How many books should we try to read and how often should we meet?

How many books your group wants to read and how often you meet are obviously linked.

Many groups read one book a month and meet on a fixed time and day to discuss it - but there's no hard and fast rule.

Many groups that meet monthly most of the year will mix things up a little bit at times, for example having a holiday party and book exchange during the holidays, or taking a month or two off in the summer. Some choose to meet every other month or less. Some read more than one book for each meeting, some will decide to skip a meeting if they agree to read a particularly lengthy book, some even read different books but on a particular theme.

A key factor in many book clubs' success is picking a consistent time to meet and sticking with it, with occasional (well communicated) exceptions. It's much easier for people to schedule the book club into their calendars if they know that every second Tuesday of the month at 7pm is book club, than it is to lurch from month to month with different plans.

Most new groups starting out will probably find it best to meet monthly and to discuss one book of about 300 pages or less. Having a routine of getting together regularly will help the cohesion of the group, and keeping the books relatively short will help prevent members from getting overwhelmed.

Do you have questions on this topic or advice to give?

The advice mentioned above about choosing a book that is 300 pages or less is good advice, I think. I was a member of a book club a few years ago that decided to read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. That book really disrupted our meeting schedule. We were all busy professionals, and very few of us was able to complete the book by the meeting date. As a result, we postponed the meeting. And then we postponed again. I'm not sure how many of us actually finished that book, but it was no more than about 50% of the group. All in all, it was a demoralizing experience, and it turned off many of our memebers. My advice would be to pick a book that people can finish so they'll feel good about their book club experience.

I agree with Gwendolyn about choosing a book that is 300 pages or less for I am sure that even if people love to read and participate in the book club that there are other things in their lives that sometimes must take precedence over the book. My question about the book club would be if it would be something where the "meeting" would be online. I know that Barnes and Noble does something called first look and they give out a limited number of arc's and then post the dates that they expect people to post discussions on certain chapters of the book for the month so that some people are able to finish it before the time but still post to the discussions while others stick strictly to the schedule. Also, I know there is a moderator who also reads the book and poses some questions for the members to think about.