Review: Book by Book

Summary: Mothers and daughters share a special bond...why not further this bond through reading together? Book clubs have been growing in popularity over the past ten years, started by a variety of people with various interests and goals. Mother-daughter book clubs offer a great way for families to grow and share—with each other and with other mother-daughter pairs. In BOOK BY BOOK, Cindy Hudson offers all the how-to tips mothers need to start their own successful book clubs. Hudson offers her own firsthand experience as the founder of two long-running successful mother-daughter book clubs. Hudson offers suggestions on books topics, club guidelines, and how to keep the club going as daughters grow older. How big should the club be? Whom should we invite? How often should we meet? How do we make sure we actually read the books? Hudson has all the answers. With recommended book lists (divided by four age groups), online resources, and suggested recipes for book-club treats, BOOK BY BOOK is a great resource for helping moms and daughters form new memories and traditions. -- Seal

If you've visited my blog the past few days, you probably know that I am having a little Mother-Daughter Book Club Festival! I have posted a Review: THE MOTHER DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB, Book Club Exchange: Cindy Hudson & Huge Giveaway and Book Club Exchange: Heather Vogel Frederick -- I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Make sure you enter to win my awesome Mother-Daughter Book Club Prize Pack!

Many of you already know how much I love being part of a Mother-Daughter Book Club. I am so very fortunate to be able to spend such quality time with my daughter and our friends, and I feel as if I am getting to know my daughter on a whole new level when we share out thoughts about books. I strongly encourage everyone who has a young girl in their life to join a Mother-Daughter book club because I promise you that it will be one of the most rewarding things you can do with each other.

And with that, I'd like to share with you a brand-new book that is an absolutely must-have for anyone and everyone who has ever considered being in a Mother-Daughter Book Club. It's called BOOK BY BOOK: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATING MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUBS by Cindy Hudson; and I can't say enough good things about this book! Trust me on this one -- you have to get your hands on a copy of this book. I consider BOOK BY BOOK to be the definitive source on everything mother-daughter book club related. Oh how I wish I had this book when I started our mother-daughter book club about a year and half ago!

This book encompasses everything you need to know about starting a mother-daughter book club from why you should be in one, to when you should begin, to how big your group should be to who to invite. It gives lots of practical advice on getting started as well as maintaining a happy and healthy book group. I think Cindy's advice on how to run the meetings and her ideas for fun projects are amazing. This book has really made me re-think our book club meetings, and I'm sure if we incorporate some of Cindy's suggestions, the girls will have even more fun!

There are many things that I appreciate about this book, but I think Cindy did an excellent job of showing that there isn't a one-size fits all approach to mother-daughter book clubs. Even though Cindy has run two mother-daughter book clubs (and I consider her to be an expert), she also conducted extensive research as well as interviews with other book club members. BOOK BY BOOK definitely gives you many options, and I'm sure that you will find an approach that suits your needs.

Cindy has also tackled some issues that aren't always easy concerning mother-daughter book clubs such as resolving conflicts among members, handling things when someone wants to quit, adding new members and restructuring your group. In addition, Cindy shows how some groups have approached discussing books with touchy subjects such as sex, alcohol, and drugs. I know my daughter and her friends are still in elementary school, but I can see some of these issues coming sooner rather than later. I am glad that I can go to this book for some advice!

One of my favorite things about this book is that I have discovered so many new ideas! I love all of the book recommendations -- Cindy provides suggestions by age group. In addition, I think many of her ideas for incorporating themed crafts and food into the meeting are terrific. As you can clearly see the appendices of BOOK BY BOOK alone are worth the price. Appendix I is Where To Look For Books on the Web, Appendix II is One Hundred Books That Might Be Right For Your Book Club, and Appendix III is Crowd-Pleasing Recipes.

I am planning on taking BOOK BY BOOK to our future book club meetings because there really is so much valuable information in it. Our group has found that it is often times hard to find discussion questions for the books we have selected to read. Some of the girls like coming up with their own (and I try to help encourage discussion a little), but Cindy has provided a list of "generic", yet thought-provoking questions, that work for any book. In addition, she provides some great sample survey questions that you can hand out to members to get their ideas for possible improvements to your group.

I wasn't sure if I should mention this in my review, but I can't help it! Many months ago, Cindy interviewed me for BOOK BY BOOK; and I actually appear in this book!!! When I received the book a few days ago, I wasn't entirely sure if anything I had said would end up in the final pages; but lo and behold, I found my name in the index! I have a quote at the beginning of Chapter 11 describing what our group means to me; and I also have a cake recipe that appears in the appendix. Let me assure you when I saw this I almost passed out. And then, when I sat down to read the book, I found a few more of my quotes throughout the book. I am so honored to be part of this wonderful book!

As I'm pretty sure you can tell, I think very highly of BOOK BY BOOK: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATING MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUBS; and I strongly recommend it! Even if you have already started your own group or you are currently a member of a mother-daughter book club, you will still find this book to be an extremely valuable resource. BOOK BY BOOK really is the only guide you need for mother-daughter book clubs.

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book!