Many of you already know how much I love being part of a Mother-Daughter Book Club. I am so very fortunate to be able to spend such quality time with my daughter and our friends, and I feel as if I am getting to know my daughter on a whole new level when we share out thoughts about books. I strongly encourage everyone who has a young girl in their life to join a Mother-Daughter book club because I promise you that it will be one of the most rewarding things you can do with each other.
And with that, I'd like to share with you a brand-new book that is an absolutely must-have for anyone and everyone who has ever considered being in a Mother-Daughter Book Club. It's called BOOK BY BOOK: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATING MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUBS by Cindy Hudson; and I can't say enough good things about this book! Trust me on this one -- you have to get your hands on a copy of this book. I consider BOOK BY BOOK to be the definitive source on everything mother-daughter book club related. Oh how I wish I had this book when I started our mother-daughter book club about a year and half ago!
This book encompasses everything you need to know about starting a mother-daughter book club from why you should be in one, to when you should begin, to how big your group should be to who to invite. It gives lots of practical advice on getting started as well as maintaining a happy and healthy book group. I think Cindy's advice on how to run the meetings and her ideas for fun projects are amazing. This book has really made me re-think our book club meetings, and I'm sure if we incorporate some of Cindy's suggestions, the girls will have even more fun!
There are many things that I appreciate about this book, but I think Cindy did an excellent job of showing that there isn't a one-size fits all approach to mother-daughter book clubs. Even though Cindy has run two mother-daughter book clubs (and I consider her to be an expert), she also conducted extensive research as well as interviews with other book club members. BOOK BY BOOK definitely gives you many options, and I'm sure that you will find an approach that suits your needs.
Cindy has also tackled some issues that aren't always easy concerning mother-daughter book clubs such as resolving conflicts among members, handling things when someone wants to quit, adding new members and restructuring your group. In addition, Cindy shows how some groups have approached discussing books with touchy subjects such as sex, alcohol, and drugs. I know my daughter and her friends are still in elementary school, but I can see some of these issues coming sooner rather than later. I am glad that I can go to this book for some advice!
One of my favorite things about this book is that I have discovered so many new ideas! I love all of the book recommendations -- Cindy provides suggestions by age group. In addition, I think many of her ideas for incorporating themed crafts and food into the meeting are terrific. As you can clearly see the appendices of BOOK BY BOOK alone are worth the price. Appendix I is Where To Look For Books on the Web, Appendix II is One Hundred Books That Might Be Right For Your Book Club, and Appendix III is Crowd-Pleasing Recipes.
I am planning on taking BOOK BY BOOK to our future book club meetings because there really is so much valuable information in it. Our group has found that it is often times hard to find discussion questions for the books we have selected to read. Some of the girls like coming up with their own (and I try to help encourage discussion a little), but Cindy has provided a list of "generic", yet thought-provoking questions, that work for any book. In addition, she provides some great sample survey questions that you can hand out to members to get their ideas for possible improvements to your group.
As I'm pretty sure you can tell, I think very highly of BOOK BY BOOK: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATING MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUBS; and I strongly recommend it! Even if you have already started your own group or you are currently a member of a mother-daughter book club, you will still find this book to be an extremely valuable resource. BOOK BY BOOK really is the only guide you need for mother-daughter book clubs.
