5. The Singles Club
No, we don’t mean a pick-up book club (though asking out the guy who can recite the last page of
Eat Pray Love is never a bad idea...). We’re talking about one the most fascinating and of-the-moment ways to read: Kindles Singles, published only for e-readers. Officially, Amazon defines these timely pieces as anything that falls into "a vast spectrum of reporting, essays, memoirs, narratives and short stories presented to educate, entertain, excite and inform." Unofficially, we understand them as novellas, short short-story collections (such as: Jodi Picoult’s
Leaving Home of three brief pieces of fiction) and longer nonfiction works that are too short to be books (think Cristina Nehring’s riveting
Journey to End of Light, about her Down-syndrome baby diagnosed with leukemia.) The bonus? Each one is less than the price of a magazine.
What works: E-readers help discussion by letting members search by word or phrase—ending the whole frustrating "I know I remember the passage! It was about a rose and dog...like at the end or like at the beginning!" You can also highlight key passages and use
Twitter,
Facebook,
Meetup,
Squidoo,
Library Thing and other social platforms to discuss books between meetings.
What doesn’t work: Expecting everyone body to have the same e-reader. You can still buy a Kindles Single, no matter what device. It will work just fine.
Next: 9 things never to say in a book club
