So what do you do when you can't get a kit?
This seems to be becoming a more common question than I ever anticipated. Book Clubs ran before Book Club in a Bag -long before it. And there are many ways of running a book club, of choosing a title, hosting the meetings, etc. But there seems to be an endless number of questions from book clubs old and new, often pertaining to finding discussion questions, finding books when they can't get a kit, etc. I hope this page will develop into a sort of FAQ page to help you out! Keep checking back here as I answer questions and give you resources!
Some Helpful Links...
There is a wealth of information out there for book clubs. Here are some of my favorites:
Book Club Websites:
Lit Lovers
This website is chalk full of reviews, discussion questions, even classes on getting more out of your reading! A must for any new club, or old!
http://www.litlovers.com
Goodreads
Handy website for keeping track of how many books you have read, finding books & authors similar to ones you've already enjoyed and interacting with other books lovers!
http://www.goodreads.com
Book Clubs.ca
This website is again full of resources for book clubs new and old. They have a fantastic PDF on running clubs that I used myself. The link below is to that PDF document. If you want the main site it's http://www.bookclubs.ca. The author events section is a neat little feature too and they do actually post events in Regina/Saskatoon too!
http://www.bookclubs.ca/pdfs/resources.pdf
Canada Reads
Canada Reads is a CBC program every year that features 4-5 Canadian books. A panel of judges read and discuss them and in the end there is only one winner, whose book often goes through the roof in sales afterwards and during. You can watch or listen to this program through CBC and participate in the online discussion. Lots of great suggestions for your book club and fun to participate in too!
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/
Book Club Classics
This website has great reviews. Book Clubs can also get custom made discussions for their groups too. And recipes!!! She also gives out books throughout the year that you can win!!! And it is much more than just the classics.
http://www.bookclubclassics.com
Book Blogs:
http://www.omnivoracious.com
This is the book blog for amazon.com. It is a great place to hear about a variety of literary medium and keep up on the newest of newest. A great site for families as they have a children's wind up and graphic novel fridays weekly.
Book Ninja
A literary blog that is often quite funny too.
http://bookninja.com
Book Slut
This web magazine has it all, plus a blog! Reviews, author interviews, links, sectioned off by theme, etc. A great website.
http://bookslut.com
So Many Books
This blog is a personal blog. Her insights can be touch and go but any librarian whose website has book quotes and whose home page is a Monet painting has a place in my heart. She has also been listed on Guardian's Unlimited Book's Top 10 Literary Blogs list.
http://www.somanybooksblog.com
The Guardian Book Blog
Of all the newspapers the Guardian's is one of my favorite. Globe and Mail was up there for a while until they stopped maintaining the website well and quit featuring book clubs from across the country. The guardian does some great lists -the 100 best books of all time is one that circulates book lovers emails and comes up in librarys and on websites across the globe. They have a best of the decade and are quite worldly in their books, even if there is a slight bias towards UK authors (not that the NY Times isn't biased to US authors).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog
The Book Club Girl
What I love about this website is the interactive-ness. They have videos, post a list of live author conversations, have audio reviews and so, so much more. They link to cool book events, have really useful reviews and is all round one of the best sites I've stumbled onto as of late.
http://www.bookclubgirl.com
Free Online Books
Overdrive is here! Overdrive is an online ebook and audio book supplier and the Saskatchewan Interlibrary Services (SILS) has an ever growing collection-and it's all free if you have a library card in Saskatchewan! You can download ebooks and audio books from the comfort of your own home. A great solution for book clubs with special needs too because you can enlarge font sizes, turn up the volume and do what you need to make the book work for you! Contact your local library to find out more about this service!
More free online books coming!
Book Club Websites:
Lit Lovers
This website is chalk full of reviews, discussion questions, even classes on getting more out of your reading! A must for any new club, or old!
http://www.litlovers.com
Goodreads
Handy website for keeping track of how many books you have read, finding books & authors similar to ones you've already enjoyed and interacting with other books lovers!
http://www.goodreads.com
Book Clubs.ca
This website is again full of resources for book clubs new and old. They have a fantastic PDF on running clubs that I used myself. The link below is to that PDF document. If you want the main site it's http://www.bookclubs.ca. The author events section is a neat little feature too and they do actually post events in Regina/Saskatoon too!
http://www.bookclubs.ca/pdfs/resources.pdf
Canada Reads
Canada Reads is a CBC program every year that features 4-5 Canadian books. A panel of judges read and discuss them and in the end there is only one winner, whose book often goes through the roof in sales afterwards and during. You can watch or listen to this program through CBC and participate in the online discussion. Lots of great suggestions for your book club and fun to participate in too!
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/
Book Club Classics
This website has great reviews. Book Clubs can also get custom made discussions for their groups too. And recipes!!! She also gives out books throughout the year that you can win!!! And it is much more than just the classics.
http://www.bookclubclassics.com
Book Blogs:
http://www.omnivoracious.com
This is the book blog for amazon.com. It is a great place to hear about a variety of literary medium and keep up on the newest of newest. A great site for families as they have a children's wind up and graphic novel fridays weekly.
Book Ninja
A literary blog that is often quite funny too.
http://bookninja.com
Book Slut
This web magazine has it all, plus a blog! Reviews, author interviews, links, sectioned off by theme, etc. A great website.
http://bookslut.com
So Many Books
This blog is a personal blog. Her insights can be touch and go but any librarian whose website has book quotes and whose home page is a Monet painting has a place in my heart. She has also been listed on Guardian's Unlimited Book's Top 10 Literary Blogs list.
http://www.somanybooksblog.com
The Guardian Book Blog
Of all the newspapers the Guardian's is one of my favorite. Globe and Mail was up there for a while until they stopped maintaining the website well and quit featuring book clubs from across the country. The guardian does some great lists -the 100 best books of all time is one that circulates book lovers emails and comes up in librarys and on websites across the globe. They have a best of the decade and are quite worldly in their books, even if there is a slight bias towards UK authors (not that the NY Times isn't biased to US authors).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog
The Book Club Girl
What I love about this website is the interactive-ness. They have videos, post a list of live author conversations, have audio reviews and so, so much more. They link to cool book events, have really useful reviews and is all round one of the best sites I've stumbled onto as of late.
http://www.bookclubgirl.com
Free Online Books
Overdrive is here! Overdrive is an online ebook and audio book supplier and the Saskatchewan Interlibrary Services (SILS) has an ever growing collection-and it's all free if you have a library card in Saskatchewan! You can download ebooks and audio books from the comfort of your own home. A great solution for book clubs with special needs too because you can enlarge font sizes, turn up the volume and do what you need to make the book work for you! Contact your local library to find out more about this service!
More free online books coming!
