, analysis, and major themes for over 300 novels at this site.

Book Review and Author Podcasts

Discover your next great reading choice by partaking of these informative – and often entertaining – podcasts.