Join a Book Club!

San Mateo County Libraries’ Virtual Book Club started in the pandemic and brought together a community of readers at a crucial time. Now, we want to recruit new members and encourage you to join!

If you are a book lover like we are here at San Mateo County Libraries, then you may have thought about joining a book club. Maybe you don’t know where to find a book club or are intimidated by the prospect of joining one. Our virtual book club makes it easy since you can meet from the comfort of your own home using Zoom (with your camera on or off).

Why Join a Book Club

One of the primary reasons to join a book club is that you don’t just learn about people’s perspectives on literature—you learn about the life experiences that shape those perspectives. It’s not just a book discussion. You are creating a sense of community with other peninsula residents.

If you’ve ever read a book and had a burning desire to discuss the poor life choices of a protagonist or take a character's side in an argument, then a book club is the exact outlet you need. There are plenty of passages in novels that can be interpreted in different ways, and you might just come away with a new perspective.

What We Read

One of the joys of a book club is that you get to read books you might not normally pick up on your own. This can provide a delightfully new reading experience. The books we’ve read so far have included fantastic reads like Leaving Coy’s Hill, Never Let Me Go and The Seed Keeper. We don’t have a specific theme in our book club, but individual members can nominate books. We then vote on these book nominations as a club.

The book we are reading for our June 12 meeting at 6:00 PM is Amor Towles' The Lincoln Highway up to page 280. We will finish the book in time for our July meeting. If you are interested in joining, please fill out this form to receive your link for our next meeting.

Finally, in addition to the traditional virtual meetings, book club members who chose to do so can interact online using the Fable App. Fable is already available for all San Mateo County Libraries patrons. Our Virtual Book Club will have the option of using Fable starting in June.

What is Fable?

Fable is an iPhone and Android app for book clubbers on-the-go. You can use Fable to join a virtual book club or start your own, but there are no meetings or video calls required. Learn more about Fable and sign up for the Fable App here before downloading the app on your device.