Last month, when I wrote here exhorting everyone everywhere to take up reading again, I meant it. I hope you, if reading has fallen off your radar, if it has been choked and throttled and stomped by social media into a whimpering orphan like Tiny Tim begging for food, took my charge to heart and at least started thinking about what book you might select.
The holiday season is upon us. Days of inclement weather, vacation from school, perhaps some days off work—what better time to go get that juicy volume? Hold it in your hands, feel its weight, its magic. Let it clear the social media fog from your mind as you consider its dimensions.
Imagine yourself reading it. Where will you read? What is that special spot? You may have to carve it out of your home, some quiet corner.
A cafe? The backseat of your car? Throw a blanket down, grab a bowl of pretzels.
Now I have another challenge for you! 
You already know, because you read the heading to this post.
Yes! Start a book club!
A daunting prospect, you say to yourself.
“I can’t start a book club. I don’t know how. I’m not some advocate for reading. Will people think I’m weird?”
Nonsense. Nothing could be easier.
There are almost certainly people all around you already who kinda wish there was a book club handy. They’ll thank you.
You may know of a friend or two who has a reputation as a “reader” who would love to gather regularly with you to talk about a book. Go on, break the ice.
So how do I do that?
So if you are ready to take the plunge, here are some ideas to get started.
1. Establish some agreed upon criteria.
For example, what kind of books does Our Bookclub read?
What do you NOT read? Maybe you want to avoid, say, self-help books. Or business books. Successful living books. Books that are all reasoning and cerebral, like Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
Some people feel that if they are going to read anything, it should teach them or help them work better in some way. These people need to give themselves a break.
Really, a book club should be heavy on fiction with occasional diversions to historiography or famous treatises. The stuff that feels like a waste of time, unprofitable. Forget profit. But actually, fiction brings tidal waves of profit, just not the money kind.
Anyway, decide and agree. Go for books that stir the imagination, that take you back in time, that explore new subjects and require the reader to look with the mind’s eye and visualize a scene, historical or fictional, to behold characters and their relationships and intrigues.
Also, I hereby give you permission to make the club gender-specific. All women. All men. It’s okay, it doesn’t make you a bad person. A lot of people fret over this; they fear being sexist. But there are some advantages of a single-sex book club. And disadvantages.
My book club happens to be a men’s book club. I have also enjoyed un-gendered reading groups.
2. Establish a time and place
I recommend getting out of the house. Find a quiet pub or a coffee shop where you can easily procure a comforting beverage while you meet.
Also be sure to set an ending time. “Everyone knows we are done by 8:30 pm, or whatever.” This way, no one feels trapped, or that if they are ready to leave, they’d have to make an awkward exit. Eliminate reasons not to come.
3. If you are among newbies, say a few words to help everyone relax.
There’s no posturing here. No expectations. We’re all learners. We’re all trying to rediscover a dying art that desperately needs recovery in our world.
Admit you find reading difficult, that your attention span is not what it used to be. Set everyone at ease. If someone didn’t read the book, insist that they come to the meeting anyway! They’re still human, aren’t they? Then they are still free to engage in discussion and offer thoughts and opinions.
There is more to consider, but this will get you started. You can figure out the rest. (Explore “Meeting Procedures” at The Austin Athenaeum website for a deep dive.)
What will happen?
What will happen?At the very least, everyone will come away feeling that they understand the book better, that they have engaged in a rare communal activity, and that they are part of a special group all struggling to do the same highly worthy and commendable feat!
And in some small way, you have all taken an important step in holding back the decay of society. You have reactivated your atrophied minds, or at least engaged a dormant part, a part that has for years ceded control to the ‘work’ part, or the ‘sports’ part, the part that only resides in the four walls, and never gets out to see the rest of the world.
And this is my last word: I have been working on the canon of Great Books since my late 20’s. And I can testify that I have been better at everything else in my life as a result: a better husband and father, a better employee, a better human.
It has kept the creative side of my mind active, which has innumerable benefits. Not only has it made a writer out of me, but it added dimension to my other occupations, such as clergyman during that time of my life. It has made me a better teacher. A better project manager. A better architect, engineer, accountant, lawyer, doctor and nurse.
And to all you religious people: reading has also fashioned a stronger, clearer, wiser platform for the followers of the faith of that old Jewish carpenter, an understanding of the way words are put together, and consequently a more sure grasp of the biblical writings.
