How to Make the Most of Your Online Book Club

Here's How:

1. Why do you want to join an online book club?
   • Would a traditional book club better meet your needs?
     
     
   • Are you planning to read free electronic books? Or, will you still buy books?
   
   
   
2. What level of discussion do you want?
   • Are you looking for a critical discussion?
     
     
   • Do you have a degree in English literature?
     
     
   • Are you accustomed to more in-depth discussions about books?
     
     
   • Or, are you looking for more basic "intro" discussions of books--on topics of interest to you?
     
     
   • Do you prefer a structured or free-form discussion of books?
   
   
   
3. How much time do you want to spend?
   • Please remember that online book clubs can still take a substantial amount of time. You need to be realistic about how much time you want to spend.
     
     
   • Particularly with very lively and interactive (fun) book clubs, you may find that you receive a large number of emails; or you may spend time reading through the forum posts (and responding).
     
     
   • Depending on the reading list, you'll also need to read at least one book per month.
     
     
   To get the most out of the online book club, be realistic about how much time you want to spend.
   
   
4. How picky are you about the books you read?
   • Do you only want to read the classics? (If so, you'll want to join a classics book club.)
     
     
   • What about the genre?
     
     
   • Do you only want to read particular authors?