Book Club

Two people never read the same book the same way — and that gap is what a book club talks about longest.

Between 1996 and 2011, Oprah's Book Club turned quiet novels into million-copy sellers within days — the industry called it the “Oprah effect.”

The oldest documented reading groups are more than 2,000 years old — at ancient symposia the host read texts aloud, then everyone discussed them. Reading back then wasn't solitary: it took the printing press to make it a solo activity, one the book club now makes collective again.

Parisian salons in the 18th century were almost always run by women — Madame Necker, Madame du Deffand and others set up meeting places for thinkers and writers because universities were closed to them. From the living room, the Enlightenment was co-organized.

Take turns choosing. Everyone discovers genres they'd never read alone.

On your first read, mark two or three passages that surprised you most. In the discussion you're then the one with the concrete way in, not the one with the summary.

Choose a book that nobody has read before. Whoever already knows how it ends doesn't discuss honestly — the shared first impression is half the experience.

An hour of silent reading side by side, then ten minutes of talking. No shared book, no homework.

“Which book changed your thinking the most?”

“Which book would you never read in a book club — because you want it too much for yourself alone?”