LIT TRENDS - 3 Online Book Clubs with a Global Perspective

ONE OF LIFE’S GREAT pleasures is sharing a favorite book with a community of bright, engaging friends, wine in hand and the fireplace crackling. In a perfect world, the host of your local book club is charming, the introverts are cozy and the extroverts gregarious, the conversation is brilliant and never lags, and the serving board groans under the weight of everyone’s best-loved dishes.

- Elizabeth Rae Stevens

Time, however, is not always on our side, and acknowledging that the perfect is all too often the enemy of the good, we submit for your consideration the online book club. In these digital spaces, there’s no need to clear your calendar because you can dip into the conversation at your own pace. There is more time to consider your response to a thought-provoking insight, and those who feel shy of public speaking can take their time crafting exactly what they want to say—or just read along and keep out of the limelight.

The internet is vast, and sometimes it’s hard to find a signal in the static. With that in mind, we’ve tuned in to some vibrant, active, and smart online book clubs where the participants are bringing insight and a sense of community to their digital spaces. We’ve also taken care to bring you a variety of levels of social engagement, whether you’re looking to make close friends or just supplement your reading.