Book club: Are you in one? If so what does it cost (if anything) and what do you like/dislike about it?

[namechangeaaargh]

I've been in one for a few years but they are changing the format to a monthly direct debit subscription model which is expensive and wouldn't suit me even if I could afford it so I'm out. I understand why they have done it (it's run by a book shop) but the way they have gone about communicating the change has been shoddy - I can't elaborate on this though as it's outing.

I enjoy talking about books and getting ideas about new books to read from others and there are a few people there that I like and/or respect but I dislike some of the other aspects of it, including being in an immensely annoying virtue signalling WhatsApp group for it, books that look awful/I don't want to read winning the vote quite often and also the club being 99% white, 99% middle class and 99% female grates sometimes but I suspect probably all of these factors are common to many book clubs.

I'm pondering whether to try and set up my own small group next year but I'm not sure about the hassle factor.

If you're in one (or more), what does it cost and what do you like/dislike about it?

I’d assume any run by a book shop then you would buy from the place as that is the expectation for hosting it/organising it. Not so much if it’s just friends/local group.

Thanks! Yes, the variations are fascinating. I liked @RedRosie and @PermanentTemporary's experiences, especially the Walking Bookclub. I'll keep trying.

Plus, as someone who's currently downsizing and decluttering, it's really hard to get rid of a lot of physical books these days. Let's hear it for Kindles and laptops and Project Gutenberg.

Although on another thread, I learned about https://www.webuybooks.co.uk/sell-books/ and have used them once, all the way through to seeing the payment show up in my bank. I'll definitely use them again. They collect! And books are heavy.

Yes @namechangeaaargh I checked their FAQs and this is what they say

Yes. We have members in the US, England, Scotland, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore and New Zealand and of course from all over Australia. However, please note we predominantly choose titles published in Australia - and we cannot guarantee the titles will be available in your home country.

It is early bird cheap rate for a few more days - why not join? The local groups all connect through facebook. I'm not sure if there is a England or Scotland group but you could always start one.

I'm in one at my local library. Costs nothing and is run by the librarian who gets the books in for us. There's quite a few members but some rarely come, so meetings usually have 8-15 people. It's all women. We meet once a month and it's really enjoyable; we each give the book a score, then go around the table, each person saying what they thought of it. The discussion is usually very lively and good natured, despite having a few retired English teachers! Choice of book is quite random, mostly 'anyone read anything good recently?', although one month in the year is always a Classic. I've found authors I hadn't read before and really enjoyed, and others I definitely wouldn't read again but it's always interesting. The main attraction for me is just meeting people who love books as much as I do.

Same here.

Quite often people don't finish the book if they're not enjoying it. Nobody really minds, it should be for pleasure, not a chore and sometimes the discussion encourages people to finish the book after all.

Same! The first rule of book club is you do not talk about book club.

I’m in one. It’s all female and at 53 I’m the youngest. All the others have proper adult children (I stop have a 15 and 17 yr old at home), I’m the only one who works full time (they are all either retired or never really worked), and they are all really well off with lifestyles / houses that are way beyond my means. It’s getting really hard to be interested in their endless conversations about houses, renovations, holidays, making jam, grandchildren etc etc 🙄. They are lovely people but we just don’t have much in common atm 🤷‍♀️ and I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it that they do. And they are dedicated to book club, they’ve been friends for 30+ years. Lots of them have moved away - but they travel hours back to come to book club once a month and stay with other members!

We meet at their homes (mine too small to host 10), cook elaborate food and drink too much. We have at least one, sometimes two weekends away each year. All this takes time that I don’t have - but they are very forgiving.

The books are generally pretty good - we take a turn at making a list of 4-5 books, then everyone votes so there is an element of choice (I’m in another club where the organiser chooses for all of us - I don’t like and don’t really go any more).

It’s getting really hard to be interested in their endless conversations about houses, renovations, holidays, making jam, grandchildren etc etc We meet at their homes, cook elaborate food and drink too much.
Ugh. I hear you. I am peripheral to a similar group (a club) who seem to spend all their time talking about the various ways they spend their money. They are probably not aware that they do it, but it makes them sound vacuous and it's all a bit cringe. They also do the excessive catering thing - mostly bought in(M&S, Waitrose. natch), not made.
They are a long-established group who made the error of not having regular new recruits over the years so the club's average age just gets older and older.
They don't even have the redeeming characteristic of choosing good books! I'm thinking of binning them off.

Yes, ours is themed and we try to focus on BAME authors (the group is predominantly non white). It has introduced me to a lot of titles I haven't heard of and given great insight into different cultures. It's very relaxed, sometimes people haven't even read the book, but we drink a beverage which is related to the book (eg karak chai for book set in Pakistan, a non alcoholic beer for Nigeria etc) and eat cake, so it's all good. Everyone orders the book themselves.

I'm in two and in my house they are referred to as 'normal book group' and 'horrible book group' so I feel the pain of everybody finding it hard to get out of a friendship-adjacent group (or in my case, neighbourhood based) 🤦🏽‍♀️
In the normal one, the book discussion length varies a lot but we do tend to talk about books, and we make a variety of suggestions then just settle on one (it's the cosy christmas read this month but I don't mind as it isn't every time). The horrible one is very book based but lacks humour, and is more formal in that we take it is strict turns to host and the host chooses the next book. The catering is quite formal with proper china and plates. The date is not allowed to vary ever - once it is in the diary it is set in stone.
Neither has any cost apart from acquiring the book (we do try to wait until things come out in paperback) and maybe some snacks or drinks.

I've been in 3. The first one was hosted in one person's house unless she was on holiday and books provided by the library. I left that one when the meetings moved to a cafe which was awkward to drive to and I didn't want to walk around my town at night.

I set up a neighbourhood one but I was guilty of being bullied by a dominant member and always reading her choices, that one fizzled out.

I'm now in a U3A one where we meet in members houses (or those who have room and free parking nearby). Whoever chooses the book buys the cake/biscuits and host provides tea. We buy our own books in our choice of format, usually waiting till they are under about £5. U3A used to charge 50p for meeting in members" homes but now its free. Some of the group have become good friends and are very supportive. There are 8 members, all women and I should think most over 70. Our January meeting is a pub lunch.

ETA during covid we met via Zoom.

Our Bookclub’s is free. We meet once a month approx , usually in a pub. Some people will eat a meal, others just have a drink. If you haven’t read the book, or didn’t finish, it diesn’t matter.

Regarding choosing a book, sometimes people will have ideas, other times we’ll look online at ‘ideas for Bookclubs’ articles. Alternatively, someone will suggest a genre (classic, biography etc) and we go from there.

Also, only a couple will read ‘real books’ others listen on audible or use a kindle.

For getting rid of books, try Music Magpie as well, though they won’t take some stuff and don’t pay a lot. But we’re also decluttering and have probably got rid of 200/300 books recently.

I’ve been in a local book club made up of neighbours for years. We meet in each others’ houses and the next host chooses the book and provides (light) refreshments and wine, so that’s the cost - in addition to the book, which you obtain however you wish for the lowest price!

We very rarely read new books; in fact I don’t think we ever have. I do like the sound of @JennyChawleigh’s U3A one. Our choices are probably quite unusual and include classics, non-fiction, works in translation (several members are French) and older books. We have men in the group too which I gather is quite unusual. My biggest gripe is some of the personalities in the group (er….some of the male ones…) but I guess that’s the way it goes with any social interaction. It’s slightly irritating that the person who set it up
insists on constantly trying to recruit new members, but we’re at about 15 people now and most of our houses couldn’t accommodate that many if everyone turned up. To be fair, they generally don’t, but it’s been close.

@Ogonek suggested: "For getting rid of books, try Music Magpie as well, though they won’t take some stuff and don’t pay a lot. But we’re also decluttering and have probably got rid of 200/300 books recently."

Thanks! It looks like they don't collect, which works less well for me, but I'll try some price comparisons with WeBuyBooks. Getting rid of 200/300 books is inspiring too. 😀

I'm in one that started as an offshoot of a local social club. It's been going about 7 years and even continued through covid on Zoom. Membership has changed over the years but there's usually 8 or 9 of us - all women (although not by design). We all suggest and vote for titles and usually try to read a couple of classics per year plus a mix of fiction and nonfiction, including something seasonal for December.

We meet one evening a month in a room in a local pub which doesn't charge as long as a few of us order food. I get most of the books from the library in hard copy although I know some people prefer audio or digital versions. Sometimes the discussions are structured and sometimes last about 5 minutes before we just chat! I joined to make me read again after retiring and not having a long commute to fill and it's certainly worked.

That’s a bit odd, @CrystalSingerFan, as they definitely collected from us! But they may have stopped doing it now - DH says he hasn’t tried them for a while.

You could give World of Books a go too. They collect free over 9kg, if you’ve got that many.

OK - I'll delve deeper, unless anyone else can comment. And thanks for the other suggestion!

Our book club has been going for more than 40 years - started as a National Housewives Register group! So we all had youngish children, most of us had full time demanding jobs and all lived within about a 5 mile radius.

Now we are all retired, mostly with grandchildren and live all over the place. Some people have left as a result of ill health and others have joined so we've kept fairly consistently to about 12 members. The majority are the original members.

We take turns to choose a book - fiction or non fiction - and it can be recently published (so long as it's in paperback) or not. One person kindly takes responsibility for circulating information.
We now meet on Zoom due to geography but try to get together physically at least now and again.

No cost other than a small contribution to Zoom.

The longevity of the group speaks to its success.

Wow. I thought we were doing well when we had our 25th anniversary last April.

I run a book club together with a friend. There is no set charge but in the winter months we meet in a cafe so you have to buy a drink. In the summer we are in the park so free! Most people buy the book but it is not always necessary and I often get it out of the library or borrow a friend's copy. We mostly read fiction but also some non-fiction and the books are picked from us from members' suggestions. We try to get a good mix of genres.

OMG! The first book club I joined was a sub group of National Women's Register, which was what National Housewives Register became. This was 30 years ago in Leeds.