Use These Apps to Find an Online Book Club
There are many ways to find interesting books to read, perhaps on Kindle or Kobo . Thanks to the advent of BookTok and BookTube, book suggestions can arrive even when you’re not looking for them.
But just because influencers talk about a book doesn’t mean you’ll like it or even want to read it. Luckily, there is another way: join an online book club.
Join a book club using the Fable app.
Fable (available for iPhone and Android ) is a place where readers can come together and talk about their favorite books. It’s an all-in-one platform where you can track books, buy them, read with other book club members, and then discuss books in a forum-style interface reimagined for smartphones.
But most importantly, it’s a place where you’ll find a variety of book clubs, some extremely niche and some more mainstream, all run by real, passionate readers. A good book club based on a specific genre or theme can help you find books you want to read and help you form a habit of actually reading those recommendations.
Book clubs in Fable select a book to read each month, voted on by the book club members themselves. You can join any book club you want, and you can join multiple book clubs. The app search feature can also help you narrow your search to specific genres. For example, I’m really into cozy fantasy right now, and Fable has helped me find a couple of fun book clubs and book selections.
The core of the interactive Fable experience can be found in the Discussion and Schedule sections. The Club Lobby is a group-wide chat room where you can create a Discord-style chat where all club members can contribute and ask questions, discuss books, and select upcoming games. The sections below are determined by the book club owner and can be used to discuss individual chapters or sections of the book.
If you’re not the type to discuss books, you’ll still find value in Fable book clubs thanks to the Schedule feature. This is where the book club owner can set the pace and milestones for the book, helping you stay on track. Milestones (such as completing chapter six by May 10) are just suggestions—you can read at your own speed.
Storygraph is an alternative Goodreads book club app.
Storygraph has earned its reputation as the polar opposite of Goodreads. The application does not contain advertising and runs independently. Plus, it has features like half-stars for more detailed ratings, and reviews can be much more detailed than Goodreads. Now Storygraph has also added book clubs to its list. Now you can create or join a book club directly from the website or app.
Storygraph has built-in support for selecting and voting on books. The book with the most votes is selected, and the book club manager can create a meeting to discuss the books or parts of them. There is also a forum interface where people can discuss the book and ask questions.
The book clubs feature is working, but it hasn’t been added to the main site yet. You can join and create book clubs, but it all happens through links. You can’t search for book clubs like you can in Fable, but that shouldn’t stop you from exploring. This mega Reddit thread has tons of great Storygraph book clubs to join.
Find a book club on Discord
On Discord you can find a community for anything , including books. You can use the book club tag on the Disboard website to find all the public Discord servers associated with book clubs. If you are looking for a specific genre, use the Search field. Discord book clubs are organized by channel and are a great place to discover and discuss books with like-minded people.
Join in-person and online book clubs at Bookclubs.
The Bookclubs website is dedicated to book clubs, both virtual and in-person. Here you can find hundreds of clubs that meet in person once a month. If there’s nothing around you, don’t worry: you can still join online groups for monthly meetings. There are also clubs that do not hold virtual meetings, preferring to discuss issues on the site’s forum.