Themed Book Club Idea Lists
Some friends and I started a Book Club where instead of all reading the same book we anchor our individual reading choices in a monthly theme. The theme can be an expansive big idea or a just “spark” word to get the ideas flowing. We found it to be more inclusive, facilitates more interesting conversation and allows us to learn about a wider variety of books and topics. My husband and daughter even spun off our own mini family Book Club based on the monthly themes. Word spread and folks have been asking me about the upcoming themes and starter Idea Lists; I’m sharing ‘em here. Note: I haven’t read all of these books so take what inspires you and ignore the rest. Let me know if you form a satellite group, what you read for the month’s theme and how it goes!
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January 2025, Time
January was named for the Roman god Janus, who symbolizes beginnings and endings. Janus is depicted with two faces, one looking into the past, the other with the ability to see into the future. It’s a time of setting intention for the year ahead as well as introspective reflection on the past.
Thus, we’ll kick off the year by exploring the theme of “Time”.
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February 2025, Female Friendship
Thanks to Leslie Knope of Parks & Rec fame, February marks the occurance of Galentine’s Day. What’s Galentine’s Day? “Ladies celebrating ladies. It's like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas.”
In honor of the Pawnee Goddess in all of us, we’ll be exploring the theme of “Female Friendships”.
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March 2025, Lions
There’s a bit of old weather folklore that describes March as “in like a lion and out like a lamb”. We’re taking that literally this month. Our theme is lions.
The Idea List offers a straightforward interpretation of lion, but feel free to push the concept; think power, predators, Africa, cats, the circus, gryphons, nobility, rebellions, stalking, dandelions, sphinxes, courage/cowardice, Detroit football...
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April 2025, Earth Day
We’re celebrating Earth Day in April. Think climate change, conservation, environmental justice, the natural world, sustainability, survival, resilience...
Maybe you want to sink into a classic cli-fi, sci-fi, post-apocolyptic dystopia? Or maybe you’re just looking for some fun animal facts. The choice is yours!
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May 2025, Flowers
April showers bring May - you guessed it! Our book theme this month is flowers.
Flowers in the title, flowers on the cover, flowers as a recurrent symbol, characters with floral names, authors with floral names... Let’s get botanical! (Please read the previous sentence as Olivia Newton-John).
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June 2025, Sun
With June comes the solstice - the official start of summer and longest day of the year. What better way to celebrate longer days than picking the sun as our theme?
Think “sun” in the title, sunflowers, sun salutations, sunburns, solar power, light, heat, rays, stars, sons... Anything you read in a sunny spot or on a Sunday or at sunrise, sunset…
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September 2025, BLANK & BLANK
It’s ampersand month! We’re back after summer hiatus with blank & blank books. Think classic duos like Frog & Toad, Sherlock & Watson, Henry & Mudge, Ivy & Bean, Mr. Putter & Tabby (ok, Early Reader love this category)... Or Daughter of Smoke & Bone (My husband asked if this was a grilling cookbook. It is not), The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, etc, etc, etc, There are SO MANY options!
We’re also changing it up this month and doing picnic pairings - cheese&crackers, chips&salsa. Bring a snack to share if it fits your schedule.