What is TwitBookClub?
We're all about re-awakening your passion to read books again. We also aim to introduce our members to different genres of fiction and non fiction available on the market. Over the months we’ve adopted a motto of “Take what you want, leave the rest behind” or simpler said "Anything Goes!" when it comes to what the book club is all about. Our members come from all walks of life and we've got a mix of nationalities joining us at every meeting. We realise that everyone's tastes differ, and we embrace those differences in our discussions.
When and where do you guys meet?
Usually we meet every 3rd Saturday of each month from 11 am until about 2pm. The location can vary. See our 'Home' page for monthly meeting dates and follow us on Twitter @TwitBookClub for more info. Make sure to add the dates to your calendar so you won't miss a meeting.
How do I join?
It's easy! Just show up to one of our meetings regardless of whether you've read any of this month's selections or not. If you're unable to make it to a meeting, you can always use the hashtag: #BooksDXB or simply tweet @TwitBookClub, we'll work your tweets into our discussions when we meet. Alternatively, you can send us an e-mail with your reviews & suggestions and we'll be sure to include them in our discussions. We live tweet our meetings to keep people up to date.
I'm not on Twitter, can I still join?
Absolutely! We use Twitter to keep in touch with our members and the community (it beats sending out emails to over 1000 people), but the core of the discussion and our monthly choices are made at our monthly meetings.
I haven't read/finished reading anything from the list this month...
Don't worry. We're not the kind of book club to point fingers and make you feel bad about not having read anything from our 4 choices this month. We know people are busy, and we're much more than just lists and monthly selections. It helps if you've read at least a part of one of the selections prior to the meeting, but it's perfectly fine to come to a meeting without having read any of the selections. We don't usually reveal spoilers, unless it's a well known book that's been around for a lot of years.
An exception to the rule is if a book whose author is joining us for a Q and A, the book has to be finished prior our meeting as we do discuss that particular book in more details and it is unavoidable to let some spoilers slip by, so make sure you read the book before meeting the author in person with TwitBookClub.
An exception to the rule is if a book whose author is joining us for a Q and A, the book has to be finished prior our meeting as we do discuss that particular book in more details and it is unavoidable to let some spoilers slip by, so make sure you read the book before meeting the author in person with TwitBookClub.
What are the books on the "Author Specials" shelf ?
The author specials shelf on GoodReads host the books whose authors we've had join our sessions to talk about their books in detail, answer questions any of the readers have. If you're an author and would like to join us for a Q&A and have your book featured as part of our discussions, simply drop us an email or Tweet us. Be aware, we have to ensure the book is available in stock at our local bookshops as not everyone has access to Kindle.
Why multiple choices every month, and do I have to read them all?
There are so many wonderful books out there, we can't pick just one every month...This is also done to let you decide easier what you'd like to read. You don't have to read all of them Just pick one that appeals to you and start reading. There is no pressure to finish a book on our current choices list before our meeting, we know everyone has their own pace of reading and we can all get busy with other things. Typically we don't discuss all our selections in great detail (unless the topic is particularly hot and everyone has read the book in question.)
I don't like any of the current month's selections, now what?
That's okay. Come along to the meeting regardless. Our meetings aren't just about discussing the monthly selections. They're about introducing the community to the literature out there, including books to avoid as well as those worth reading. We discuss much more than that just our four main selections. In fact, here's a list of all the books that have been suggested in our meetings since our inception in 2009: TwitBookClub Suggestions
How do I get books nominated for selection?
There's two ways: show up at our monthly meeting and suggest the book, briefly telling the group why you think we should read it OR if you're unable to make it to our meetings, you can suggest a book via Twitter whilst the meeting is in progress and we'll add it to our list and vote on it; you can vote through Twitter too when we announce suggested books. Note: if you suggested a book, it automatically counts as a vote for your suggestion. Suggestions and voting only takes place during out meetings. You can suggest the same title multiple times, however previously selected books cannot be selected as monthly choices again, but they can still be discussed during meetings.
I suggested a book, but it wasn't selected as a monthly selection. What now?
TwitBookClub selection process is via democratic vote. Suggested books with majority of the votes get picked as our monthly choices. However, what happens a lot of the time is people go out and buy or borrow books that have been suggested by members in meetings and on Twitter based on their own preferences. As previously mentioned, during each meeting we discuss a lot more than just the books previously selected by our members. A lot of the time members lend books to each other during meetings as well. Our focus is on encouraging reading, not to force people to read any of our monthly selections.