📚 Book club checklist

The first meeting sets the pattern for every one after it — decide the rhythm and the ground rules early, before habits nobody agreed to take hold.

13 items

1. First book chosen, short and easy to findA long or hard-to-source book stalls a group before it's even properly started.
2. Meeting rhythm agreedMonthly is common; anything faster turns the book into homework rather than the reason to meet.
3. Venue settled, or a rotating host decided
4. A few discussion questions prepared by whoever's hostingStops the conversation stalling after 'did everyone like it'.
5. A ground rule about unfinished books agreed earlyWhether it's fine to discuss it anyway, decided once rather than argued every month.
6. A way of choosing the next book decidedWhose turn it is, or a shortlist voted on, sorted before the awkward silence at the end of the meeting.
7. Guest list settledToo many people and the quieter readers never get a word in.
8. Snacks or drinks sortedKept simple, or shared out, rather than falling on the same host every time.
9. Reminder sent a few days beforeFor the chapters people meant to finish over the weekend and didn't.
10. Copies sourced in good timeA library hold or a secondhand copy takes longer to arrive than a bookshop trip the night before.
11. A note kept of what's been readOne line per book — remembering which one was which a year on is harder than it sounds.
12. A time limit on the social chat before the discussion startsOtherwise the book itself never actually comes up.
13. A plan for what happens if someone hasn't read itStill invited, still welcome — the point is the group, not a reading test.