I'm thinking of launching a virtual book club from my blog, and I want to see what people think of the idea. Every month would have a different theme. About a month in advance, we would post possible book selections for the following month’s theme and let everybody weigh in on their choices. On the first of the month, I would announce the book selected and give everyone a month to read. At the end of that month, we would open the floor to a virtual month-long book chat—you could share your thoughts whenever you were able. Each month’s best virtual book club member might win a prize related to that month’s theme just to keep things interesting. And, of course, members wouldn’t have to participate every month—only when they were interested in the book chosen and had the time to do so.
Here are some possible themes I was considering:
1. Jane Austen January (a little Austen to get us through the long, dreary winter)
2. Romance February (in honor of Valentine’s Day)
3. Spring classic (a great classic novel)
4. Animals in April (books with pet or animal themes in honor of the ASPCA’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month)
5. Mothers in May (novels with strong mother-child relationship themes)
6. Fathers in June (novels with strong father-child relationship themes)
7. Bestseller July (a book from the NY Times bestseller list)
8. Beach read August
9. Young Adult September (I’m thinking “back to school.”)
10. Gothic October
11. Nonfiction November
12. Holiday December
The inaugural month would probably be this August, so here are some contenders for Beach Read August:
Karen White’s On Folly Beach
Claire Cook’s Seven Year Switch
Heidi Jon Schmidt’s The House on Oyster Creek
Alicia Bessette’s Simply from Scratch (doesn’t come out until August 5th, but I think that would still give us enough time to read.)
If you think you might like to participate, leave a comment on my blog and tell me which book sounds the best to you. Unfortunately, you’d all be on your own to buy the book from your favorite retailer. I hope this virtual book club works, and I hope to “see” you all here, reading poolside, this August!
My National Pet Adoption Month contest is still open on my blog, extended until July 31st.
