Tips for Energizing your Book Club

I've visited close to 200 book clubs to promote Standing Still. They're all populated with interesting, lively women who I'd love to know better -- but every once in a while, one stands out. Last night, I traveled to a charming B&B in New Hope, PA to meet with a book group from Bethlehem on their annual retreat. Yep, a book club with an annual retreat. You gotta love that! Here's how it works -- They contribute a small amount of money at every meeting to help fund an annual getaway in late Spring. They all bring food for the weekend, and everyone drives and brings their bikes. Then they choose a local author to visit by talking to the knowledgable, local independent bookstore owner (Farley's). Like many clubs, they have a name-- but they also have a great looking logo, and t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats sporting it. They keep a journal and ratings on every book they've read -- which is something lots of clubs do, either by hand or online. But they take it a step further -- creating homemade laminated bookmarks that list a years worth of books and authors. So when their friends ask for book recos, they simply give them a bookmark. Genius!

Does your club do something unusual? I'd love to hear about it!