Happy Friday BookishFirst Readers!
Are you in a virtual or in-person book club? Tell us about it!
If you’re not currently apart of a book club, are you interested in joining one in the future?
4 Likes
I’m in a bit of both.
My virtual book club is through BookGizmo and we are currently reading A Sorcery of Thorns.
My in-person book club is a little bit loose right now. When ever there is a book that we want to read together we do it, but we don’t have a set schedule. The last book we read was The Secrets We Kept.
I read so many books already, that I don’t know if I could fit in many more!!
2 Likes
I have one with a friend, but it’s fairly unstructured!
1 Like
I’d love to be in one, but I’m thinking I need to find a virtual one or wait til the kids are a wee bit older.
1 Like
I’m a long-term member (15+ years) of the book club at my local library branch. It’s an amazing group of readers - wide variety of ages, interests, backgrounds - all united by our love of books. The group has been meeting for 20+ years.
3 Likes
Yes! I run a book club in Sparta NJ and we have #27 members. We meet each month alternating between a local cafe and my home or the book club discussion leaders place of choice. We are varied in ages and love to share our love of reading with each other! We have been together for a little over a year, and have a great time getting together. We connect through books, but have all become more than just book club friends. We are all at different stages in life, from new babies, to empty nesters, to grandmothers. We read a variety of books and feel connected to one another, its really a special group.
4 Likes
I helped start a book club at our library five years ago. We get 12-20 out every month. We have Skyped with five authors and had one visit our group!
We submit book ideas to the librarian who determines if she can prove copies of the book and she sets the quarterly selections.
We take turns talking then have open discussion. We have no trouble filling the hour!
Our readers come early and stay late. We have become friends but are good about incorporating newbies.
I admit to suggesting a lot of books, especially when I know I can get an author Skype visit.
Next month we read a classic, and the following a new book, Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, with a Skype visit.
1 Like
No I’m not in either. I’ve seen some on social media like Facebook that different authors have started recently, but I’m usually too busy with my own books or I don’t have the ones they’re reading.
1 Like
I grew up in Hackettstown retired to Va. Sounds like a good group. How do you decide on a book?
1 Like
I am interested in joining a book club. I have never belonged to one.
I am in book clubs online via Facebook and I love them. They have provided me with great recommendations when I have been looking for something new to read or new authors. The women are always funny and supportive. It’s great to have a place to go an just talk about books and talk about the thing you love the most that in my case my friends irl and my family don’t understand or get tired of hearing about. They don’t understand why I read so much or just don’t watch tv lol. I love my book club friends for this.
3 Likes
Yes!!! We have a virtual one (my friend and I meet up and host it on Facebook and Instagram.)
It’s called “Let’s Read Rant Repeat” and we are reading the Holdout this month!
I have an in person one but it kept falling apart and together again. I should reach out see if they are still active
1 Like
I belong to a book club that holds actual meetings but I only go if the book selected is to my liking. The moderator always has local authors only. We meet for about a half hour, then the author comes and does a short Q & A and signing.
I actively avoided joining any bookclubs because i want to decide what I read!
2 Likes
I started a traveling book club last year. We meet twice a year in a different city. We have visited Atlanta and Iceland so far. Our next meet is in New Orleans in May. This combines my love for reading and travel.
2 Likes
Two in-person clubs at our local indie bookstore: a SciFi book club and one for Young Adult offerings. Both have been lots of fun, and have served their purpose well: forcing me to read things I likely wouldn’t have found or been motivated to read on my own, even in my favorite genres. Looking forward to the next meetings!
I’m in 2 online, 1 at my public library branch that’s occasional, and a hodgepodge one with 5 of my friends. The online and library ones are all a book a month but the one with my friends is weekly but individuals often bow out of the book of the week if it’s something they’re not interested. The online ones are the best because there are so many people with such varied opinions and they recommend the best books. My TBR pile is ridiculous!
I used to attend an in-person book club with some friends a few years ago, but most members moved to other states (and time zones!) so we stopped meeting.
I do informally discuss books with my friends (both in-person and online) so I guess that can kinda count as a book club? We basically just recommend books to each other, and sometimes we all end up reading the same book and talking about it.
I’d like to join an in-person and/or virtual book club again at some point, but I’d like to be able to actually get to know the other members and right now the rest of my life is way too busy to commit to that!
How old are your kids? If you’re interested in ideas for in-person clubs, keep reading - if not, just stop reading after this line 
— Location Options
- meetings hosted at a house/location big enough to fit/entertain all the kids, everyone brings their kids
- meeting hosted wherever, kids don’t attend (they either stay home or go to somebody else’s house)
—Managing the kids (can go with either of the above)
- members take turns skipping the meeting and babysitting instead
- members take turns having a spouse, friend, relative, etc. babysit
- members chip in for a babysitter during the meetings.
1 Like
All good ideas! My introvert self is probably going to be more comfortable in a virtual one though 
Haha I know the feeling - the only in person book club I’ve ever done was with people I already know and see every weekend anyway :x
1 Like