Book clubs can be great, but have you thought about taking them to another level with audiobooks? Wouldn't it be fun to hold a quaint gathering in your living room — seated 'round the fireplace with a refreshing cocktail, while a central speaker broadcasts a good story as if it were the 1930's? Read on and we'll show you how to hold such an event — Apartment Therapy Style.
We've all heard of book clubs, and some of us may even be in a few. It's always a little challenging to keep everyone in sync, though — one person not as far along as the others, or perhaps another who read the book all the way-through in excitement. An audiobook club would solve all that. Everyone would all listen in together, and enjoy together. It'd be like a movie night with your friends, but more nostalgic and personal.
- Pick a Book
The first, and perhaps most critical, part of a book club is choosing the book. Check out our post on Best Narrated Audiobooks for some great recommendations — especially all the great input from our readers. Find something in a genre you all enjoy, or one that unifies common interests.
- Broadcast your Media
With the book chosen, and downloaded to your computer or mobile device, you'll now need to figure out a way for everyone to listen in. This could be as simple as plugging your media into an external speaker system via an auxiliary cable, or as seamless as streaming your media wirelessly to a portable speaker. You can even go for extra credit and tune in through some epoch-themed speakers found here.
- Organize and Schedule
Now gather up your list of recruits, those willing to take part in a 4-6 part event. Setup an eVite, and rotate between houses of the club members' homes for each meeting. Set a consistent schedule, complete with start and end times, so members have a day they can look forward to and an allotment of time they can committ to.
- Set the Spread
For food have light appetizers and drinks (pre-mixed in a carafe works best). Setup everything around your favorite listening spot. Don't feel like you have to confine yourself to the house, gathering outside around a firepit could add to the experience. Just make sure drinks and snacks are easily accessible for people to graze as necessary.
- Tune-in and Manage
Listen to a few chapters, for a total of about 1-1.5 hours, before stopping the audiobook for the day (take note of your stopping point). The listening part of the night may be over, but the party is just beginning. We like the idea of setting out a tempting, dessert after the book and perhaps even some coffee or apertifs.
- Have a conversation
Over dessert talk about your favorite parts of the book, what shocked or surprised you, or perhaps even what you think will happen next. Great books make for great conversation. Then when the clock strikes midnight, or whatever time you set, everyone can go along their way — ready to do it again next time.
If you have the motivation, make the very last meeting for each book special. Hold a more formal dinner, and perhaps theme your menu around the book. This ends things on a good note, and whets your appetite for doing it all over again. We think this is a fun social gathering everyone can enjoy. Everything else has gone retro. Maybe it's time the forgotten pastime of listening to a story as social event makes a comeback too.
Images: Chris Perez
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I'm not sure how I feel about this. The whole point of having a book club is starting it with great discussion and socialize with friends in a more comfortable atmosphere. Sitting around quiet listening to an audio book doesn't pose as my idea of fun.
I like the idea of doing this, except for instead of listening to an audio book I think it'd be great to listen to an old radio program. You could listen to a serial over several weeks, or just listen to a standalone program. With a standalone program you could get through the entire story and talk about it at the end.
I love this idea! I love audiobooks too, and I have a close friend who also does. I think with the right group it could be very enjoyable :) Who knows, if you get a funny book, you'd all be laughing together or maybe tearing up at the same points, an interesting way to share a book. It's almost like watching a movie together but not quite, it still seems more intellectual than a movie. Neat idea!
I agree with @Milenab. This doesn't take the book club to another level at all. It's either people sitting around, not interacting, and listening to an audiobook, or it's a get-together where the audiobook is the background music. No, this just seems pretentious to me. It's saying, "I want to be able to say I'm in a book club, but without any of that pesky reading and discussion."
I agree this would be wonderful but am not sure it is the thing for someone who loves book clubs per se. It is more akin to to a classic movie night where you watch a film and discuss it afterwards as opposed to a book club where you discuss the story you consumed on your own. For my overly busy life the pairing of consuming the story and discussing it is fantastic.
Might I suggest that if this is up your alley bigfinish.com has a selection of full cast audioplays that are are like a modern version of old time radio and are AMAZING. They focus a lot on SciFi but also have dramas as well. I can imagine they would be perfect for an audiobook club.
A variation on bookclubs: Watch a TED Talk video and discuss!
I host a monthly meeting and pick a thought-provoking topic. We view it together, then talk about the ideas presented.
Two great points:
1) you get lots of info in about 20 minutes and can easily spend another hour & a half discussing it
2) you can view a variety of topics, and each meeting is stand-alone in terms of attendance
We use TED's download capability to get the talk on computer, then reserve a library room to meet at and show the talk. Our group socializes a bit before and after. It's been very popular and loads of fun! And I've learned Stuff--bonus!
I love this because the pace fits today's lifestyles and I don't have to try to carve time out of my schedule for extra reading (I already do a lot of that on my own).
These audio books are hours long and would definitely change the whole atmosphere of a book club meeting - from lively discussion to passive listening. But I think it would be a great idea to surprise your book club by showing up with the audio version of the book you've been reading so you can all listen to a chapter or two as a group. Pick one of the best/funniest/most intense chapters, so you can experience those moments again together!