A holiday party as your December book club meeting is a wonderful way to celebrate the season with your fellow book lovers. Get together for a festive bash filled with delicious treats, joyful decorations, and holiday cheer. Reflect together on all the wonderful books you've read. Here are some of our favorite ideas to make your book club Christmas part or holiday party special:
Book club holiday party activity ideas
Host a book swap
Have everyone bring a wrapped book (that you haven't read as a club) to the party. My book club likes to gift books we've read off our personal bookshelves, but you can also buy new books. There are many ways to organize your book exchange:
- White Elephant: The classic gift exchange, but with books! Have everyone draw a number. The person who picks #1 gets to pick a book to unwrap. #2 has a choice to steal the book or unwrap a new book. Limit steals to 2-3 per book, or keep it unlimited for maximum chaos.
- Blind date with a book: Add a brief but tantalizing description of the book. For example, "twisty psychological thriller" or "you'll never think about candy canes the same." Have people pick their books just off the description, without opening the wrapping. Bonus: try guessing the book!
- Don't judge a book by its cover: Similar to the above, but with more information. Add more detail, including genre, a brief plot description and a few bullets on what kind of reader you think would like this book.
- Secret Santa: For a more personalized swap, draw random names prior to the party and have each member choose a book tailored to the recipient's reading preferences. This works best with a more established book club where members know each other well.
Celebrate your club's year in reading
- Make a handmade book ornament together: Craft this viral DIY book ornament together. Print out the covers to all the books your club read ahead of time, then each member can assemble their books and finish off their ornament themselves!
- Year-in-review discussion: Have everyone go around and share what their favorite book that they read with the club was this year, or which one has stayed with them the most.
- Superlative awards: Come up with categories like "best plot twist," "biggest tearjerker," "most divisive," "best discussion generator," "book that changed my mind about someting," "most likely to reread," "most likely to recommend to a friend." Discuss which books you read this year should win each "award."
- Quote quiz game: Get a little friendly competition going by creating a trivia game with memorable quotes from the books you've read. See who can match the most quotes to books, with bonus points for remembering which character said the quote.
- Compile your joint want to read list: Jump start the new year by having everyone share three books they'd like to read with the club. Enter these onto your club's "Want to Read" shelf on Bookclubs so you don't forget them. From there, you can easily create a poll to vote on which of the suggestions you'll read.
Other ideas
- Ugly sweater contest: Who can wear the craziest, most garish holiday sweater? Award a small prize or treat to the winner (see below for some literary gift ideas!).
- White elephant gift exchange: Maybe your book club doesn't need more books? Set a low budget and exchange random, amusing gifts instead.
- "NY Sock Exchange": Similar to a White Elephant, but every gift is a pair of cute, funky socks.
Book club holiday party food and drink ideas
- Hot chocolate bar: Brew a huge batch of hot chocolate and then set out an array of toppings such as crushed candy canes, toffee bits, mini chocolate chips, and spices like cinnamon and cayenne pepper. For an adult spin, offer alcholic add-ons like peppermint schnapps, Irish cream, and coffee liquor. Don't forget the marshmallows and whipped cream!
- Special seasonal drink: Serve up warm beverages like apple cider or mulled wine. Or whip up a batch of a signature cocktail like a winter spiced sangria or holiday punch.
- Cookie exchange - Have each member bake and bring a batch of holiday cookies to swap and share. That way everyone goes home with a variety of festive treats.
- Potluck - Make your book club meeting special with a festive holiday spread like one of the many delicious dishes from the Artisanal Kitchen's Jewish Holiday Baking cookbook or a German treat from the Advent cookbook. You can use the Bookclubs potluck poll tool to facilitate sign-ups.
- Bonus: Make your potluck book-themed. Have each member bring in a dish inspired by one of the books you read together this year. Think Vietnamese spring rolls for The Women, an apple crisp for The Frozen River or grilled cheese (or just cheese puffs) for My Friends.
We also have tons of easy finger food and appetizer ideas in our book club food guide!
Book club holiday party decor ideas
Think about incorporating books into your decorations—stack vintage books as centerpieces, use bookmarks as place cards, or create garlands or trees from book pages (old damaged books work great for this). You could display quotes from books you read together this year on small cards around the space. String lights create a warm, intimate atmosphere perfect for both the holidays and book discussions.
There are a lot of different versions of holiday trees made from books! (Image below from the Hallmark Channel).
Book club holiday party gift ideas
Whether you want to give a token gift to all your fellow book club members, pick out a literary White Elephant gift, bring a hostess gift for the party host, or thank your club admin for their hard work in organizing your club, here are a list of gift ideas:
- Personalized bookmarks, book page holders, or bookplates
- Reading "survival kits" with tea bags, cozy socks, and a candle
- A reading journal or a notepad for book notes
- Bookclubs Premium, Pro or Pro Plus to keep your club even more organized and make your club leader's job easier!
Check out more gift ideas in our ultimate book club gift guide.
Happy reading, and happy holidays from the Bookclubs team!
Related Content:
Looking for a book to read with your club this holiday season?
- The top Christmas books clubs are reading in 2025
- Festive reads, including Christmas, Hanukkah, and winter-themed books
This holiday season, Bookclubs also has you covered with the best book-themed holiday gift guides:
- One of the best gifts for a book lover is a book! Browse our top recommendations for books to gift.
- Or get creative with our guide to thoughtful gifts for book lovers.