The past weeks, I’ve created my own Let’s Talk bookish topics and I had fun doing so. So much, that I continue this today. This is the last topic I’ve prepared so far, I’m not sure what the future for this meme holds so I won’t plan far ahead. This week’s topic is Book clubs and is inspired by a discussion post Leah wrote on her blog Leah’s Books.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted by Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Since April 2022, the meme moved to another host, Aria @ Book Nook Bits. Let’s Talk Bookish is a meme where participants discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and share their love by visiting each other’s posts.

Prompts: Book clubs are a great way to connect with other readers and to find books out of your comfort zone. Do you agree on this statement? Are you in a book club yourself? If so, is it online or in person? Please tell us more about your book club. How do you discuss books? Do you have a set of questions ready or are the discussions casual? How do you select your next book club pick? If you aren’t in a book club, would you like to be in one? And do you prefer it to be online or offline?

Book clubs are a great way to connect with other readers and to find books out of your comfort zone. Do you agree on this statement?

I definitely agree on this statement. It’s hard to find readers – and definitely like-minded readers – in everyday life, so book clubs are a good way to find these people and connect to other readers. They also challenge to read outside your comfort zone, at least if the genre of the club is outside that comfort zone. Mine isn’t really, so I read books I actually enjoy. In my opinion, book clubs shouldn’t be a chore and if we read a genre I don’t enjoy constantly, it is starting to feel like one.

Are you in a book club yourself? If so, is it online or in person?

I am in an offline book club and did online ones in the past. However, I don’t really like online because you have to keep up (and often prioritize other things) and when you’re offline, you’re already in a meeting. Online, you often have to answer the questions and react to others, but that’s it. People can contribute at their own pace – which could be an advantage to people – but it somehow feels more distant. I now sometimes do the online ones, but less. When Covid happened, we tried to move our offline book club to online, but this didn’t work out so well. I, for instance, never joined because I wanted to do other things and had other priorities. I didn’t like the Zoom times at all, so I just didn’t feel like participating.

Please tell us more about your book club. How do you discuss books? Do you have a set of questions ready or are the discussions casual? How do you select your next book club pick?

Okay so we started out as a young adult book club. Fast forward seven years and we barely read YA anymore, we’ve moved on to more adult books. There’s still a YA pick occasionally, but I think I can count them on one hand now. Our main focus is that are Dutch, because some of us don’t read in English at all. Others solely read in English, so we try to find books that are available in both English and Dutch. Thankfully a lot is translated. We often manage well, I guess. We don’t have questions ready, because we’re quite casual. Meetings are scheduled beforehand, but not within a set span of time. It can take up to three months between meetings, sometimes even longer. Moreover, it often occurs that people haven’t finished, or even opened, the book because… Life. Therefore, set questions don’t come in handy either. We just talk about the book briefly but move on to discussing other books as well. Regarding selecting our next book club pick, everyone suggests a book and then we vote. We all like fantasy, so we often stay in that lane. YA fantasy, Romantasy… You name it. Actually, we have book club at the end of the month and this time we picked Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. A totally different genre than we usually read, so I’m curious for the discussion!

Are you in a book club? How does your club work? Is it in person or online and what’s your personal preference?