Big Ideas Reading Group Book Guidelines

We follow some general guidelines to provide a balanced experience for all participants. These may date from the days of David Verdirame, our founder.

  1. Reasoned, informed, civil discourse.
  2. It’s a Mensa group. We should be intelligent enough to manage disciplined and equitable discussion.
  3. Don’t monopolize; give others a chance. Give some preference to newcomers.
  4. Don’t trample the polite, who don’t like to interrupt. When someone starts to speak, let them.
  5. Be brief. Use economy of expression. Just say swarming or flocking. We get it.
  6. Say it once. Keep it relevant. Minimize background.
  7. Please don’t make us resort to rules and gadgets.

We generally keep books under 400 pages. Sometimes we'll chose one a little longer but schedule it for a meeting more than 4 weeks after the previous meeting. Each member may nominate two books at each round of book selection, typically every 10-11 months.