Holiday Book Club Ideas for Hosting in 2024

If you are like me, you want to do something a little special for your book club around the holiday season. These holiday book club ideas are designed to bring a dose of seasonal cheer to your monthly meetings – turning it into a night your book club won’t forget!

When it comes to hosting a book club around Christmas time, it’s fun to add in some festive excitement with seasonal music, festive foods, ugly Christmas sweaters, and maybe even a gift exchange!

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Choosing the Right Book

But you’ll still want a book to anchor your evening. Many Christmas books are fun and festive, but not worthy of a long discussion. But more and more Christmas books are coming out that are thought-provoking, dealing with heavy-hitting subjects perfect for book club. Check out my list of the best Christmas book club books for specific book recommendations.

Holiday Book Club Ideas: Festive Foods

Christmas cookies and hot cocoa for the win on this one. Consider asking everyone to participate in a Christmas cookie swap by bringing their favorite Christmas treats to the book club for everyone to enjoy.

Set up a Hot Cocoa station with different types of cocoa, fancy marshmallows, whipped cream, cinnamon, candy canes, and sprinkles for everyone to craft their perfect cup of hot chocolate.

Looking for some adult beverage suggestions? Yes, Egg Nog is traditional, but who can drink a whole glass of that? Instead, make some mulled wine! It’s easy.

Kirsten’s Mulled Wine Recipe

My recipe for mulled wine is so easy – because it isn’t even a recipe! As a bonus, the house will smell DIVINE and if you are hosting a Christmas book club outside, it will keep hands nice and toasty.

Pour equal cups of wine to grape/cranberry juice in a pot on the stove.
Throw in some cinnamon sticks, oranges cut in half with cloves stuck into the skins, and some anise if you like the flavor (I SKIP IT.)
Warm it up but don’t boil it, ladle it into mugs and you are good to go!

Playlist for A Holiday Book Club

Christmas Tunes are a no-brainer! Personally, I love Johnny Mathis, but you’ll find Michael Buble, Mariah Carey, Dean Martin, John Lennon, and the Jonas Brothers on this list too. Just follow this link.

Christmas Book Club Activities

Why not have a Secret Santa? Wrap up a favorite book and gift it to one of the members of your book club. It can be an old or new book or even a book-related goodie. Just a little something for everyone to open.

Consider getting into the giving spirit by adopting a family for the holidays. Everyone can bring gifts for the family, wrap them all at book club, and donate them after the evening is over.

Holiday Book Club Discussion Questions

After you have chosen your book, you will want to come up with discussion questions to get the conversation flowing in your Christmas book club. But the questions don’t need to be specific to the book, throw in some of these festive questions too.

What’s your Christmas wish this year?
Why do you think authors choose to set books during the holiday season?
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Was there a Holiday tradition, food, or event in the book that you want to try?
How did the holiday setting influence the story? Would it have been a different story if it wasn’t set during the holiday season?
Did the book’s portrayal of Christmas align with your personal experiences?
Was there a sense of nostalgia in the book? If so, how did it contribute to the overall tone?
Was the holiday used symbolically in the book? If so, how?
What themes stood out to you in the book and how did they relate to the season?

Christmas Book Club Attire

Do I even need to point you in the correct direction here? UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS or t-shirts if you wish to make your own! I’ve rounded up some favorites below, but I always think homemade versions take the cake.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can I make my book club meeting special for the holidays?

Try amping up the activities and theme around the holidays to increase the fun! Read a holiday story, organize a gift exchange, don ugly Christmas sweaters, and serve festive foods!

Is a holiday theme popular for book clubs?

Yes! Even if your normal book club meetings are simple and low-key during the rest of the year, everyone loves getting into the holiday spirit come December! Don’t be afraid to throw a holiday book club bash!