Do you love books? Imagine sitting in a group, sipping a hot cup of coffee or tea and having a discussion about your favorite books. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, this dream is possible. All you need to do is be part of a book club. Book clubs are ideal for those who love books and like to talk and discuss about books with other people from varied backgrounds. You not only get to learn about new books, but also get to know other people’s perspective of a book you have already read. So keeping this in mind, we have put together a list of Chennai book clubs every bookworm should join. We also have a list of books clubs across India, in case you are from a different city.
On the other hand if plan on writing a book, read our blog on How to Self Publish a Book in India.
The Chennai Book Club is a place where readers from Chennai come, discuss, share and exchange books. They have monthly meet ups held at coffee shops. There are no restrictions on who could join the club. Anyone who is interested in books can join.
The British Council has a book club named the Book Reading club, which conducts a book meet every month. Before a meeting, they pre-select books and members to discuss those particular books. Members of the Book Reading Club have to read the book selected for the month and there is a moderator for every session.
Any British Council Library members who are above the age of 18 can be part of this club. The group meets on the fourth Saturday of every month at the British Council.
BookWritten is part of the Slashsquare network and is founded & managed by Pradeep Kumar. BookWritten is a community for book lovers who also have a group on Facebook, where members discuss their favorite books. It is an ideal place for all book lovers. It is a forum for enthusiasts who want to get book suggestions, share their books with other members, get book related news & updates and almost everything related to this category. This group also takes time to discuss about eBooks and School/College related books.
It is an exclusive club for Chennai women to meet and discuss about books. Primarily on Facebook, in order to become a member, you need to send the admin of the page a private message along with a short introduction of yourself. This is just to understand potential members and avoid spammers and unnecessary comments.
Chennai book sharing group is an online community for book lovers. The group on Facebook has members who discuss latest news on books and reviews of popular and off beat books. It is a great community for those who want to share, sell, buy and review books. The sole purpose of this club is to mutually gain knowledge.
A creative concept, this group is a platform for book lovers who are in search of books. If you are in need for any book, all you need to do is post it on the Facebook page and anyone who has it will respond to you or make a suggestion as to where you can find it. You can post on any books, from novels to educational ones.
The Mocking Birds Chennai Poetry Group
An extremely active group, The Mocking Birds Chennai Poetry Group is a project to inspire talented poets of Chennai. It is a platform for poets to share their work and the group publishes the ones that are good as well. The name of the group was inspired by the acclaimed novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee. This organization is built on these very lines from this novel, Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mocking birds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up peoples gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mocking bird.”
Book Deals For Broke Bibliophiles Chennai
A meeting forum to recommend curated book deals in India. The idea of the group is to make sure people spend minimum to buy their favorite books. The Chennai chapter also meets regularly to discuss books and the meeting schedule is updated on the Facebook page. It is usually on the first Sunday of every month.
A platform for book lovers, this group acts as a forum for grownups to discuss books. One of the most popular groups online, the members post pictures of their latest reads or links to the online store and share their views about the book. From thrillers to chick literature to historical fiction, all genres are accepted in this group and they also post about any book related event that take place in the city.
Writers to author’s transition
If you love writing and are looking to someday become an author, this is the perfect place to go. They also conduct several workshops for potential and budding authors to understand writing. The group members also have discussions and post useful tips on writing.
The Book Buff Company is a meet up for like-minded people who love to hear your thoughts on books. The group has members from diverse backgrounds from Startups, classical dancers, business consulting majors, science, marketing, and writers to name a few are part of this group.
This is how the meet up sessions generally flow:
- Any member starts with a concept, idea, thought or an excerpt which he/she has read and feels to be discussed
- The discussion flows with other members coming in the discussion with their own inputs on the subjects being discussed.
- Discussion from members tries to bring multiple perspectives on the subject.
- Leads to other topic and the sequence follows
- Usually, the meetings conclude with smiles, sharing of different genres of ideas, books and a take home of valuable knowledge.
Chennai Tamil Book Readers/Writers Meetup
A one of its kind meetup group in Chennai, Chennai Tamil Book Readers/Writers Meetup group cater to people who are interested in reading/writing Tamil books, novels, poems or any form of writing in Tamil. They also encourage people to take up Tamil writing and reading and it is a good platform for people who have read a lot of books in the regional language.
Benefits of joining a book club:
- Learn new approaches
Every author writes differently and when you discuss a certain author’s works at book club meetings, you stand a chance to get a better understanding of writing techniques. Similarly, you can explain your observations to the group and get their opinion about it.
- Inculcates the habit of reading
A lot of us love to read books but most of us don’t have the time to or we don’t make enough time to read. Joining a book club will ensure you read regularly. At most book clubs, you will be asked to read a particular book and that said book will be discussed in forthcoming session. It also has an added benefit, where you will get to read books that you won’t normally read. Book clubs will make sure you move out of your comfort zone and explore new genres.
- Meet new people
Book clubs give you the chance to meet different people from different walks of life. You also get to talk to them and observe new people and learn new things from people from varied backgrounds.
- Experience books in a new light
Reading by itself is a wonderful feeling. Joining a book club will ensure that you not only read but also get to hear other people’s opinions and perspective about a book. It will often give you a different explanation about a scenario that you may not have thought of as well.
Want to start a book club? Here are the steps you need to take:
- Choose the type of club you want to set up
To being with, decide on the kind of book club you want to start. From deciding the age group and the duration of an event, everything needs to be in order. Some of the other things to keep in mind are:
- Do you want to have a theme?
- How many members do you want to include?
- Will it be a weekly meet up or a monthly one?
- Would you serve food?
- Will it be a formal or an informal meeting?
- Where will the meetings be conducted?
Once you have these questions answered, it will give you a base to work with.
- Choose the genre
It is important to know what kind of genre you would like to read at the meetings. There are different genres that you can explore; from fiction to classics to contemporary literature to young adult, there are plenty you can do. The best part of starting your own book club is that you get to choose what you want to do.
- Choose the right co-founder
If you are not sure about starting a club on your own, you can invite a friend or a family member to start it with you. Be sure of whom you want your co-founder to be. Ensure that the fellow member also has the same passion for books as you do.
We hope we have covered most of the clubs in Chennai. If you have more to add, please feel free to let us know in the comments section. The more the merrier!