Discuss, rank and share a good read through online or in-person book groups
By Gwen McNamara
I come from a family of readers. A card-carrying library member since before I could walk, bringing home a stack of new books to peruse was always a treat. My love of all things literary still hasn’t waned, so when my circle of book-sharing friends dispersed to far- flung locales there was only one thing I could do — go online.
That’s right, online. Following the social networking trend, today there are a wide range of online options for anyone looking to discuss, rank and share a good read.
Case in point: GoodReads.com. Here you can list the books you’ve read, the books you’re currently reading, and the ones you want to read. Add a ranking and review and recommend books to friends. Want more discussion? Join a group. From grammar geeks to armchair sailors, there are groups for students, authors, shared geographies and any subject imaginable. With no cost to sign up, and the ability to enter as much or as little personal information as you want, I joined and with a few friends have rekindled that book sharing spirit.
Based on the West Coast and founded by Otis Chandler (techie grandson of the publisher of the Los Angeles Times) and chief librarian and wife Elizabeth Khuri, GoodReads.com has grown to 1.6 million registered users, with more than 25 million books added since launching almost two years ago.
“We really wanted to bring back the social side of reading,” says Ms. Khuri. “Like it or not, reading tends to be pretty solitary and unlike buying a DVD or music, a book is more of an investment of our time and effort. What better way to ensure you’re getting a ‘sure thing’ than to see what you’re friends are reading or think about a title you’re interested in?”
Want more free online options? Kristin Friberg, librarian at the Princeton Public Library, recommends checking out LibraryThing.com or Shelfari.com.
“Like GoodReads, LibraryThing.com offers a social means to connect and see what others have on their bookshelf,” says Ms. Friberg. “The focus at LibraryThing is a bit more on cataloging, but you can also search for books and get a list of read-a-likes or suggestions.”
At Shelfari.com, powered by Amazon.com, you can build a list of current and future reads, review your favorites, join a group, and check out what the online community likes or dislikes with its “highest rated” books, “most reviews” and “most comments.”
Still yearning for that traditional face-to-face book group experience? Online tools can help. Visit Meetup.com, search for book clubs, plug in your zip code and find book discussion groups near you. A search of “08540” for Princeton yielded 16 results, including the Reader’s Choice Book Club in Bridgewater, the World Literature Book Club in Clinton, and the One Drink Minimum Book Club of Princeton.
ReadersCircle.org, devoted solely to book groups and author interaction, works in a similar fashion. Just click on “find” a book club, enter your zip code or pick your state and watch the groups pop up. Here a search of “08540” yielded five results, including the Weekend Book Club in Belle Mead and the Reading, Writing, Sharing: Creative Club in Hamilton/Robbinsville.
Or, visit your local library or bookstore for guidance.
“The majority of requests we get are still for in- person groups,” says Maryann Bartholomew, reference librarian at the Plainsboro Public Library. “We can put you in touch with groups that meet here at Plainsboro or throughout the area.”
If you’ve got a group of friends, but just don’t know how to get started, Ms. Bartholomew often points book club newbies to NoveList, a database service courtesy of the New Jersey State Library. Available to Plainsboro Public Library cardholders, NoveList can help fiction readers find the next great read and identify a long lost favorite. Web-based with links to various author related sites, NoveList even offers discussion questions for book groups of all levels.
At the Mercer County Library’s Lawrence Headquarters Branch, you can pick up a “book club in a bag.” Launched in the fall of 2008, the Marie Meseroll Book-Club-In-A-Bag program — named in honor of longtime Lawrence resident and member of the Friends of Lawrence Library Marie Grabowski Chilton Meseroll — the program provides everything needed to start a book club and keep it going.
Each bag contains six copies of a book title, author biographies, discussion questions, plot summary, group leader tips, and a dessert recipe to prepare for the book club’s meeting. Checked out by one member of the group, the bags circulate for six weeks and can be reserved up to one year in advance through the Lawrence Headquarters’ reference department.
“It’s been pretty popular,” says James Damron, Lawrence Headquarters Branch manager. “Everything you need is in one spot; you can just grab and go.”
Other resources with tips, advice and action plans for getting started include ReadingGroupGuides.com, which offers tips for starting and running a book group and provides Reading Group Guides with discussion questions, author biography, author interviews, critical praise and book excerpts on thousands of books searchable by author, title or genre. LitLovers.com offers reading guides and popular selections, as well as information for kid’s book groups, books to movies and free online literature courses.
Ms. Friberg at the Princeton Public Library points to Bookmarksmagazine.com as a great resource for book reviews. “Bookmarks keeps an online database of book reviews from all the major newspapers and magazines, but what’s even better is they’re rated and summarized for easy use,” she says.
The Princeton Public Library’s own Web site provides a wealth of resources for the would-be book groupie. Go to princeton.lib.nj.us/, click on “New and Recommended” and “Books and Reading” and find out what book groups meet at the Princeton Public Library, peruse the book group collection, check out the book group discussion guides, see the “book of the day” and more.
“Whether you’re super serious about your reading or looking for more socializing than hard-core plot dissection, there’s a group out there for you,” says Ms. Friberg. “And it’s never been easier to find it.”