Start a book club and keep it going for a year

“Our book club was not a social club when we first formed it, and to be frank, we usually do read the book and talk about it in depth. But it has also led to amazing friendships. While I knew several of the people in the book club before we started meeting, there were some new people too, and my friendships have grown deeper and wider as a result. Book clubs give you a shared reason to be together and help guide the conversation, removing any barriers of what to talk about. [...] To date, we've read around ten books, and instead of meeting at the brewery, we now rotate between each other's houses and apartments. We've also done other things together, like crafting—we tie-dyed things in my basement, painted pottery, and have even attended some cultural events together, such as a live theater production of Little Women at the American Shakespeare Center and a concert from the Vitamin String Quartet in Lynchburg's historic Academy Center of the Arts.”

“I started a book club with a handful of college friends in January of 2021. Now that the book club has been up and running for 2 1/2 years, I can only shake my head at how long it took me to make that desire a reality. [...] I recall going through a dry spell in reading for a few years where I would start a new book, get halfway through, and never touch it again. Since I began my book club, I’ve finished every book I’ve started and even gone back to finish a few of the books I had abandoned during my dry spell. I read more and more books every year now, and I’m on track to read at least double the number of books I read last year.”