Free Online Book Clubs
If you like to talk books, there are a number of new venues online where you can participate in a book club without leaving your computer. In my last blog I suggested a few websites where book group leaders and members might go to get suggestions for titles for future discussions. The sites I am suggesting this time go beyond recommending good books and providing discussion guides and author interviews to allowing members to post their own comments and be part of an ongoing book discussion.
Booklist Online Book Club is a partnership between Booklist and the Downers Grove Public Library in Downers Grove, Illinois. Every month they add new book discussions moderated by Downers Grove staff. They post a short critique of each book and one or two comments or questions to spur discussion. Then members or guests can go online and add their comments or view what other people have said.
Bookspace at Hennepin County Library has a book clubs blog. Registration is required, but it is free. A new feature of Bookspace allows readers to add their own booklists to the website. Book clubs can view what other clubs have been reading. Readers can also post their own comments on the blog.
Barnes and Noble has introduced a new service: free online book clubs. This is intended as an online community of writers, literary experts, and readers. There are over 25 discussions happening right now, including conversations with authors, expert-led book groups, writing advice, discussions on topics such as Mystery, History, Romance, and more.
And finally, there is Harford County Public Library! BlogaBook is your very own opportunity to find out what book groups in your community are reading and thinking. Your editor and your book group leaders will be posting critiques of books just read by HCPL book groups, plus discussion questions, and sometimes comments on how the discussions went and what participants felt.
Join Blogabook with your comments and enrich the dialog! All you have to do is click on “post a comment” and then type in the box, then “publish your comment.” You can be anonymous if you wish. Though the comments may be edited for things such as bad language, generally your opinion will stand as you write it. We welcome a chance to talk with you about books!
Elizabeth
Labels: blogabook, book discussions, book groups, online book clubs
posted by Elizabeth @ 2:39 PM
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1 Comments:
The problem we have with my book club is that some of the most interesting books are hard to get. That is, it is hard to find books with lots of copies available. We'd need about ten copies for all of us to get the books read by the next meeting. The books that do have lots of copies are often ones we just don't want to read, much less talk about. We don't want to sound cheap, but we would rather borrow the books than buy them, so we depend heavily on our public library. Interlibrary loan helps, but when you only have a month to read a book, those extra days used to get a book from another public library system can really make a dent in reading time. We want books with some hefty content, but we can't get enough copies. What's a book club member to do?
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