March Book Review & Tips for Hosting a Book Club

  This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks, all opinions are my own.

One of my favorite things to do since as long as I can remember is to read a good book and getting together with friends, so to combine the two into a book club is like a dream to me! I was part of a monthly book club with friends and I wanted to give some tips on hosting one if you wanted to and also a review of what I just finished reading for the March Book club with my friends.

Book Review: The Girl He Used to Know

I try my best to read a book each month and this March I just finished reading The Girl He Used To Know by New York Times Bestselling author Tracey Garvis Graves which will hit shelves on April 2, 2019.

****May Contain Some Book Spoiler Alerts****

What the book is about: The main characters are Annika and Jonathan, the story goes back and forth from their college days of where their relationship started and to the year of 2001 of where they meet up again after 10 years and rekindle their relationship. So it’s told in both of their point of views.  In the beginning of the book it was hard to tell what was wrong with Annika because of her mannerisms that she portrayed throughout and how she acted around people but the author does touch on the subject at the end of the book. Jonathan was such a great guy and always was so loving and  patient with her as well as her best friend Janice who seemed to be such genuine friends to her.

What I loved about the book: I definitely loved the relationship of Annika and Jonathan and how it developed and has changed from when they first started their relationship and then 10 years later when they are both adults with careers. The end of the book is what got me, I did not see that coming and I do hope the author writes another book to continue what the future holds for them both. The book is a fast read with short chapters which makes it a fun read.

Book Club Hosting Tips

When I have hosted a book club, I usually like to incorporate the theme with the book for  our get together, like for example: if there is wine in the book, we would hold it at a winery, painting in the book then we could all go to paint night or have food that is themed or decor themed to the book. I always felt that made it more fun for us to get together.  But for The Girl He Used to Know there didn’t seem a specific theme except for Chess and I have never played or own a chess set so that was kinda new for me and out of the question, haha!

I always prepare to have a list of questions available for book discussion and also get everyone’s input on the book. I think that is what makes book club more fun when you hear how everyone interrupted the book or what they did or didn’t like about it.

Now here comes the best part, food! Hosting at a restaurant or coffee shop is always fun or a neutral place where everyone can meet is easy. Since I had this at my home, I just made sure to have some sandwiches, a salad, dessert and of course more importantly a mimosa bar! To be honest, the sandwiches and chocolate bundt cake were from Costco but I did make the poppy-seed bow-tie pasta salad where you can get the recipe here.

Remember to get your copy of The Girl He Used to Know when it hit shelves on April 2nd