Oh the places you’ll go,

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting

So…get on your way!

-Dr Seuss        

As a kid, Dr Seuss inspired me to read, dream and allow my imagination to evacuate me to the most wildly outrageous places. I couldn’t be more grateful. A love of reading and escaping into a world of words has accompanied every step of my life journey so far.

Whether you’re a book worm and love nothing more than a rainy day and cosy couch to curl up on or someone who’s perennially perusing book titles to learn, grow, succeed or seek an inner self – there’s a book club waiting for you to either create or join. Age, location, language – none of it matters. There’s something for everyone.

To set up a book club, you can go the traditional route and gather some friends and acquaintances, pick a person’s house, select a novel, bring a plate of something yummy with a bottle of vino and start reading.

Or you can get savvy and think bigger by joining online clubs with people from around the world, get tips from your favourite celebs and download apps to set up a book club which links you to online purchases while RSVPing with a click of a button. You can also get in on the latest trends and invite authors to join you either in person or virtually and fire away questions about the writing process.

Apps to get started

There is a swathe of free Apps to help you set up, structure and run a book club. You and your members can curate your own bookshelf with meeting details, suggested discussion questions, RSVPs, book info and ratings with links to trusted books sellers. Take a look at Book Club by BookMovement; BookClub, Klubzs or for a purely virtual platform, try Bookship.

For YA (young adult) readers, there are apps like BookSloth which act as social online communities that match you with like-minded readers, alert you to latest releases and allow you to form clubs with live chats.

Celeb book clubs

Want to go the celeb route and join a global club with title tips for adults and YA Readers? There’s Reese’s Book Club where Reese Witherspoon connects two million readers with two picks a month. You can read along with Reese, download the app or subscribe to her newsletter.

Looking for those “ah-ha” moments? Oprah Book Club has a new pick every month, a video of Oprah sharing the impact of a particular book, a newsletter and links for purchases. 

Sci-fi, queer literature, indigenous works, black storytelling, feminist lit, rom-com, eco-fiction – whatever takes your literary fancy, there’s an online book club waiting for you to find.

Also, check out booksellers like Booktopia, Angus&Robertson, Dymocks and Amazon who all have book clubs with various special offers and tips on how to build your own club that encourages stimulating thought and discussion.

Special offer

The Carousel has a unique opportunity for our subscribers to invite world-renowned neuroscientist George Paxinos who’s published his first novel A River Divided to speak at your book club.

A real page-turning work of eco-fiction, A River Divided spans four continents in a classic nature v nurture story with a thrilling twist.

Email us at editor@thecarousel.com to tell us about your book club and why you’d like to have George Paxinos speak.