It seems everything has gone virtual in 2020, and that includes book clubs. Amazon Book Clubs now lets anyone with an Amazon account join a public club—and soon, you can create your own. Amazon included everything but the wine, so BYO vino and let’s explore this cool new feature.
Public Amazon Book Clubs to Join
With over 10,000 members, Unforgettable Reads is dedicated to “Books we can’t – and won’t – stop recommending.” As of this writing, the group is discussing the classic title, Anne Frank.
If you like to read on the edge of your seat, join Things That Go Bump in the Night, a group of over 6,000 suspense-lovers that is dedicated to mystery and thriller faves. Right now, they’re reading acclaimed author Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s modern feminist spin on Gothic fantasy Mexican Gothic. Set in 1950s Mexico, the gothic horror story is more suspenseful than horrific. Young socialite Noemí Taboada investigates her cousin’s claims that she is reportedly being poisoned by her new husband in their creepy-ass mansion in the remote Mexican countryside.
Rom-com readers unite! is a fairly self-explanatory group of over 5,000 bookworms with a passion for “giggle-worthy romantic comedies.” If this is up you’re alley, check out the title they’re reading right now, The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. It’s about a second baseman for the Nashville Legends who discovers his wife has been faking it…in bed. Can a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s alpha men coach him to score big with his wife? Idk, I haven’t read it.
Memorable memoirs is dedicated to yet another popular genre—”fascinating life stories as told by those who lived them.” Now, the group is reading Becoming by Michelle Obama. If you didn’t love the former first lady before, you will after you pour over her life story. After growing up on the Southside of Chicago, Michelle Robinson (back then) gets a culture shock when she finds herself on campus at Princeton. Afterward, she earns a degree from Harvard Law then goes to work at a firm where one day, a plucky intern and future president will win her heart.
Start Your Own Amazon Book Club
Request to join a club, or soon, you can start your own. In 2021, Amazon will offer private book clubs and is opening club creation to all customers in 2021. Set up your own club and invite your fellow bibliophiles to join. It’s easy to set up and use. Members can suggest books for the next read and the administrator (person who created the club) selects the next upcoming title. You can even add books your club has read in the past.
Choose whether to make your club private or public. If it’s public, anyone can join. According to Amazon, “Administrators of private book clubs can choose whether or not they want to allow membership requests. If a private book club doesn’t allow membership requests, you can only request to join if you have received an invite link from an administrator or member of that book club.”
Suggest a Book
It’s easy to suggest a book for a club’s upcoming read. Simply browse books on Amazon and suggest what you fancy by clicking the “Add to book club” button. Or, go to the club’s page and select the “add a book” feature to search for a book. Once you find what you’re looking for, click “suggest.” The best part? No more fighting over what to read next! Amazon Book Club has a feature that lets members endorse suggestions by other members, so admins can easily tell where the group wants to go.
Oola Book Club Reading Recs
Set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Where the Crawdads Sing is as much about the scenery as is it about the story. It’s a long one, but you’ll be tearing through the pages to find out what happens to the Marsh Girl. Part love story, part murder/mystery, this book checks all the book club boxes.
Just like one of the guests at a fancy wedding off the coast of Ireland, I am dying to read The Guest List by Lucy Foley, an Agatha Christie-esque gothic psychological thriller.
You cannot imagine how Tara Westover grew up in the mountains of Idaho, which is why she had to tell you about it in Educated: A Memoir. It’s also a great listen on Audible!
I may just start a book club dedicated to Brené Brown because lord knows she deserves it! I started Daring Greatly but decided to go back and read The Gifts of Imperfection first. The subtitle is, “Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are,” which I think we could all use.
