1. Meet every 3 to 6 months.
2. Everyone bring books to swap.
3. Everyone bring a list of books they really loved.
4. Each person takes turn talking about the books they loved while sitting around a dining room table with snacks and drinks.
5. It's fun if other people have read the same books. It's even more fun if they disagree.
6. Last time I did this I added 10 books to my "To Read Pile" and traded books with friends.
7. Everyone wanted to do it again.
1. Find 10-20 friends
2. Go on holiday for a week in a cottage in the middle of nowhere with terrible internet speed
3. Bring a dozen books each and put them in a huge pile in the middle of one room
4. Eat a lovely big meal together in the evening
5. Mercilessly shame anyone who is doing anything other than reading a book, cooking, or performing essential biological functions before dinner time
You don't all read the same book, but there will be plenty of overlap, and it usually works out that there are a few books that many people have read.
It gets people talking about the _why of the books_, particularly why they found it interesting, or what ticked for them. This makes for a more engaging discussion.
After a couple of them with similar people, there’s inherently a dialogue about which books you previously had taken or brought, why you chose to bring a particular book this time. The general context is very literary focused by framing.