How to Host the Perfect Book Club
5 Simple Tips to Make Every Gathering Magical
We will never tire of hearing people say, “book club is the best night of the entire month.”
Book club is so special to us, and because we know it’s important to so many of you as well, we’ve put together the five tips that will make your book club truly magical. Whether you’re hosting your very first gatherings or you’re a seasoned book club host, these five tips will ensure your guests have a great time.
Ultimately, what is most important is that you and your guests are having a great time in a comfortable, welcoming space. Everything else is just the beautiful details.
We also filmed a vlog of these tips while preparing for our Wild Reverence book club, if you’re more of a visual learner.
If you’d rather someone else do all the work and you happen to be local to DFW, we host a monthly in-person book club. Check out this month’s in our Shop and keep up with us on social media to stay in the know.
Tip 1: The Food & Drink
There’s just something so romantic about sitting around a table and sharing food and drink with one another. Not only does it make you feel warm and fuzzy, but a thoughtfully curated spread doubles as the most beautiful, edible decor.
Use the book you’ve as your menu inspiration. If a specific dish is mentioned in the story, make that! You can also use the setting or mood of the book to influence your cuisine.
Some of our favorites:
When we read The Crimson Moth/Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli, we served opera cakes as a nod to the opera that the characters frequently attend.
For our Fourth Wing Book Club, we had vials of orange juice that Violet used to incapacitate Jack Barlowe 😈. We also had Xaden’s favorite dessert, chocolate cake, decorated to resemble dragon scales. Wish we could have eaten it off his abs but anyway.
We served tea and made finger sandwiches for our Divine Rivals book club. This book is so whimsical we make an entire book club guide for inspo.
A themed cocktail or mocktail is always a crowd pleaser. For Sunrise on the Reaping, the latest Hunger Games book, we had drinks with a special ingredient that made our mouths go numb - because what’s a Hunger Games book club without drama and the risk of death? You can read our full Sunrise on the Reaping book club guide for more capital worthy ideas.
If you’re ever feeling uninspired or just want something low-effort, defaulting to a beautiful charcuterie and a shared pitcher of something delicious is always a win. The whole point is to create something beautiful that you can all enjoy together. Sometimes, creating a beautiful but intentional space is all you need.
Tip 2: Fresh Flowers & Candles Always
Nothing elevates a space like flowers and flickering candlelight, both of which are so easy to pull off.
For florals, you can
Match your flowers to the cover of the book
If there is a specific flower mentioned in the story, try to get those or even something that looks similar.
Let the tone of the book guide you: whimsical stories may call for wildflowers whereas a dark academia book may lend itself to more dark and moody colors.
Our recipe for candles:
Romantic story? Choose tapers
Dark academia? Big, dripping pillar candles
Whimsical and light? Maybe a combo of tapers and votives
We love a good taper, but these battery-operated flickering candles are a great option if you can’t, or don’t want to, have an open flame.
These small, intentional choices are what make guests walk in the door and immediately feel like they’ve stepped into the world of the book.
Tip 3: Themed Book Club Decor
Themed decor can really bring your book club to life. The best part is that it doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, the most memorable kind is often the most subtle. The goal is intentionality - small touches that make your guests feel like the world of the book has come to life around them.
Pull from the book’s setting. Does the story feel earthy and rooted in nature? Cover your table in moss, like we did for our Wild Reverence book club. Does it take place during WWI? Hang vintage army propaganda posters like we did for our Code Name Verity book club.
Pull from the book’s plot. When we read The Everlasting we made a makeshift tree by setting up a floral bar on the table and hanging greens from it to give the illusion we were sitting under a tree. If you’ve read the book you know the Yew tree was a huge plot point. What better way to bring that to life than sitting under a “Yew” branches at book club?!
Pull from the book’s details. In Divine Rivals, the characters work at the Inkridden Tribune, a newspaper, so we mocked up a real issue of that same paper (available for free download in our Book Club Guide) to make the story even more tangible.
Tip 4: Great Book Club Questions
Discussion is the heart of the book club. The food can be delicious, the decor stunning, the candles flickering, but if the conversation falls flat, the night also does.
Prepare discussion questions in advance. You may not need these if conversation is flowing freely, but it’s always nice to have in your back pocket if you need them. You can make it more special by printing the questions on little cards so guests can reference them at any time.
Go around the table for the first question. We start every book club going around and asking simply: Did you like the book yes or no? Getting every single person to speak early in the night sets the tone that this is a space where everyone’s voice matters.
Mix fun questions in. Not every prompt needs to be a literary analysis. Let people fight over which main character is hotter. At the end of the day, book club is about having FUN.
Tip 5: Your People
We know, we know, it sounds obvious, but while fun drinks and pretty decor help, it’s really the people we surround ourselves with that actually make book club special.
Surround yourself with those you love, who you want to spend hours with around a table. The ones who will debate fictional love interests, who will eat your weird themed snacks, who make discussing a book you didn’t even like feel like a night worth having.
Ready to Host Your Own Magical Book Club?
Hosting the perfect book club doesn’t require perfection, just intention. A little thought behind the food, setting, and conversation goes a long way.
We’d love to see what you create. Tag us on Instagram @always.bookd so we can cheer you on!
And if you want to see all five of these tips in action, watch our full Wild Reverence Book Club vlog where we take you through an entire night.