Review of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs

Up until a couple of years ago, the books I read with my daughters consisted mainly of picture books and Dr. Seuss. Although I love to read, I tended to read short books to my girls and not anything that really interested me. Then came Harry Potter. It completely changed the ways that my daughters and I read books both together and apart. I started reading less business books and more fantasy (I also more than quadrupled the number of books I read in a year!). My daughters started reading chapter books before bed. Before long, we were all getting interested in the same things. Now we find ourselves reading series like Kingdom Keepers and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief–each of us trying to finish faster than the other.

We also discovered that our friends enjoyed the same books as us. Over time, we started sharing books with other mothers AND daughters. After a few months of this, we decided that it might be fun to try a mother-daughter book club. Now, I’ve never even been in a regular book club. Starting a mother-daughter book club should be interesting!

Cindy Hudson’s Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs is where I will be starting. In addition to the basic information (whom to invite, how big the group should be, where and when to have meetings), Cindy discusses issues that I would never have even thought about. For example, how can you tie in community service projects to the book that you are reading? What kind of expert can you bring in about the book? What will you do at meetings besides just talk about the book?

I had not thought about any of this when I envisioned our book club. I just imagined that we would read a book and then grab a pizza and talk about it for a couple of hours. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what you can do. You can really use the book club as an opportunity to learn and grow with your daughter. It can also be a good way to strengthen your bond with the other mothers and daughters in the club.

Another great thing about the book are the book suggestions. Cindy breaks down age groups and gives you ideas about different books that you might want to use and what the themes of those books are. It’s a great starting point for choosing your early books that should then help you find more books later as your group progresses.

As I read this book, I became more and more excited about starting my group. I’ve touched base with a couple of other moms and am now eager to get the process going! You can pick up Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs at Amazon or other book retailers.