3 out of 4 stars
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Plan It!: The Complete Resource Guide for Authors, Book Clubs and Literary Event Planners by Sharon Lucas is a guide about organizing book discussion groups and other literary events. Much of the information comes from the author’s own experiences managing a book club as well as book festivals and author events. In the mid-1990’s, the successes of Oprah’s Book Club and author Terry McMillan inspired Ms. Lucas to start her own book club, where the members would discuss books written by African-American authors.
There are sections about how to start and maintain a successful book club, and how to organize reading festivals, author visits, and other literary events. Specific instructions are given about ways to manage a book group, including how to be a good leader and sources for discussion questions. In addition, there are tips for dealing with members who continually interrupt, don’t regularly attend meetings, or don’t pay the required dues.
This book is a timely read for me. I belong to a book club that seemed promising at first, but has experienced many of the issues mentioned in the book – weak leadership, meetings where there is more unrelated chatter than a cohesive discussion of the story, and too many instances of side conversations and interrupting. I wish I could anonymously send this book to the organizer as there is a treasure trove of advice included that could improve the way the meetings are run. There are also interesting tips about enhancing the meetings; for example, the members could take turns hosting the meetings and food could be served that’s related to the setting or themes in the story.
The book is written in a straightforward style with a user-friendly format. Readers can go directly to individual chapters in the Table of Contents by clicking on the titles. In addition, there are sample questionnaires and checklists, and bullets are used to highlight specific instructions.
I think the author would benefit from the services of a good editor. There are numerous grammatical errors throughout the book, including missing words, incorrect punctuation, and missing end quotation marks. Also, the bullets used to highlight certain points are sometimes indented haphazardly. These errors give a somewhat unprofessional feel to what is otherwise a well-written book.
There is a definite focus on supporting African-American authors, books, and readers. The author’s love of reading and desire to showcase this category of authors shines through in the pages. I do think the book would attract a wider audience if there wasn’t such an obvious lean toward a specific group of readers and authors. That being said, the information can be used for any type of book group or author event.
I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. It’s a useful reference guide with clear instructions and advice. I would recommend it to book clubs (particularly group leaders), authors, and event planners.
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Plan It! The Complete Resource Guide for Authors, Book Clubs & Literary Event Planners
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Or maybe you can find a way to casually bring up this book to the leader of your book club.
