I have a humble suggestion for a New Year's resolution: Join a book club. With this one step, your annual book-reading tally could shoot up. It helps make room for pleasure-reading in busy lives.

If there isn't a book club that meets conveniently near you (check your local library), then consider forming one yourself. I will help you with a foolproof formula. The book club I started in Miami is 20 years old and still humming. The one in Tampa is nearly 12 years old. It's filled with fabulous women I look forward to seeing every month.

Now, I'm guessing that many, if not most, of the savvy, worldly women reading this are already in a book club. (For some reason, men aren't as likely to join reading groups. My husband suggests that men view get-togethers to discuss books as one of those obligatory duties that men do for wives if they must. Really?) But for those who have dipped a toe in only to have a club dissolve, and for those who have never tried, let me share the secrets of creating a book club with staying power.

Rule No. 1:

Meet at a regular time every month. Groups that try to arrange meetings when it's convenient for everyone never get into a rhythm. My book club meets at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month. This allows members to mark their calendars for the year and plan around those meetings.

Rule No. 2:

Limit the number of members and keep a roster. If you're looking for group cohesion, cap the number of members; otherwise, people won't feel that their presence will be missed and they will drift away. We try to hold membership to 12 -- 12 meetings per year allows each member to host, and people tend to own 12 sets of flatware and 12 wine glasses (especially that last bit).

Rule No. 3:

Let each member pick a book as opposed to making a consensus list. Give each member a chance to impose their literary taste on the club. It makes for a more eclectic reading selection, gives members a direct stake in the choices (everyone wants to pick the most beloved book that year) and means that members with strong personalities won't dominate the list.

Rule No. 4:

Talk about the book. This might sound obvious. It's a book club, so what else are you going to do? But members of long-standing book clubs will describe the danger of devolving into chat-fests, with relatively few members bothering with the assigned reading. This is a slow death -- the serious readers will leave and take their intellectual heft with them. In my club, the evening's host leads the discussion. It's their book; they have an incentive to make it an engaging choice.

Rule No 5:

Have a nice, gentle enforcer. At least informally, someone has to make sure that members remain active. A friendly phone call will often do the trick and convince a member either to re-engage or to decide that the book-per-month commitment is too much and resign. As sad as it is to see a friend step out, this makes room for someone more interested in the "book" part of book club.

How does one start a book club?

Ask a few friends to join and have each of them bring along another friend. That gets a core group together. I've asked women into the club whom I barely knew but felt had great depth, or a spark of humor or curiosity. I wanted to know what they thought. Many are now lifelong friends.

This all sounds business-y, but being part of a book club is one of my life's gifts. I've read hundreds of books this way. It could be the most delightful New Year's resolution you ever make -- much easier than losing 10 pounds. Now, let the reading, discussing and wine-drinking begin.

Animal Books for Your Pet-Loving Friends and Relatives
Steve Dale

Searching for last-minute gifts? How about books for your pet-loving friends and relatives, or maybe as presents to yourself? Here are some suggestions:

William Eggers discusses his book If We Can Put a Man on the Moon
Jessica Rettig

The majority of Americans do not believe that the federal government is capable of major policy initiatives. After studying 75 major U.S. policy initiatives since World War II, William D. Eggers and John O'Leary wrote "If We Can Put a Man on the Moon...Getting Big Things Done in Government." Eggers discusses th book with Jessica Rettig

(c)2009 Robyn Blumner