top of page
Search

BOOK CLUBS

Writer: Libby K. Hanaway
Libby K. Hanaway
1 day ago
12 min read

Updated: 23 minutes ago



With sweaty, drippy mid-August becoming the new back-to-school Fall (without any consultation or public approval, I will add 🤨 ), September's old signals of pointy pencils, pristine backpacks, and still-sticky glue sticks have been forced to cede some ground. Thankfully, many time-honored signs of September remain: chillier mornings, apples, football, early-turning leaves, cardigans just in case, and — for the readers out there — the seasonal re-start of many book clubs.


Plenty of book clubs run all year — and we have the hallowed Summer Reading Programs hosted by public libraries — but many groups take the summer off, which is when the likes of Elin Hilderbrand and Emily Henry move in for their sunny, water-splotched turn. Then, when the post-Labor Day weather starts hinting at something more serious — and as the buckle-down homework-and-quiz-cycle picks up speed at school — the season for personal reading responsibility is back, too.


For book clubbers, it's time again for the books we may not have chosen, for the books that might require more mental lift, for the competitive book search via Libby, or hoopla, or the local public library, and for reading deadlines that don't always match the timeline of our obligations. The tight structure can feel demanding but — also! — comforting in its fixed expectations. The rhythm is like a clock that runs from September to May, with a new book chiming on each hour of the book club season.


Within this reliable routine, book clubs multitask: they offer immersion in new worlds and ideas by writers, a variety of perspectives around a coffee table, the discipline of a reading schedule, access to local rumors and news, sometimes drinks and apps, maybe an escape from homework supervision for the night. All good! But in my book, the greatest feat of books clubs is how quickly and genuinely they can build a sense of shared community. Books are safe, highly efficient vehicles for going deep fast. New to town? FIND A BOOK CLUB!


*NO JOKE: On Friday (a day after I wrote that last line), a woman in our neighborhood Facebook group posted that she just moved here and does anyone know if there's a book club? (And if not, she'd be happy to start one!) One of our clubbers responded fast with all the contact info. That's how you do it!




NEIGHBORHOOD BOOK CLUBS


Book clubs come in all shapes and styles as we cover below, but the neighborhood book club might be its most classic form, often skewing in a predictable direction: female // evening // literary and literary-adjacent books // wine and more // sweet & salty snacks (gf and regular) à la Trader Joe's or home bakers. By that standard, my two past and present neighborhood book clubs were 100% typical / stereotypical. But even with a standard format, the fizzy alchemy of each book and writer, the book's subject and tone, the variable mix of book-discussers in the room, the weather, current events, the dogs nuzzling in, and the perpetual rotation of kitchens and family rooms gives each gathering its own opening-night buzz.



The organizational set-up might vary group to group — sometimes the host picks the book, sometimes there's a more democratic process* — but usually by August the reading line-up becomes official, reminding me of a new-semester syllabus but without tuition fees, firm accountability, or any sense of dread. List in hand, I sit down and assess the titles:

  • Do we already own any of the books 🙌? Or do E or C happen to have any on the list?

  • Is this title a sure thing with tremendous buzz that I've been meaning to purchase anyway?

  • Is this book probably not my cup of tea so I will scour the free borrowing options? If so, I will need to time my borrowing/hold strategy so the due date is not before book club date lest I forget all the best and most essential bits.

*In June, our neighborhood book clubbers submit titles and descriptive blurbs via a shared, editable spreadsheet. By July, a member fluent in online polling (thank you, A) sends out a voting/hosting form. And a short time later, A sends us the place/date/time logistics and book line-up (neatly balanced between fiction and non-fiction), and we are ready to reunite in September.



OUR ROUTINE

A week or two before each gathering, the host emails everyone to solicit RSVPs for seating and snack estimations. Overachievers will include discussion questions and maybe even an author bio or interview. Usually between 10-12 clubbers can make it, with a slightly different neighbor mix each time.


Five minutes before and up to 20 minutes after the book club start time, you'll see women in our neighborhood crossing the street and grassy cul-de-sac island for the 30-second to three-minute commute. The scene looks a little like trick-or-treating 👻?


First thirty minutes: Hugs, hellos, small-group chatter, snacks, drinks

Next five minutes: Get corralled, sit down, brief chat with your neighbor on the couch, welcome by the host, discussion questions passed around if available.

Next thirty or so minutes: Go around the circle and rate the book on a scale devised by the host (1-5, 1-10, X# of stars, etc.). This takes longer than you'd think because we all tag on many thoughts, opinions, and defenses in this early round. Rating consensus is rare and the final result is always interesting.

Next hour or so: Deeper book discussion. Agreement, disagreement, criticisms, admirations, insights, memories, stories, parallels, connections, many laughs, sometimes tears, maybe the passing of a phone with relevant images, maybe the passing of other objects for relevant show-and-tell. We usually forget the discussion questions and the conversation takes care of itself.

9 pm-ish: Slow or fast goodbyes, depending on age/needs of children and/or obligations at home, hugs, thanks, forgotten books, forgotten coats, forgotten phones (me, me, me).


Sometimes there's a follow-up email with additional author/subject resources. And then we crack open our next book and fall into an entirely different world.



We are very open-door in our policies. Some book clubs are hardcore, as in don't bother coming/speaking if you didn't read or finish the book. We're fully flexible on that count. This is an optional rec-league CLUB, so People > Homework Completion.


We are also open to all newcomers; our neighborhood does not have much turnover, but you never know when someone's life stage changes and books + monthly nights out become a possibility. With Rick's frequent-flier work life, I was a bereft book club "No" during most of our Seattle years, and then one day — poof! — the girls were old enough to fend for themselves for two hours. By the time we lived in Iowa and after we returned to WA, I was a consistent book club YES.


Neighborhood book clubs — sometimes happening in very look-alike homes — might seem to be think-alike, too, but I doubt that's often true. Ours is on the zippier side, with a fascinating array of careers, various nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, different household configurations, and an age range easily spanning 40 years. (I am in the senior bracket 👵🏻.) This wide spread of histories and personalities makes for very popping conversations. And interesting too! Something that was a blip for me might be monumental for my neighbor ... which is always very cool to learn 🤓.



LITTLE TWISTS + VARIATIONS

Neighborhood book clubs sometimes expand beyond neighborhoods. For readers with extra time and funds, there's a full cottage industry of book club travel to book-setting locales like Barcelona, Scotland, and Nantucket. Some clubs stay put and do one-quarter book discussion / three-quarters local scuttlebutt, and others merge books with full-out at-home brunches or dinners🫡. Some neighborhood/apartment building clubs take the hosting pressure off and meet at a nearby park or a coffee shop. In Iowa, we had a holiday book exchange each December, and later I think they tagged on a community service project? (If so, so very Iowa 🥰. In honor of my Coralville, IA book clubbers [maybe] doing this, I think I'll float this idea to my current locals.) Meal trains, playground meet-ups, potlucks, movie nights, emergency contacts, significant friendships and more can spring from sitting together once a month to talk about a book.

Also: many of my emails to/from long-distance friends become little book forums with our updates and recommendations. Books close the mileage gap!




BOOK CLUBS FOR KIDS


Book clubs and summer reading programs for kids are awesome, and they deserve a spotlight too ... which is why I'm saving those formats for a future children's books/kid lit post. Keep an eye out!




NEWFANGLED/NONTRADITIONAL BOOK CLUBS


Clubby-style book clubs — which grew out of Pilgrim-era Bible studies, women's reading circles, and the intellectual salons of yore — are not for everyone. Maybe you're an introvert or maybe your evenings and weekends aren't free. Or maybe you just don't know how to break into existing groups or start a new one. Good news: so many options!


  • Libraries and bookstores offer welcome-all book clubs/discussion groups at different times all the time. Between our four closest libraries, I just counted 24 discussion opportunities, topically ranging from true crime to sci fi to the Classics and beyond. Many libraries also offer book club kits, with multiple copies of the same book, discussion guides, and more. They make it easy!


  • Region-wide book clubs: Many towns, communities, and universities (plus the whole state of Iowa) host giant collective book clubs, annually choosing one book for all to read and then providing resources / discussion / arts / gathering opportunities. There's One Book, One Philadelphia, The Mayor's Book Club in Austin, TX, and hundreds more if you start poking around (including many other One Book, One _____ iterations). It's all very neighborly!



  • INTROVERT-ALERT! Check out Silent Book Clubs, with chapters (and now spin-offs) world-wide. The RSVPed set-up goes something like this: read quietly in a comfy public space (like a coffee shop or a brewery) amongst fellow readers for a set amount of time and then gather up afterward to briefly talk about what everyone is reading. Or don't 🫣! Small-dose community + small business support is a really nice combo. The sign-ups in our town fill fast, and last summer I was lucky to snag a spot. I felt a little antsy with the silence, but I did get a cute sticker. Silent Books Clubs are a great low-barrier option!


A higher-barrier option: many years ago, we were overnighting at the Hotel Sorrento on Seattle's Capitol Hill. As we walked through the lobby that evening, we saw people settled in comfy leather chairs silently reading — while all dressed up! — in the stately, jazzy Fireside Room. So intriguing! We learned it was the hotel's Silent Reading Party, a Wednesday night tradition since 2009. $10 for a seat at the bar/$25 food & drink minimum. If you do some Googling, you can now find variations of snazzy silent reading parties in many places!



  • Join up with Oprah (Winfrey), Jenna (Bush Hager) and/or Reese (Witherspoon). These three book titans have transformed reading habits and the entire publishing industry by continually introducing their audiences to new books and authors; the power of their endorsement can shuffle a bestseller list in a snap. Oprah's Book Club — the original game-changer — goes back to 1996. Later, Reese's Book Club and Read with Jenna expanded the options. Oprah is on her 124th book club pick, Jenna now has her own publishing imprint with Random House, and Reese takes women's stories from the page to the screen through her Hello Sunshine production company. Our literary power-broker trio 📚📚📚.


  • I learned about the 52 Book Club from E, who is a dedicated participant. The premise is wild: read 52 books selected from 52 highly specific categories within 52 weeks. I could not even, but E is a machine. Below are the 2026 categories and how E keeps track of her books (adorable style + serious/weighty/depressing subject matter is E to a tee! She's currently at 43 books for the year):


If you read the categories above, you'll note that half of the challenge might be treasure hunting the books themselves 🔎. This book club concept might seem solitary, but readers can connect with other 52-ers via official 52 Book Club groups on Facebook (64,800 members), Goodreads (over 28,000 members), and more. Do you accept the challenge 😅?




FAVORITE BOOK CLUB BOOKS


I have a long list of favorite books ... which includes a sometimes overlapping subset of favorite book club books. The favorite book club books section is particularly valued because it's largely made up of books not selected by me and my mood at the moment.


The books of book clubs require some release of self-preference and highly-personalized curation, an approach that goes against the flow these days. But sometimes it's good to swim upstream; with book clubs, there's graciousness and curiosity in thinking, "Okay, a story about [fill in the blank] does not sound remotely like me, but I'll give it a go because the experience is bigger than my preference." (And giving a non-self-selected book x-number of precious spare-time hours each month is no small thing.)


The spinning roulette wheel of book club selections means some books will miss the mark, but it can be very fun to rail against an unrealistic plot line or a bone-headed character. And sometimes — I love these times — I am moved by how much I loved a story or book that might never have crossed my path. Then I feel very, very lucky.


Here's an incomplete list (mostly from memory and a glance at our bookshelves) of book club books I loved and/or still think about:


NEVER WOULD HAVE READ, BUT — SURPRISE! — I LOVED/REALLY LIKED:

  • The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Iowa era) — a spare, brutal post-apocalyptic horror of a story, redeemed by its profound depiction of a parent's love. I wincingly loved it 🙊.

  • I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (in 2024) — a sad, uncomfortable, and very well-written memoir of growing up — somewhat famous — in a home and TV set work life that each failed at safety. I could barely pick it up with that title and could barely put it down once I started reading.


A WONDERFUL OLD-TIMEY BOOK I MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Iowa era) — how can you not love clever, observant, resilient Francie Nolan?! I still remember how she imagines individual numbers as human characters in a ongoing made-up story, an ingenious brain trick that really would have helped me all those years in math class.


A BOOK I MIGHT NOT EVER HAVE DISCOVERED:


A BOOK I'D FIND INTERESTING BUT NEVER WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO READ:

  • The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (Iowa era) — a 1,008-page fictional epic of cathedral-building in 12th-century England. It's an epic feat of storytelling, too 😅.


ALREADY UP MY ALLEY OR FAVORITE REPEATS:

  • Unbroken: A World-War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (Iowa era) — a true, deeply-researched account of inconceivable endurance. One of the biggest guards against self-pity you can find in a book. Hillenbrand's own story of writing despite debilitating illness is remarkable, too.

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Iowa era) — fully shaping when I first read it in high school; Mrs. Sprague cried as she read it aloud to our class, which — as it cut through the awkwardness — felt almost sacred. In a lighter moment, Scout's dinner table "Pass the damn ham, please" never fails me.

  • Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Iowa era) — set in 1950s-60s Ethiopia, this is the kind of book I'd have put on my TBR (To Be Read) list, but might have (would have) procrastinated on because it seemed like a heavy emotional lift. Which it was. But also: wow/brilliant/beautiful.

  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Iowa era) — Death is the narrator of this Holocaust-centered novel, just so you know. My unrelenting heart-pounding dread and worry was counterbalanced by the story, the characters, and the audacious beauty of the writing.

  • Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (in 2023) — sharp, funny, and observant, with one of the best dog characters in print.

  • Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (in 2024) — an Appalachian twist on Dickens' David Copperfield, thus overflowing with poverty and struggle ... but also the blessed relief of (rare) mercy and frequent LOLs. I loved, worried about, and rooted for Demon the whole way through.

  • The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (in 2024) — so much to chew and act on regarding kids and phones. I have many thoughts and feelings.

  • Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (in 2024) — another re-read. If you have an introvert in your family or work life (you do), this is the handbook for understanding.

  • Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (in 2025)— read it/loved it when it first came out and then again for book club last spring. So, so wonderful — a smart, wise comfort book through and through. Did you ever wonder if you could love an irritable octopus? You can/you will.

  • The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (two weeks ago) — a story of grief, guilt, isolation, and connection cleverly told through letters — also a re-read and even better the second time. Sybil is often fully unlikeable ... yet increasingly endearing in her vulnerability. I LOLed at her unfiltered bluntness — shades of my very unfiltered letter-writer grandmother, Mommer (introduced on the website here 🧡).




In a book club, the book rightly earns its main-character energy, but it's also subordinate to the larger purpose. Books weave together all the biggest ideas, themes, and threads of life. In turn, conversations about those books — the recognitions, the learning, the opinions, the connections — weave us to each other.


📚


With warmest thanks to my former and current book club buds!




EXTRA GOOD

ALSO LINKED THROUGH THE EXTRA GOOD PAGE HERE

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2026


1._GOOD NEWS: Meet Abner Gaston, a reader who participated in the San Diego Public Library's 2026 summer reading program — at age 98.  From the Washington Post's "The Optimist" newsletter:



"Abner Gaston, with help from his family to travel to and from the library, embarked on the challenge for the first time last year. He said he's 'blessed' to still be able to read."


"'It gets you involved,' Gaston said, 'and it gives you the knowledge of other people.'"



IT IS NEVER TOO LATE!!!




SEE YOU HERE NEXT TIME FOR
ANOTHER BATCH OF GOOD

😀 


KNOW SOMEONE WHO MIGHT LIKE THIS POST? 

JUST CLICK THE LINK 🔗 SYMBOL BELOW TO COPY IT FOR SHARING.

THANKS FOR SPREADING THE WORD!

 
 
 

Comments

RECENT POSTS

bottom of page