Book clubs

Some of the benefits of belonging to a book club is that it allows you meet people who like to talk about the books they read and to discover new authors, topics and genres. Mosman Library hosts a number of book clubs that guarantee lively and interesting discussions. For more information call 9978 4091.

Book club kits

Are you thinking of starting or do you run a book club? Then take advantage of our book club kits.

Mosman Library book club kits are available for loan for Mosman Library card holders only. Each kit contains 10 copies of the title along with information about the author, the book and discussion questions. The titles are:

  • All that I am – Anna Funder
  • Angle of Repose – Wallace Stegner
  • A visit from the goon squad – Jennifer Egan
  • Birds without Wings – Louis De Bernieres
  • City of Falling Angels – John Berendt
  • Cloudstreet – Tim Winton
  • A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
  • A Fortunate Life – A.B.Facey
  • Empire Falls – Richard Russo
  • Eucalyptus- Murray Bail
  • The Girls – Lori Lansens
  • The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
  • The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
  • The House of Sand and Fog – Andre Dubus
  • The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai
  • The Ottoman Motel – Christopher Currie
  • The Tiger’s Wife – Tea Obreht
  • Joe Cinque’s Consolation – Helen Garner
  • Life of Pi – Yann Martel
  • Ludmila’s Broken English – D.B.C. Pierre
  • Maps for Lost Lovers – Nadeem Aslam
  • March – Geraldine Brooks
  • Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
  • Past the Shallows – Favel Parrett
  • Persepolis 1 and Persepolis 2 – Marjane Satrapi
  • Rocks in the belly – Jon Bauer
  • The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance – Edmund de Waal
  • The Marriage Plot – Jeffrey Eugenides
  • The Paris Wife – Paula McLain
  • The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
  • The Secret River – Kate Grenville
  • The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes
  • The slap – Christos Tsiolkas
  • This is how – M.J. Hyland
  • Snow – Orhan Pamuk
  • Talk Talk – T.C.Boyle
  • You Gotta Have Balls – Lily Brett

How to start your own book club

You can draw members from any part of your social circle: friends and/or co-workers. Smaller groups (somewhere between four and ten) are great because they allow everyone a chance to participate, while larger groups (ten-plus) allow for greater diversity.

One of the benefits of a reading group is that it allows you to discover new authors, topics and genres.

How to choose your books

You can choose your books a number of different ways:

  • By selecting titles a year at a time
  • If a different member hosts the meeting each month let that person select that title
  • Let everyone bring a selection of titles to a meeting and have a vote
  • Have everyone bring in one or two selections and draw them out of a hat
  • By asking the local library to draw up a list of recommended reading

How to set up the meeting

  • For the first meeting give the members 4 – 5 weeks to read the book
  • Pick a regular monthly date to make scheduling easier e.g. the first Wednesday of the month
  • Allow 2 to 3 hours for each meeting
  • Each meeting should have a leader, or there can be a leader who’s in charge every month. This leader will be in charge of keeping everyone organized, such as sending emails to remind everyone of when and where the next meeting takes place.
  • Make sure you have several discussion topics or questions beforehand. Look the title up online to see if a reading group guide exists and take a print out to the meeting to refer to. As you’re reading, it might be helpful to write down the page numbers of any passages that interest you.

How to conduct the meeting

  • Each discussion needs a leader.
  • The discussion leader’s role is to make sure discussion flows, not too much time is spent on any one topic, and that all members get a chance to speak.
  • The discussion leader can research interesting, lesser-known facts about the author and/or the book’s setting, time period, etc., and then share with the group. Most author biographies can be found on publishers’ web sites.

Author Evenings at Mosman Library

At our Author Evenings you can meet popular authors and hear them talk about their experiences in writing and what inspires them.