Bookclubs is a free web and mobile app that helps book clubs stay organized. Our vision for Bookclubs is grounded in a deep appreciation for the positive transformation that takes place in book club. Currently serving over 65,000 book clubs worldwide, the Bookclubs community hosts a wide variety of interests, pursuits, and identities. This is a resource for people wanting to start a faith-based or spiritual book club.
If you're feeling a call to deepen your faith and connect with others on a spiritual path, starting or joining a faith-based book club may be for you. Though reading the Bible, Talmud, or Qur'an alone can be transformational, exploring them in a group setting offers unique blessings. Here is what a faith-based or spiritual book club can offer as well as a helpful guide to starting your own club with Bookclubs.
Deepened Understanding
When reading sacred wisdom and other spiritual literature, having a community to discuss it with allows you to gain deeper insight. Group dialogue allows you to pick up on ideas you may have missed or learn from the diverse perspectives of your club members. You support and enlighten each other in spiritual growth.
Below is a Helpful Guide to Starting A Faith-Based Book Club
When reading sacred wisdom and other spiritual literature, having a community to discuss it with allows you to gain deeper insight. Group dialogue allows you to pick up on ideas you may have missed or learn from the diverse perspectives of your club members. You support and enlighten each other in spiritual growth.
Pick an Uplifting Book (see recommended reading list below)
- There are countless inspirational contemporary books from faith-based publishers or non-denominational authors. Bookclubs also provides book club discussion guides for thousands of titles.
- Consider digital or non-print reading options such as podcasts, articles, or even interviews.
- Take turns selecting reads
Identify Meaningful Discussion Topics
Good book club questions are essential for sparking an engaging and enjoyable discussion. They can help you discover new perspectives, deepen your understanding of the reading, and connect with other readers on a personal level. Finding good book club questions can be challenging, but Bookclubs provides tips for leading a meaningful and effective discussion. Possible discussion topics may include:
- Scripture interpretations
- Personal stories and testimonies
- Applying lessons to daily life
Accountability & Motivation
Let's face it - at times our inspiration wanes. Life gets busy and our reading may fall by the wayside. Knowing we have a meeting with our book club where we'll be discussing the latest reading keeps us committed. Having this social motivation can give our sacred study consistency. We can also encourage each other when the texts get challenging.
Set a Regular Cadence
- Consider setting a weekly or monthly pace for your club. You can poll your group to figure out the best date to meet, and keep track of upcoming meetings and books on our app or website.
- Hold your meetings at the same place or rotate between member homes, restaurant, bar, or community spaces.
- Go virtual! If your club welcomes members from all over the world, you can host your online book club discussion directly through the Bookclubs platform, just like you would at a traditional book club gathering.
Meaningful Connections
In addition to bonding over books, spiritual or faith-based book clubs allow for personal connections and friendships. Sharing spiritual journeys, prayer requests, and revelations with trusted friends enriches community ties and helps one realize they are not alone in periods of joy, grief, or uncertainty. This empathy and openness can lead to relationships that transcend the book club.
Welcome New Members Warmly
- Promote your reading group to the wider community through a local newsletter or bulletin, social media accounts, or add your group to our public club directory.
- Plan for icebreakers at each meeting so members can loosen up and feel more comfortable
- Don't forget to recap the last meeting for newcomers to catch up
Enrich Relationships Beyond the Book Club
- Bond over shared spiritual journeys
- Pray and/or provide support together as a faith family
- Volunteer or serve your community together
If a religious book club is calling you, gather some like-hearted friends and get started today with Bookclubs today! You can also join an existing book club focusing on reading and discussing faith-based, spiritual, or personal growth books. Browse the list of public book clubs below:
Below is a curated recommended reading list of faith-based and spiritual book titles. If you have a Bookclubs account, add the books to your Books I Want to Read shelf or recommend them to your book club. If you don’t have a Bookclubs account yet, it’s easy and free to get started here.
Femina: A New History of the Middles Ages Through the Women Written Out of It by Janina Ramirez
The Middle Ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints, and kings; a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. But when we dig a little deeper into the truth, we can see that the "Dark" Ages were anything but.
Oxford and BBC historian Janina Ramirez has uncovered countless influential women's names struck out of historical records. Only now, through a careful examination of the artifacts, writings, and possessions they left behind, are the influential and multifaceted lives of women emerging. Femina goes beyond the official records to uncover the true impact of women, such as: Jadwiga, the only female king in Europe and Loftus Princess, whose existence gives us clues about the beginnings of Christianity in England.
Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life in Judaism by Sarah Hurwitz
A renowned political speechwriter rediscovers Judaism, finding timeless wisdom and spiritual connection in its age-old practices and traditions. Hurwitz was the quintessential lapsed Jew--until, at age thirty-six, after a tough breakup, she happened upon an advertisement for an introductory class on Judaism. She attended on a whim, but was blown away by what she found: beautiful rituals, helpful guidance on living an ethical life, conceptions of God beyond the judgy bearded man in the sky--none of which she had learned in Hebrew school or during the two synagogue services she grudgingly attended each year. That class led to a years-long journey during which Hurwitz visited the offices of rabbis, attended Jewish meditation retreats, sat at the Shabbat tables of Orthodox families, and read hundreds of books about Judaism--all in dogged pursuit of answers to her biggest questions. In this entertaining and accessible book, Hurwitz shows us why Judaism matters and how its message is more relevant than ever, and she inspires Jews to do the learning, questioning, and debating required to make this religion their own.
The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life by Simran Jeet Singh
An inspiring approach to a happier, more fulfilling life through Sikh teachings on love and service. As a boy growing up in South Texas, Simran Jeet Singh and his brothers confronted racism daily: at school, in their neighborhood, playing sports, and later in college and beyond. Despite the prejudice and hate he faced, this self-described "turban-wearing, brown-skinned, beard-loving Sikh" refused to give in to negativity. Instead, Singh delved deep into the Sikh teachings that he grew up with and embraced the lessons to seek the good in every person and situation and to find positive ways to direct his energy. These Sikh tenets of love and service to others have empowered him to forge a life of connection and a commitment to justice that have made him a national figure in the areas of equity, inclusion, and social justice.
Splendors of Qur'an Calligraphy and Illumination by Martin Lings
Within three centuries of its advent, Islam had produced architectural and calligraphic art forms, including that of illumination, that have seldom been equaled and never surpassed, the one centered on the Mosque and the other on the Qur'an. But whereas Islamic architecture is world famous, its calligraphic art has remained relatively unknown and inaccessible. Black-and-white photographs of the art of calligraphy are plentiful, but a page of script, impressive though it can be in black and white, loses much without the tints of the paper and the ink.
Splendours of Qur'an Calligraphy and Illumination reproduces the formal excellence of colors and texture that distinguish these artistic masterpieces. In all, 180 openings are displayed, carefully chosen from the greatest collections of Qur'an manuscripts in the world.
The Way of Inanna by Seana Zelazo
Myth Made Manifest
Over 4000 years ago in ancient Sumer, some of the first mythographers inscribed the stories and myths of the Goddess Inanna on clay tablets in cuneiform. These incredible findings were unearthed, and the fragments were painstakingly pieced together and translated.
What they discovered were the ways Inanna was heralded as a goddess who embodies polarities: impatient and deliberate, an attentive lover and fierce warrior, connected to fertility as well as death-making her an accessible, relatable, and inspiring representation of the Divine Feminine as she stands in her power and multidimensionality. The Way of Inanna: A Heroine's Guide to Living Unapologetically is a field guide to heart-centered living through the wisdom of the Sumerian Goddess of Love.
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön
Pema Chödrön's perennially best-selling classic on overcoming life's difficulties cuts to the heart of spirituality and personal growth--now in a newly designed 20th-anniversary edition with a new afterword by Pema--makes for a perfect gift and addition to one's spiritual library. How can we live our lives when everything seems to fall apart--when we are continually overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain? The answer, Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what you expect. Here, in her most beloved and acclaimed work, Pema shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never before imagined. Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she offers life-changing tools for transforming suffering and negative patterns into habitual ease and boundless joy.
Why I Am a Hindu by Sashi Tharoor
A revelatory and original contribution to our understanding of the role of religion in society and politics.
India's leading public intellectual, Shashi Tharoor, lays out Hinduism's origins and its key philosophical concepts, major texts, and everyday Hindu beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage to caste. A book that will be read and debated now and in the future, Why I Am a Hindu, written in Tharoor's captivating prose, is a profound re-examination of Hinduism, one of the world's oldest religious traditions.
How to Use Bookclubs to Organize Your Faith-Based or Spiritual Book Club
Throughout every step of the process, Bookclubs can help keep your book club organized so you can focus on reading and discussing instead of on logistics and administration!
Here are some of the many ways you can use Bookclubs to organize your book club:
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Pick a date: Use Bookclubs’ polling feature to figure out the best date and time for your club to meet.
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Track your books: Keep a running list of books that your club is interested in reading together on your club’s “Books We’d Like to Read” bookshelf. Any member can recommend a book to the club and include a note on why they’d like to read it.
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Let the people decide: Use Bookclubs’ book polls to vote on which book you’ll tackle next.
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Sign up for a potluck dish: Use our Potluck feature to sign up for a dish to bring for the next meeting. You can add categories (appetizer, main, dessert, etc.) if you want to make sure the entire meal is covered.
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Never forget an upcoming club meeting: Schedule your meeting on Bookclubs and we’ll send you automated reminders before your meeting. You can even set up your club to sync meetings with your personal calendar.
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Add new members with a snap: want to add a new member to your club? No need to get everyone to update the latest email thread. Just send the newest member an email or text invite to your club and they’ll automatically be added to distribution lists and be able to see your upcoming meetings.
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Revisit the hits: easily look back to see the books your club has read in the past, as well as any ratings or reviews from members if they have added them (our bookshelves and polls include the cover images of the book as a handy visual reminder of which book was which.)
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Archive your memories: Create photo albums to create a record of all your wonderful meetings!
Create a free club today to try out Bookclubs for your book club or upgrade your club to take advantage of even more organizational tools.
Related Content: Learn everything you need to know to run a successful book club with our How to Book Club Series and Book Club Tips and Inspiration.
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