online tools for book clubs

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on December 3rd, 2010 at 07:52 AM | | Tweet

I used to belong to a fabulous book club.  We met one Thursday night a month, at alternating houses, and enjoyed dinner, wine, dessert and discussion.  It was bliss!

Then my writers’ group moved to Thursday nights, so that was the end of that.  But I pine for my book club.  I really enjoyed the chemistry of our members, the interesting choices—not books I would necessarily read on my own.  And that’s the beauty of it, I suppose.  That as a reader, you’re invited to push the envelope, broaden your scope.

It’s been maybe three years since I’ve last attended book club, and in those three years a sea change in the digital age has offered, not only Kindles and e-books, but online communities and blogs and forums that serve as quasi book groups (bring your own wine).  Our book club used to select a years’ worth of books at a time.  One meeting per year was devoted to a sort of “voting” session, where members would bring in samples and reviews of books, and then we’d do the democratic thing—cast secret ballots, decide on the line-up as a team.  We didn’t know about Book Movement back then.

Book Movement is a tool that offers top selections from book clubs around the nation, and here’s how it works:

1. Find out which books make their Top 10 book club picks list new every Monday.

2. An online directory of book club selections includes:

  * Detailed book info
  * Number of clubs reading the book
  * Reviews by book clubs

3. Give back, and share your book club’s selections:

  * Store your members’ book selections & meeting info in one place
  * Share book info with your club members
  * See which books your members have discovered

So, now my writers’ group has moved back to Monday nights, and I may get a chance to re-join my beloved club—if there’s room—and see what they think of this new tool.