Just start a book club
Don't over-think it. There are a lot of interesting organizations you could start; too many. Why not a book club?
John Skiles Skinner
May 28, 2025
I co-founded a book club with some random people I met in a bar. It is probably the best thing I've ever done. Still going a decade later, mostly without me now, it is the nearest thing I have to a child.
Jessica Dussault and other Cook Blub (that's the name of our book club) members recently created this website:
Worried that democracy is crumbling because there aren't enough civic institutions? Start a book club.
Worried about the male loneliness epidemic? Invite some men to your book club.
Structure
Formalize it, a little. Have a system for choosing books and choosing where and when to meet. Pick a name.
We rotate: the person who has least-recently chosen picks the next book, hosts at their house, and makes snacks ("blub"). Thus new people who have never chosen a book go first; this gets them engaged right away.
You can still come even if you didn't read the book, so long as you don't mind spoilers. This policy makes the meetings more of a fun get-together, less like homework.
In combining snacks and fun reads, we took some inspiration from the "Book It" program at Pizza Hut.
Meetings
First we ask the person who chose the book, "why did you pick this book?" Then, free-form discussion of everyone's thoughts.
We are blessed with members who politely take turns speaking. We loop back around to anyone who got interrupted. Maybe we lucked out with courteous members; you might have to have a policy to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak.
Objections
"I don't have any friends." You will
"My friends don't read." How about a video game club? A perfume-smelling club? Whatever your people are doing, just put a club around it.
Durability
I never intended for it to be this durable. Neither I nor the other original founders go often anymore, yet somehow the club continues without us.
Honestly, I think once it gets established it becomes awkward to kill off. So no one does. It's low commitment so, just keep doing it.
In-group language like the word "blub" for snacks helps to keep it alive. A sense of ceremony and shared tradition elevates it above the day-to-day.
Keep inviting new people in, obviously. Some people will drop off, but if new people feel a sense of ownership, they may choose to carry the torch.