Between the Covers Mission
“Welcome to Between the Covers Book Club, where we dive headfirst into literary unknowns, fearlessly exploring the uncharted realms of reading. Our mission? To embrace the intriguing, sometimes bewildering, and downright incredible tales that exist between the pages. We’ll journey through all genres, from meditative memoirs, spontaneous combustion science fiction, romance novels featuring five sisters in 19th century England who must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies, and so much more. Pack your sense of adventure, leave your reading comfort zone at the door, and prepare for a wild ride of unexpected plot twists, laughter-induced page flipping, and the occasional existential crisis. Together, we’ll conquer unexplored written territories, one extraordinary book at a time!”
By-Laws
- Read/listen or attempt to read/listen to the book before we meet.
- Don’t forget that everyone reads at their own pace – life happens – but know that the book discussion will cover the book from start to finish.
- BE RESPECTFUL. Everyone’s opinion & perspective matters – everyone should have a chance to share and be heard. We can all be polite as listeners & speakers.
- Bring your questions, thoughts, ideas, favorite quotes.
- Anyone is welcome to host outside celebrations and/or get-togethers
- Will be held at your discretion and expense
- No birthday parties, baby showers, weddings showers etc. during Book Club meetings
Membership
- ACTIVE Members: an Active Member is defined by one’s attendance of monthly meetings. To be considered active, you must attend at least half of all scheduled meetings.
- Inviting new members: anyone can invite new trial members
- Founding board has the right to “disinvite” problematic members
- New members are not considered official members until formally invited by Founding board
Book clubs are the best thing that has happened to the world of publishing.
-Adriana Trigiani
Communication
- Download and utilize the Bookclubs app for meeting information here
- Website
- Utilized for October and December selection voting
- Awards Voting
- History of Books read
- Text thread
- For iMessages only
- Only ACTIVE members are allowed to be a part of text thread
- Facebook Group
- Anyone can be invited, including new members
- Membership in ALL platforms will be revisited quarterly and members will be removed if necessary
Dues
- $50 annual dues
- To be collected in January of each year
- Paid via website
- *Prorated $25 for 2023; due in July
- To cover:
- Membership
- Book Club gear: bookmarks, t-shirts, etc
- Annual literary philanthropy project
- End-of-year celebration
- No refunds for those who decide to leave the Club
- Open to discretionary changes
Hosting
- Each month will be hosted by a different person. The host will choose the book – of any genre, date and time of the meeting.
- Feel free to use your home or select a public place to meet.
- Keep in mind that we will have to be able to HEAR each other when selecting a restaurant or public place to meet.
- HOST SELECTION – Sign up will occur in December for the following year.
- The Master Librarian will organize the sign up.
- Those with the longest membership will have first pick.
- Newer active members are encouraged to reach out for hosting
- There may be a waiting list, or another member who is willing to give up their month to host
- Members must have been an ACTIVE participant in meetings for one year to be eligible to host.
- Meeting Dates MUST be held within the month you sign up for.
- Weekends are suggested but not mandatory. Weekdays are open for meeting dates as well.
- You may choose to get input from the club for when the majority is available to meet but you don’t have to. Choose what works for you to host.
- Do NOT go into the next month to hold your meeting, you are then interfering with the next month’s hosting.
- i.e. if you are hosting April – you cannot hold your meeting the first weekend of May
- No KIDS allowed.
- There are adult conversations happening and 9 times out of 10 they are inappropriate for little ears and spousal ears!
- If meeting is in your home, kids/partners are not invited to be a part of the conversation
- No book club member is expected to censor themselves in these settings
- *See next section on hosting Special Meetings
Special Meetings
- To be hosted by the group as a whole
- Open to Active members volunteer hosting
- Must have been a member for 2 years to qualify to host one of these meetings
- If no hostess, location will be decided upon by governing board
- October Meetings
- We will vote on and read a horror selection
- What defines a horror selection?
- “Horror is a genre of literature, film, and television that is meant to scare, startle, shock, and even repulse audiences. The key focus of a horror novel, horror film, or horror TV show is to elicit a sense of dread in the reader through frightening images, themes, and situations.”
- Examples of what is NOT horror – mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, psychological thrillers.
Special Meetings
- Every December we will host an Awards ceremony for the following categories for books read between December – November of each year:
- Best Book
- Book Bomb
- *Best Rabbit Hole
- Honorable Mention
- Nominations that do not fit the above definitions for each month of voting will be removed from the polls.
- Of course, there will be horror/classic selections that include various elements of all genres, however, if you are unsure about your nomination, feel free to ask about it for clarification!
- White Elephant Rules – Every December
- Each player brings a new, wrapped book to contribute to a common pool
- The book cannot be a previous year’s title or previously gifted
- No series books
- No gift cards and/or credits
- Participation is NOT required
Voting & Nominations
- Only Active members are allowed to vote during voting months
- In the event of not having a host for a month, the reading selection is open to be voted upon, any member of the book club may nominate a title. We will meet in a public place decided upon by founding members
- New and existing members are invited to nominate titles for October/December/special meetings with no hosts
Chapters
- Austin, TX – first sister chapter of Between the Covers Book Club
- Any member is invited to create an extended chapter of our book club!
- Will follow established BtC by-laws and rules
- ALL members of every chapter will collectively vote upon October and December Book Club selections via our website
- City host swap of October/December months – beginning in 2024
Founding Board - The Volturi
Master Librarian – Angela
Literary Detective – Crystal
Literary Liaison – Erica
Financial Officer & Historian – Angela AF
Pagemaster – Alexis