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Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs

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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.

I've already used the book group questions with my daughter in discussing her outside reading book for school, plus perused the book lists and found some ideas for my 13-year-old son. I'm not in a mother-daughter book club (yet?), but I've found Book by Book thought-provoking and fun.

I love this book! I was already in a mother/daughter book club, that was humming along, when I first found this little treasure. It helped bring new energies into our club---new ideas, new approaches. While geared toward the mother/daughter club, the book is a great resource for any book club---with information on how to start a club,and how to keep it flourishing!

This book was my go-to resource for staring a Mother Daughter book club for my daughter and me. I would not have considered many of the questions/issues that can come up, and I am so pleased that author Cindy Hudson did. We are off and running with our book club and doing it the democratic way because this book anticipated so many aspects.

If you are considering starting a Mother Daughter book club, invest your time and money in this book!

Have you ever heard any idea that in theory sounds great...but in reality you have no idea how to pull it off? So many things fall into this category for me--including a mother-daughter book club. Hudson's book covers everything I could think of from club size to club selections to extra activities to the problems that inevitably crop up with any group. What I like most about Hudson's book, aside from the step by step instructions, is the openness of her plans. There is no "this is the right way to do it" directive. Instead Hudson allows readers to design their own group telling readers the advantages and disadvantages of each decision.

Hudson gives you everything you need to start your book club. In addition to suggestions about forming a group, there are book suggestions, discussion questions, favorite recipes for book club meetings. Throughout the book there are also quotes and stories from moms and daughters in book clubs together telling about their experiences. I can't see how anyone can read this book and not want to at least give book clubbing with their daughter a try.

Jodi Webb

[...].

If there is someone charting the growth of mother-daughter book clubs nationwide they will definitely notice an uptick on their chart this year. Why? Because Cindy Hudson's new book is certain to inspire mothers everywhere to form mother-daughter book clubs. Do you want to strengthen your relationship with your daughter? Do you want to help her increase her self confidence? Do you want to create a safe place to discuss some of the difficult issues of growing up? Then start a club.

Hudson's book begins by taking the reader through the step by step chronological process needed to form the group. But, because of insight Hudson has gained from her blog and Web site [...] she realizes that each club needs to have it's own unique characteristics to serve it's own special members. Hudson doesn't just tell you how to put the group together, she leads you through a thought provoking discussion that will enable a reader to create an individual club that may last for years to come.

In the second part of the book, Hudson dishes up ideas to keep club members coming back for more. Why not serve book related snacks or dinners? In the back of the book you'll find recipe ideas. She also offers other morsels like taking field trips and meeting with experts about the topic of a book, volunteering, and attending book readings to meet authors. A club will never grow stagnant.

Hudson's own two clubs have lasted for years, so she is well aware of unexpected issues that may arise. In the third part of her book she gives advice for solving conflicts, tips for keeping a club strong and cohesive, and how to discuss touchy subjects that may start appearing in books as daughters grow older. In a society where girls sometimes grow up too fast, Hudson has given mothers a powerful tool to help them maintain a healthy relationship with their daughters.

Hudson's guide is terrific! Not only is it essential for creating new book clubs (and not just those for Mothers and Daughters!), but it's a remarkable gift for sustaining those clubs. She has covered a world of material here - everything you'll need for those genuinely interactive sessions.

I am the leader of a mother daughter book club that is still fairly new, we celebrated one year of "togetherness" last month! I was a complete and total novice when beginning our little venture into reading with our 11 and 12-yr old daughters last year, and I could use any help getting started that I could get! I found that Cindy Hudson's website, The Mother Daughter Book Club" website, was an invaluable tool for me! I have even called upon Cindy's help personally throughout the year, when I had a problem in our group and needed the expertise of "someone who'd been there", and she was very helpful and understanding.

Cindy's new book is the mother daughter book club's "bible" and no club should be without it. She has included so many helpful tips and helpers that have come from years of living the mother daughter bookclub experience, as well as calling upon her own personal resources gleaned from her writing background. What an honor it was to also find that Cindy had cited our book club's experiences and quoted us in her book! This book will now not only be a useful tool and resource for me throughout my future bookclub years, but a treasured memento of my own, personal, book club experience.

Thanks to Cindy Hudson for such a valuable piece of literature. I think she can be proud of her work knowing that many, many moms and daughters will be benefiting from her efforts for years to come!

Witty, fun, easy to read and an excellent resource for those new to the Mother Daughter Book club concept or for those who have existing clubs. Cindy Hudson's Book by Book offers very helpful insight to a topic that is obviously a passion for her. For those looking to start a bookclub this is a must read!

Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs is just that--a thorough how-to on creating thriving and meaningful book clubs for moms and their daughters. Hudson uses her own firsthand experience of forming and participating in two successful long-running mother-daughter book clubs with her daughters. Her underlying premise is that book clubs are wonderful vehicles for moms and daughters to share as pairs, as well as within a group. As girls grow older, mother-daughter book clubs provide wonderful environments to discuss current, complex, germane, and sensitive issues within the context of discussing a book.

Book by Book helps the reader to start a club. Hudson begins with the benefits of a mother-daughter book club. "Enhancing your daughter's reading skills, staying connected with your daughter as she grows, nurturing your daughter's self-confidence, helping your daughter learn life skills, spending social time with other moms/girls, and building a community of caring friends." She provides meticulous outlines, examinations, participant quotes, and expert advice for such considerations as your daughter's age, the right size of the book club, who to invite, meeting venues and calendar, meeting ideas, choosing books, and managing discussions. A section is dedicated to offering ideas and concrete examples of how to tie books and themes to field trips, author meetings and other extracurricular and rewarding activities. The last section of the book deals with book club challenges--touchy subjects, conflict with members, new members and those who leave, and restructuring (with a sample survey for current members). Hudson completes her exceptional how-to guide with three appendices offering resources: where to find books on the web, book suggestions (with brief synopses), and recipes from mother-daughter members.

Book by Book is a practical guide by an author who obviously knows her subject. When I finished the book, I had no unanswered questions, other than to ask a close friend if she wanted to start a mother-daughter book club with me.

If you are interested in connecting and staying connected with your daughter, read Book by Book.

by Judy Miller

for Story Circle Book Reviews

reviewing books by, for, and about women