Just had the ol’ bookclub meeting. Since I picked the book, I hosted – and we had a great time here at Chateau Johnson, it was one of the most enjoyable book club nights yet – if I do say so myself. I chose Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie – something easy and fun – a summer read. I was very pleased to find that every member of the club gave it an “A.” Yeah me!
Sooo, if you have a bookclub, and decide to read Bet Me, here are some ideas (I know, they’re not extremely original, but fun all the same) to liven up the meeting:
Play Elvis &/or Elvis Costello music (I chose the King’s #1 hits cd)
Serve Lots of bread with REAL butter, Chicken Marsala, and Krispy Kremes. (We tried to make the Krispy Kreme cake, but it didn’t go very well). I also printed Min’s recipe for Chicken Marsala and gave each book club member a copy to keep.
Discussion questions:
What is your opinion of romance novels / chick lit as a genre?
Should Bet me be shelved/categorized as a Romance or simply Fiction?
Grade the book (and explain rationale).
Favorite character? Character you identify with/relate to most?
Did you like or hate Cindy?
Favorite LOL moments?
Who would you cast to play Cal and Min?
Write your own 1st sentence to the novel, starting, like Crusie does, “One upon a time…”
Would you read another Crusie?
After you burn through these questions, which should have made for some interesting conversations on their own – it’s time to play the “If” game. By now you and the other book club members have probably imbibed copious amounts of wine, and are perfectly primed for this activity. Based on the “If Dinners” that Min had with her best friends, the If game allows each book club member a chance to randomly choose a question from The Book Of If and ask it of all the other members, everyone answers the question before moving on to the next member who will select another question, and the process repeats itself. If you don’t have an absolute blast doing this, then, well, you need to get into a new book club.
Melonie Johnson 