Hi there, and welcome to the Rather Be Reading book club!
I am Mia, your host, and together we shall explore time and space through ink and paper. Or, more likely screens of smartphones. But, you know, it sounds more aesthetically pleasing this way.
A Bit About Us
Book Meetings
We are a friendly book club comprising of some 15-20 individuals from all over the place. We meet every other Saturday over Zoom to discuss our current book.
We read two books a month with meetings every two weeks. This is intended to accommodate both frequent and infrequent readers. I post the poll for the upcoming theme/genre a few days before a meeting, so members have time to vote before the new reading period begins. You can see a list of the books we have read so far here.
Don’t like the book and don’t want to talk about it? Don’t have the time or energy for a meeting? Don’t come! You are by no means obligated to attend every or even most meetings. This club is intended to be a comfortable, casual space for people to talk about books. Attend solely at your own preference and interest. 🙂
Social Hangouts and Other Things
Building a fun, compassionate, and engaged community is one of the most important parts of this adventure. For that reason, we have three social hangout opportunities through the week: every Tuesday at 08:00 pm Eastern, each Saturday when we don’t have a book meeting at 08:00 pm Eastern, and as a follow up to each existing book meeting, usually around 09:00 or 09:30 pm Eastern. You are free to join any of these and spend time with and get to know us!
We also host open mic nights and creative writing gatherings. These take place on Sundays at 08:00 pm Eastern and Saturdays at 04:00 pm Eastern respectively.
Once you’ve attended a meeting and if you’ve decided that you’d like to stick around, you may also join our Telegram chat group to interact with us on a textual level. You can reach out to me to be added! Please note: if you attend a meeting (either a social or a book chat), you are not obligated or expected to contribute. I know that new groups can be overwhelming, and so long as you give me/us some sign that you are a prospective member and here to get a sense for what it’s like, it is perfectly okay to stay quiet if you need to.
Since it turns out many of our members also enjoy cooking, we have a Dropbox folder for recipes that have been tried by at least one of us. Please contact me if you’d like to be included.
How To Join
In the main menu displayed at the top of the page are links to join the Telegram announcement channel and/or the text message updates. This is how members receive important information about upcoming meetings, poll creation and results, etc. You may sign up for either or both and attend any meeting you would like.
That menu also includes links to view what books we have read so far, our member list where you can view profiles and get a sense for who we are, and our archive of polls and updates. If you decide you’d like to stick around, you can create an account here.
This account will give you access to both the polls we use to choose our next books and the submission form where you can put in your own recommendations.
As mentioned above, you may reach out to me at any point during or following your first meeting to be added to the chat group.
We look forward to meeting and reading with you!