This month I volunteered to host our book club meeting at our apartment in Hoboken!
Book club usually meets every month and sometimes we go out to NYC bars or restaurants for meetings.
But during the winter months I always love when someone hosts at their home.
Last month my friend Lauren hosted our February book club and tied in some cute Galentine’s activities so I felt inspired to add some aesthetic touches to this month’s book club meeting too.
The book club gathering was a success, so I thought I’d share my best book club hosting ideas today.
I put together some quick and easy snacks, added a little festive touch that tied in with our book of the month, and even prepared a little craft for everyone to do.
Read on to learn more about how to host a book club gathering at home.
Book Club Hosting Ideas to Try at Home
Why host book club at home?
I personally think that small group activities are so fun to host at home and come without the pressures of larger gatherings or parties.
When we meet to discuss books, we get to have meaningful conversations about characters, plot, writing style and more and it adds another layer to the conversation in addition to the normal catch up.
I think that you can make an at-home book club a simple night in with some snacks or you can elevate the experience with a few fun details.
Book club hosting ideas and tips
When you’re planning your book club meeting you might consider choosing a theme of some sort to guide your decisions like menu, decorations, and more.
Some ideas for themes to inspire your gatherings:
- All things literary
- The genre of your book
- Seasonal holidays that coincide with the date you choose to meet
Like I mentioned in the intro, my friend Lauren hosted us in February so she also included some Galentine’s inspired activities and decorations.
When in doubt, you can get inspired by books, libraries, or genres.
I also think it’s helpful to let guests know when to arrive and whether or not they can expect food at book club—sometimes the discussions go on for a while so at the very least I recommend planning some snacks for your event.
You can also chat about attire beforehand if you want everyone to come over in their sweats or dress for a certain vibe or theme.
Simple but elevated book club snacks and drinks
When in doubt for a party, I turn towards doing a charcuterie board.
It’s such a high impact, low effort way to provide an abundance of different snacks with a little something for everyone.
I personally love going to Trader Joe’s for charcuterie supplies because they have a great selection for an even better price.
Here’s a quick and handy list of what I typically buy for a cheese board if you’re in need of inspo:
- 1-2 meats
- 2-3 cheeses (some hard, some soft)
- Olives
- Crackers
- Baguette bread, sliced
- Fruit (usually raspberries or strawberries)
- Vegetables (usually baby carrots or bell pepper)
- Dip (like a cheese spread, hummus or ranch)
- Pretzel thins, cheese twists, or some other fun carb
- Maybe a small chocolate of some kind
It may also be helpful to confirm any dietary restrictions or allergies with your group before you hit the grocery store.
You can get lots of inspiration for what else to include in a charcuterie board and tips for arranging them on Pinterest.
I also recently got this mini rechargeable lamp off of Amazon and it’s a great addition to our kitchen island.
It helped light the cheese board when my book club members arrived, plus it’s nice to have extra lighting on hand when cooking in general.
I love that it reminds me of study tables at the library too.
Speaking of the library, I couldn’t believe my luck when I stumbled upon these napkins on Amazon.
They resemble old library book slips when they’d stamp the due date on the card and I thought this was the perfect literary touch for book club.
Also, for me no book club meeting is complete without a nice glass of vino!
I also picked up some wine for everyone and some N/A drink options too like Bubly seltzers and some fun sparkling beverage cans that I found at Trader Joe’s.
Elevate your book club set up
Incorporate the book cover into your snack spread with these cute toothpick snack toppers.
This is so easy but was a great way to personalize the cheese board to the book we were reading.
How I did it:
Step 1: I dragged the cover into Canva and duplicated it so my toothpicks would show the front and back of the book. You can steal the template I used here.
Step 2: I printed out the books and cut them out using my paper cutter. If you don’t have this device, you can also use scissors.
Step 3: Get out the toothpicks and a glue stick. Glue on the reverse side of the cover and wrap the spine around the toothpick to seal.
Keep repeating as many times as you’d like! Here’s a link to all of the supplies and a video tutorial.
Easy DIY craft for book club
When planning for this meeting I was trying to think of a fun craft to do during book club and I came up with DIY bookmarks!
Why I love this craft:
- It was super affordable—I got all of the supplies on Amazon for under $20
- It’s beginner-friendly—truly anyone can do it
- It’s low mess and comes together quickly—no major cleanup required
- It’s easy to take home—especially since we live in a city and everyone would have to carry their bookmarks home on the train
I placed the bookmarks and stickers that I ordered on the coffee table to separate it from the food area in the kitchen.
In addition to the bookish stickers I found, I also ordered some colorful letter stickers to give people more options.
We even had enough supplies for everyone to make a second bookmark for a friend or family member.
Book club discussion tips
One thing about me is I am a book club participant who loves the discussion part of book club, so as the host here are a few tips for the discussion portion:
- Have 3 to 5 questions prepared to lead the discussion of the book
- Ask what everyone thought about different components of the book: from the main characters to writing style, and favorite/least favorite scenes
- You could also go around and have everyone share their star rating for the book or if they’ve read anything else from the same author
- Remember to mix in life updates with the book discussion too
Creating a cozy vibe for book club
I wanted to make sure that the couch was all set for our event with throw pillows. An extra ottoman was ready for additional seating in case we ran out of room on the couch.
I also had blankets nearby and lit a candle for ambiance. I love the Hotel Lobby Candles for pretty much any occasion.
My Samsung Frame TV allows me to log in to Spotify so I was also able to select a playlist for the evening.
They have so many ready made playlists to choose from or you could also make your own.
What I’d do next time I host book club
If I were to host again, here are some other really quick and fun book club ideas I’d try to elevate the evening:
- Create a digital invite in Canva and send it to the group chat after I confirmed hosting
- Design a little menu in Canva and print it out by the charcuterie board
- Make a signature drink in my large glass drink dispenser
- Have the group choose the next book and pick a date for the next month, it’s always so much easier to do this in person and save the back and forth in the group chat!!
Have you hosted a book club gathering at home before? Tell me about it in the comments!
yours,
Austen
