For the Reader: Books Clubs on My Side of the River
My goal for 2023 was to read six books. I know that is not a lot. From 2020 to the end of 2021 I was a reading machine. I started a book club at my work and was enjoying reading whenever I could and especially outside. Then I went to grad school and I read a single book in two years. I ended up reading 7 or 8 books this year, nothing to brag about, my sister reads over 100 books a year, but I hit my goal. One of the reasons I hit my goal is because I joined a book club this summer through the Somerville Library, called Books and Brews. This put me on a schedule which helped me make time to read and gave me a space to talk about the book I read with a great community. If you are looking to set a reading goal in the new year, love talking about books or want to get into the community in a fun way joining a book club is for and there are plenty on my side of the river.
Books and Brews: Somerville Library
Books and Brews was a great book club for me while I was getting back into reading. It was nerve wracking at first attending this book club alone, not knowing anyone. I’ve had so much fun chatting over a few beers with those attending and laughing over how crazy some of the books we read were, if you have read Pisces you know. This is a great book club if you are just looking to get your toes wet if you want to read more and grow some community.
Somerville Public Library
The Somerville Public Library offers quite a few different book clubs to satisfy all types of readers. Between the Covers is a romance book club offering meetings through zoom. On zoom as well there is a mystery book club, and a nonfiction book club that both meet monthly. In person there is a CelebriTea book club, reading a different celebrity memoir every month at the West Branch. If you are more into cooking than reading, the library hosts a monthly cookbook club at Remnant in Union Square where everyone brings a dish from the cookbook to the brewery to share.
Cambridge Public Library
The Cambridge Public Library also has a bunch of book club offerings. Each branch has a non-fiction book club. The Cambridge Main Library also offers a Science Fiction and Fantasy book club, a Romance Book Club and a Contemporary book club monthly. Cambridge also has their own version of books and brews with a brewery book club at Lamplighter.
Porter Square books
The lovely Porter Square books has restarted their book club focusing on fiction. In the past year they have read Crying in H-Mart, Lucy by the Sea and Sea of Tranquility. This book club is hosted monthly and there is no need to sign up; you can just show up at the bookstore.
Happy Reading! In 2024 my goal will be to read 12 books!
