Alternative Book Clubs

I have a horrible track record as a book club member. The group never picks something I want to read, no one else ever shows up having actually read the damn thing, and the meaty discussion I'd hoped to have is no more than a nasty rumor. I'm stuck in a poorly lit room, usually a stranger's living room, with lukewarm wine and a grumpy disposition.

Yeah. No thanks!

But just when I thought I could shut book clubs out of my life completely I stumbled onto a few rad ideas for alternative book clubs.

A Circular Book Club By Mail
I signed myself up for Litsy when it was fresh and new, thanks to the kids at Book Riot for posting about it. I became a beta tester when they were developing an Android app and my handle @Carol is so sweet because I got on board early before the other Carols showed up. But the best thing to come out of Litsy has been my fellow band of misfit readers known as the #NoPostOnSunday book club. Basically someone gave a shout-out for people who wanted in, got everyone's info, made a big circle chart, and gave each person one other person's address. At the start we each chose a book and a notebook and packaged it up and sent it to our person. Every month or so we rotate books so that by the end we'll each have read and written about all the books our club members chose. We'll also receive our original books and notebooks back with everyone's thoughts, favorite quotes, and reasons why the book did or didn't work for them. Every month there's a surprise in my mailbox and I've read outside my comfort zone, and discovering great new authors. A fantastic side effect is I've started seeking out books that are more diverse and --dare I say it?-- literary. The girl who couldn't book club properly because of her dislike of literary fiction is actually reading some that she absolutely loves. Guess I'm growing up! It's been a wild ride and I'm hoping at the end of this we can start again with new titles.

Silent Reading Book Club
I read about this online a few months back via Chronicle Books and I was hooked. The idea is you meet up with people at a central location like a bar or someone's house, spend a set amount of time talking about books in general or telling everyone a little bit about what you're currently reading, get yourself some food and drink, and settle down to read silently. By yourself. Surrounded by other people reading on their own. Yaaasss! Leave when you need to or stay until a set time as determined by your host. I've got a group together now and we're considering venues. I know it's crazy to start something new around the holidays but I also don't want to wait until the new year to start! So many people say they don't have enough time to read, so why not make it a standing appointment on your calendar?

@The_YA_Gal's #TakeaLookTuesday
YA author and all-around book nerd goddess Jennifer Bardsley, aka @The_YA_Gal, runs a feature each week on her Facebook page called #TakeaLookTuesday. She posts a photo of what she's currently reading and asks others to leave a comment with what they're reading. The threads are always quite active and there are often replies within the reply where other readers have mini discussions about the books. It's a low-pressure way to talk books with likeminded strangers and I've found quite a few great books this way.

The one thing these alternative book clubs all have in common? There's not just one book with one discussion that's the entire focus. If that's the thing that's been holding you back from book clubbing maybe it's time to try something new.

Let me know in the comments if there's another alternative book club I haven't heard of--I'll probably want to try that, too!