Kathy Bennett's Crime Book Club
Hello! I’m Kathy Bennett, an author of multiple crime novels, and a retired LAPD officer.
I’m always searching for ways to connect with readers, and I realized that our shared love for reading was the ideal foundation. I also wanted to set aside time for me to read—not as an author, but as a reader.
Check out what I’m planning and see if the book club would be a good fit for you.
The Kathy Bennett Crime Book Club would run from January through June. Many people travel during the summer, and then we hit autumn where people begin to prepare for the holidays. That includes me too, so we’ll just meet for half of the year.
This is how things would work:
NOMINATING A BOOK TO BE READ BY THE CLUB
First, what I’m looking for are standard police procedural, detective, suspense, and thriller novels.
I’m not looking for romance or romantic suspense. That doesn’t mean there can’t be a hint of romance in a nominated book, but romance can’t overtake the crime element of the story. I’m also not looking for cozy mysteries where Grandma and her cat solve the crime. I’m not looking for paranormal, time-traveling, fantasy, or erotica. As Joe Friday might say: Just the crimes and the facts that go with them.
Books that revolve around crime often feature profanity, violence, and content that may unsettle or disturb certain readers. It will be up to the individual reader to research the chosen book and decide if they want to participate that month.
However, if you decide NOT to participate for any of those reasons, I hope you’ll drop me a line and let me know. I can take that input into account when reviewing books for the club for future months.
Second, I’m not looking for books written by the authors who dominate the bestseller lists. I’m hoping to introduce our club members to lesser-known authors who are new to most of our club members.
Third, you can nominate a book every month, but please nominate only one book a month. Once a book is nominated, it will stay on the list for that year until read or the book club session ends. A new nomination list will be formed each year.
Ideally, nominated books would be available at all major retailers, but I also understand that Kindled Unlimited is how many readers read these days. If Kindle Unlimited books dominate the nominations, I’ll do KU books one month and books available at more retailers the next month.
Books to be read by the club will be chosen by random draw by me, using a random number generator. If the same book is nominated by multiple people, it will only be entered into the drawing once.
TIMELINE TO NOMINATE BOOKS
Nominate books from the 1st—15th of the month prior to the book club meeting. The book chosen will be announced via email to the Book Club mailing list email between 16th—23rd.
Here’s how the first nomination will go:
December 1—15, 2024 – Book nominations open.
December 16—23, 2024 – Chosen book announced to book club members via email.
January 26, 2025, 6:00 p.m. mountain time—Video book club meeting via Zoom.
MEETING SCHEDULE
The actual book club meeting will take place the last Sunday of the month at 6:00 p.m. mountain time. I would expect the book club meeting to last about one hour…but if we need more time or we’re having a good time, we can go longer if we want.
There will be a limit of 100 participants in the book club for any given meeting. In all honesty, I don’t believe we will reach that limit, but if we do, I’ll cross that bridge then.
MEETING DISCUSSION GUIDELINES & POLICY
Being adults, we should be able to discuss books in a manner that is both respectful and considerate, while also respecting differing opinions.
Please try to finish the book before the book club meeting. With crime books, it’s hard to discuss them without giving away spoilers.
While I can tell people that what happens in the book club stays in the book club, we all know that isn’t likely. So, just like everywhere else online, don’t count on confidentiality.
COMMUNICATION
I’ll reach out to book club members via email. You can reach me here: KathysBookClub@kathybennett.com.
I’ll alert you to the book chosen, and in that email, encourage you to put the book club meeting on your calendar for the next month.
FEEDBACK
Just like book reviews help me with writing my own books (yes, I read them) I’d love to hear from you regarding book selection, meeting structure, and over all book club experience. I’ll use that feedback to adjust the policies and procedures as needed.
I hope you’ll give the book club a try. I’m looking forward to sharing adventures with you!
