How to start a book club for seniors
Book clubs for older readers already work. The meeting is the good part. What breaks them is everything between meetings: nobody knows who has read what, the book is too long, and the one person who organizes it gets tired.
Pick editions, not just books
Every pick should be available in large print and as an audiobook. Libraries carry both for most club books. If a title has neither, pick another.
Audiobook listeners are full members. Progress is by chapter, not page, and EpyLog finds the chapter list for the book so a listener and a large-print reader are in the same place.
A pace with room in it
Twenty pages a day. Six to eight weeks per book. EpyLog sets the finish date from the page count and the organizer moves it out if the club wants more time.
At each quarter the club asks everyone how far they are. A chapter number is the whole answer.
Between meetings
This is where the club gets better. When something happens at chapter nine, say so. The people past chapter nine read it and reply. The people who are not there yet see nothing until they arrive.
EpyLog does this by email and on the web; there is nothing to install and no password. A member who only checks email still gets the club's questions and the reminders.
The questions
At each stopping point the club asks one question about what has just happened. Each person answers before they see anyone else's answer, so the quiet members have their say before the talkers do.
The meeting
Keep the meeting. EpyLog proposes a Sunday after the finish date, with a calendar file in the mail, and the day before it sends everyone what the club said while reading, question by question. Start the meeting there.
Who runs it
The reminders, the meeting date, the nudge to the person who went quiet: EpyLog sends those from the club, so no one member has to. The organizer picks whether the club is open to anyone with the link or invite only, and can change the questions.
Start it
Email five people the link. They join with their email. Nothing to install.
Questions people ask
What books are good for a senior book club? Ones available in large print and audio. EpyLog picks three from the movies the club loves; check the editions before you vote.
How do you keep a book club going between meetings? Talk at stopping points as you read. EpyLog shows each member the club's notes up to their own chapter and nothing past it.
Can members who do not use apps take part? Yes. The club's questions and reminders arrive by email, and the site works in any browser without a password.
Want the app to run it?
Give EpyLog your email and the book, then send your friends the link. Each of you says what chapter you are on and sees the club's notes up to there, and nothing past it. It sends the reminders and sets the meeting.
Set up your club