Reading is supposed to be a relaxing pastime, but when you’re rushing to finish a book and cramming in the last pages or chapters right before the next meeting, it doesn’t always feel that way. Life is busy. We may finish a book in a few days over the course of a long weekend. Other times, we may go days or even weeks without reading.
With the holidays coming up, many of us may find that we’re crunched for time. That’s when book club ideas for busy people make more sense than ever. Here are seven easy ways to make your book club and reading schedule more accessible for those who are short on time.
1. Choose an Audiobook
This one is a no-brainer, but audiobooks make it easier to fit reading into your schedule because they allow you to multitask and dive into a new book while staying hands-free. You can listen to your book club book in the car on the drive to work, at the gym or while you’re folding laundry or cleaning the house. I used to listen to audiobooks regularly while working at my sewing machine.
When my book club read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr several years ago, the audiobook made the process much more accessible. While it was named one of the 25 most-liked books on Bookfinity for 2025, let's just say that it wasn't one of my favorites. Even if it the audiobook is about 16 hours long, it was much faster than trying to read a paper or digital version of the book while managing work and hobbies. If I had read the hardcopy, I truly believe it would have been a DNF, and I would have missed out on that round of book club discussion.
2. Weekly Text Discussions
Not every book club needs to meet face to face. If your members are going on vacation or you want to start a reading group with friends who are far away or travel frequently, a weekly text discussion can keep everyone on the same page.
Use periodic text messages to track your progress, compare notes on your first impressions and make predictions about what’s going to happen next. For best results, keep discussion prompts short and sweet for easy texting, or create a poll for easy engagement.
3. Shorter Books
Here in the publishing world, novellas and short stories have been trending, and for good reason. In fact, research shows that the average length of a New York Times bestseller dropped by 50 pages over the past decade. Short, punchy, high-impact stories resonate with today’s readers and are perfect for anyone who’s crunched for time. They’re great for those who love binge-worthy reads that can be knocked out in a week or even a single evening.
Novellas, short story collections, mini-holiday novels and anthologies are a great place to start. If you’re looking for ideas, the following authors are known for their short-form fiction: Claire Keegan, Alice Munro, Shirley Jackson and Flannery O’Connor.
4. Bring Your Own Book
My current book club actually uses the BYOB format, and it was discussed in our article on Exploring Book Clubs: Five Ways to Read Together. The main advantage is that you get to pick a book that interests you and works for your schedule. You aren’t tied to the one title that everyone else voted for but you're absolutely dreading.
You can choose something short like a novella or a graphic novel, or you can go for a doorstopper like Les Misérables or Atlas Shrugged if you want to devote more time to reading. Another advantage is that you get exposed to a wider variety of books and genres and are likely to discover a few titles to add to your TBR during you next book club meeting.
5. Film Adaptations
It can be very fun and entertaining to read a book and then watch the film adaptation at home or with your book club. What liberties do the filmmakers take, or what details did they overlook? If you’re really pressed for time, you can always watch the film instead of reading the whole book, or you could host a movie night with your book club buddies.
Sure, there are plenty of classic films based on books. Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is being remade into a feature film that’s coming out in October 2026. Colleen Hoover’s Verity, which stars Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, is coming out at the end of 2026. Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary adaptation starring Ryan Gosling got excellent reviews. Wuthering Heights, The Odyssey, Hamnet and People We Meet on Vacation are also top movies for book club discussions.
6. Silent Book Club
Another strategy that we discuss in Five Ways to Read Together is the silent book club. All you have to do is meet up at someone’s home or at a local coffee shop or wine bar and relax while you read for an hour or two. This approach is pretty popular! There's even a Silent Book Club group with chapters in 70 countries.
Most groups that do this will chat for the first 20-30 minutes while they order food and drinks. You can introduce the book that you're reading before moving into an hour of quiet reading. Consider playing calm background music and asking members to silence their cellphones during this time. When you’re done, spend the final half-hour or so discussing what you’ve read and what you like or dislike about the book. Or you can just catch up on what’s going on in life.
7. Longer Intervals
Another option is to simply go with longer intervals between meetings. Instead of meeting every month, push it back to every 6-8 weeks. This is especially helpful around the holidays or during the summer when members may have travel plans, visiting relatives or other commitments that prevent them from reading as much as normal or making regularly scheduled meetings.
Longer meeting intervals are also helpful if you’re planning to read a longer book, like The Calamity Club, for example. Send occasional text messages between meetings to see how everyone is doing and to help keep characters and plot details fresh in everyone’s mind.
Parting Thoughts
Every book club and every reader is different. Find the strategies that work best for you. If you want to read more, it can be as simple as setting aside 15-20 minutes each day. Or you might have a goal to read one or two chapters a day. Once you start, it’s easier to keep going and going.