I just can’t let the book club thing alone. That’s why you’ll find that little “comment” bubble to the right of the title above.
If you click on the comment bubble for my previous post on book clubs at McNally Robinson, you’ll find Richard Stecenko describing how reading the books prior to seeing three films this summer enriched his experience of the films.
A movie book club is a great idea. Read the book, then view the movie at the theatre; adjourn to your favourite watering hole after the movie to discuss. Has anybody tried it? Leave a reply to Richard’s comment.
In fact, what about the rest of you out there in the cyberland? Tell me about your club. How long have you been going? How do you choose your books? Do all your members work at the same place or have the same profession? Gender balance? Most important: what do you eat and drink at your meetings?
I moderate comments here, so you can tell me if you don’t want your name to appear with your comment.
portage and slain 
I was invited to join my sister-in-law’s book club (made up of a group of her friends) several years ago, and it has been a lot of fun. We’re not very serious, but we all love to read and this was an opportunity to sometimes read things outside of our usual preferences. We try to meet every two months or so, and it’s rare that we all finish the book (almost all of us have young families), but everyone is understanding, and we have a great time anyway. We take turns choosing a book, reveal the choice at the end of one meeting, and discuss it at the next. Sometimes we have a really long discussion about the book, other times (usually if it was a bit of a dud) we barely talk about it. Some of my favourites have been non-fiction; usually memoirs, but we’ve read mostly mainstream fiction with the occasional venture into sci-fi and fantasy.
Since you asked, probably the best thing about book club is the food and drink! The way our club works is this: the person who chose the book hosts the meeting where we discuss it, and provides the drinks. The previous host brings a dessert, and everyone else brings an appetizer of some sort. (Most of us just have a light supper or skip it entirely in anticipation!) If specific foods are mentioned in the book, often someone will bring that dish or be inspired by it. Or if the book it set in a foreign country or within another culture, that often translates to food choices (we had a great Indian spread when we read “Secret Daughter”). My last pick was “The Rosie Project” and lucky for me, there was an entire scene in the book that involved bartending, so I made Freddy Fudpucker cocktails and margaritas – yum! We also have one very creative member who will find a way to work a name or theme from the book into her recipe titles, which we all get a kick out of. I know ours isn’t the only book club that jokes that it’s more about the wine than the book — and I think we’re all okay with that. (Not to mention that it’s a welcome evening of adult company sans children!) Sometimes I think about seeking out or forming an additional club that did aim to spend more time talking about the book – I think it would only add to the experience!.