Cindy Johnson: How to start a local book club

A year ago, reader Cindy Johnson, owner of Southern Faire catering in Shreveport, made a bold move.

She started a book club.

Johnson’s “very positive experience” starting the club, in the midst of her busy life, inspired me to ask for a blueprint for other readers. She has an array of helpful tips:

“Be open to meeting new friends, to reading unfamiliar genres—and be prepared and ready to contribute. Our members have favorite genres that they regularly or exclusively read, so being in a book club with diverse likes requires stretching the boundaries of what you read. We are open to tweaking as we go along and are a book club in progress. Staying flexible really works for this group.”

Find your readers:

“I posted on Facebook that I wanted to start a book club and had 16 responses. Out of the 16, 12 have attended and eight are regular. It was a shot in the dark. I didn’t know if anyone would respond but thank goodness they did, and we all enjoy each other’s company and get along beautifully.”

Pick a name, group size:

“We just call ourselves ‘Book Club’ and are a year old this month. Some of our meeting spaces are small and accommodate nicely the number of members we currently have, so we are not actively seeking new members at this time.”

Choose a time:

“We meet once a month and juggled the days/times till we found the right fit. Our regular meeting time is the second Monday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. but we have changed that a couple of times to accommodate everyone.”

Where to meet, what to eat:

“We meet at the homes or workplaces of whoever can volunteer. All of our regulars have hosted, some more than once. It just depends on the best choice when coordinating our busy schedules. Refreshments are left up to the hostess, but we all agreed to keep it simple from the start so that those rushing home from work to host didn’t have to worry about a big to-do.”

Decide on titles:

“We collaborate on what we would like to read next. We have a group Facebook page where we share and discuss ideas as well as in person when we meet.”Invite authors in-person, virtually:

In the club’s early days, Johnson invited me to talk via FaceTime about “Before and After: The Incredible Real Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home,” a nonfiction book I co-authored with Lisa Wingate. The group also read Wingate’s fictional “Before We Were Yours” about children stolen and put up for adoption. Authors love to visit with book clubs, and Johnson’s group was lively and engaged in our virtual discussion.

Other books they’ve read:

“Right now we are reading ‘Demon Copperhead’ by Barbara Kingsolver.” (This novel won the Pulitzer Prize this year.) Others include “Verity,” Colleen Hoover, psychological thriller; “The Last Bookshop in London,” Madeline Martin, about a woman who works in a bookstore during WWII; “Lincoln Highway,” Amor Towles, the story of the journey of two brothers, set in 1954; and “The Invisible Woman,” Erika Robuck, about a WWII female spy.

More about the founder:

“During COVID I had to slow down and fill empty time. With no work as a caterer for almost two years, I found reading for pleasure quite enjoyable and couldn’t stop... Reading became my silver lining in such a horrible time… My favorite books have always been cookbooks. Thanks Mom!” Johnson grew up in Shreveport and worked in radio and television marketing and management before heading in 2011 for an MBA at Centenary College—where she’d gotten a BA 30 years earlier. As part of a business plan project, she made and sold beignets at the Shreveport Farmers’ Market. (I can attest; those beignets were delicious.) In 2014, she opened Southern Faire (www.southernfaire.net) and credits her home-economics-teacher mom and “two fabulous Southern grandmothers” for her earliest cooking lessons.

Southern Faire operates from two restored buildings on Elizabeth Avenue in Shreveport, the first with a commercial kitchen where Johnson caters in for groups and caters out to other venues. She and her husband, photographer Neil Johnson, have office space in the second. For more information: email Cindy@southernfaire.net.

Columnist Judy Christie is the author of 18 books, including the fictional “Gone to Green” series and the nonfiction “Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society,” now in its fifth printing in trade paperback. Co-authored with Lisa Wingate, it is the true sequel to Wingate’s bestselling novel “Before We Were Yours.” If you’d like Christie to speak virtually to your book club, see www.judychristie.com or visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JudyChristieAuthor.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Cindy Johnson: How to start a local book club