Book group rules

I'm in a book group that has a number of rules. These rules govern the following aspects of the group:

1. Who can propose a book (we take it in turns)
2. What types of book can be proposed (fiction or poetry)
3. The length of proposed books (max 200 pages)
4. How a book gets chosen (complex voting system)
5. How long the group has to read a book (3 months)

Sometimes the group considers changes or additions to the rules. For instance:

1. Setting a minimum page length in addition to the maximum page length
2. Varying the time alloted to read a book (eg. by making it proportional to the length of the book)
3. Allowing non-fiction books or short stories
4. Allowing books that members of the group have already read

Why do we have these rules? In theory, they exist to help ensure that the members of the group derive as much benefit from participating in the group as possible. These benefits broadly fall under two categories: intellectual benefits and social benefits. Within each category, the benefits essentially boil down to "more", "different" and "better".

1. Intellectual benefits #

1. You read more books.
2. You read a greater variety of books.
3. You engage with the books you read more deeply than those you read outside of the group.

2. Social benefits #

1. You see the members of the group more often or more regularly than you otherwise would have done.
2. You discuss topics that you might otherwise not have discussed with members of the group.
3. You have richer or more meaningful conversations with the members of the group than you might otherwise have done.

3. Potential risks #

1. You end up reading more books that you don't enjoy.
2. You end up spending more time reading books rather than doing something else that you would rather have done, eg. exercise.
3. Participation in the book group puts a strain on your relationships with other members of the group.

Conclusion #

For me, the most attractive benefits of a book group are 1.3 and 2.3, and the greatest risk is 3.1. Given this, if I were to devise a set of rules for a book group, they should probably have the following characterstics:

• The rules should seek to maximise the chance that the group picks a book that will lead to an interesting discussion.
• The rules should seek to minimise the chance that the group picks a book that is unjoyable to read.
• There should be less emphasis on "process" rules that seek to minimise social friction and more emphasis on "outcome" rules that seek to increase the quality of the books are chosen.

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