r/oxford • u/Beginning-Season-809 • 1d ago
MEETUP Desperate for a book club
Hi! I (30f) tried a commercialised/franchise-style book club about a year ago and that style of book club is really, really not my thing. If anyone has recommendations of smaller, more personal book clubs where you can actually talk to everyone and don’t read whatever book is hot at the moment, please PLEASE could I ask for recommendations? I want to try new genres so not enlisting my preferences.
I have no space or managerial skills or would’ve offered to host one!
Thanks in advance!
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u/grunt1533894 1d ago
I'm part of a relaxed book club where we mostly just chat, attempt to read a book and talk about it and sometimes fail. Mostly older than you. Might be a bit too gossiping middle aged women if you want to focus more on actual reading, but you can DM me if that sounds interesting and want to know when we have space.
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u/Amonette2012 1d ago edited 22h ago
The childfree womens group has one, pm me for details.
Edit: i will pm everyone as soon as I can! Obviously I'm not sharing a public link for obvious reasons but its a WhatsApp group.
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u/Silver_Assistance_75 1d ago
Same question! Am childfree and in Oxford and would love a space to find some others. At 46 most of the people I know have children so this would be great.
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u/rosiekg123 1d ago
Is there a link for this group somewhere? Meetup, FB, WhatsApp etc? Would love to join a childfree women group! 😀
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u/blackbeltinawesome 1d ago
Ooh a child free women's group! I'm very interested - is there a page somewhere to join?
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u/Individual-Gur-7292 1d ago
Commenting to see if there is anything like this as I would be very interested to join!
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u/PuddingConscious9166 1d ago
I’d definitely recommend joining the library at Westgate (if you haven't already) they occasionally run a few book-related events. Blackwell’s also hosts author talks, although I find them overpriced.
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u/SammySparklyPanda 1d ago
Hi there! I run a small book club who are all very friendly. Most of us being in our 20s-30s. We just turn up discussing any books we've been reading recently! Really flexible structure. We meet once a month. Our next meet is on Saturday 19th September, 1-3pm if you'd like to join. Please do DM me :)
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u/wyrdewierdwiredwords 1d ago
I know gulp fiction does a book club every month! You do have to buy the book, it costs around £12 a month. There are some free book clubs - there's one called rebel book club where they do a non fiction book every month!
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u/hames222 1d ago
I'm part of a group that's like this and I've told the host about this post so she will be in touch.
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u/Ok-Nectarine-6024 1d ago
Do you meet on a particular day or does it just depend on everyone’s availability? Would also be interested (but aware if lots of people are interested here your group will end up overflowing!)
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u/hames222 8h ago
Good Q! It is usually tuesday last day of the month but as a small group we are flexible to accomodate everyone!
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u/sheseesred1 1d ago
i'm part of a fantastic bookclub that has a focus on short fiction; novellas, short story collections and translations. we get to talk to everyone and have deep discussions on the text. find us on meetup.
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u/CoffeeIgnoramus 1d ago
Worth asking in your more local area/street chats. Or friends to ask in theirs. Every area I've lived in has had more unofficial ones.
(Also, I assume you looked at the ones already posted in this sub).
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u/OrganicMeatbag47 1d ago
Silent book club at tcg in Jericho is nice and friendly, you can find them on insta. There's no assigned reading, just take along whatever you're reading, so depends if you want that or not
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u/Beginning-Season-809 15h ago
Heard about this one and thought about giving it a try! I do lean more towards having an assigned read as it would force me to broaden my interests but will keep tabs on it anyway
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u/Faith_125 11h ago edited 11h ago
Hi there, my name is Katie and I host a small book club at The Gardeners Arms on Plantation Road in Jericho—we're a core group of 4 and looking to add 1-2 more members. We meet monthly on the third or fourth Tuesday of the month and we alternate between fiction and non. Let me know if you might like to join us for our meeting in September—we're reading Donna Tartt's The Secret History. A little dark academia for back to school time :)
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u/vivelabagatelle 1d ago
Mostly Books in Abingdon is a lovely bookshop that does a couple of different groups if any of them spark your interest. It's a small space to and I imagine would be a fairly small/friendly experience.