bookbar bookclub
BookBar is all about bringing people together through books. We know that half the fun of reading the book is discussing it with fellow readers afterwards, preferably with a glass of wine or cup of coffee.
BookBar's book club is created especially for that purpose. So we launched our virtual book club, which promises all the fun of the real thing, and some additional surprises.
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How does it work?
Sign up, receive your book in advance of the book club with plenty of time to read it, send in the questions and discussion points you'd like us to talk about, and come along to a virtual interview live with the author, in which we'll discuss the book. You'll be able to chat with out BookClub members on our live chat board, and ask questions to the author throughout the discussion.
You'll receive a link to the virtual event a few days before. Can't make the event? We'll send out a recoridng that you'll be able to watch back for a month after.
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Authors that have joined us for the BookBar BookClub so far have included Ann Patchett, Douglas Stuart, Brit Bennett, Elif Shafak, Maggie O'Farrell, Claire Keegan, Natasha Brown, Meg Mason, Miranda Cowley Heller, Torrey Peters, Raven Leilani, Min Jin Lee, Ingrid Persaud, Sunjeev Sahota, Curtis Sittenfeld, Clare Chambers, Fiona Mozley, Sophie Heyward, Emily Ratajkowski and Bryan Washington.
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Your ticket price includes a copy of the book, as well as attendance at the virtual event. Buy a ticket to a single event for £18 or subscribe to the book club for £15 a month.
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As we pick the freshest paperbacks, the books get sent out at the same time each month to all subscribers, regardless of when the ticket was purchased, so the 3-5 day shipping window does not apply for BookClub purchases as in most cases the books have not yet been published when the programme is launched. If you sign up after we've sent the books out, you'll receive them as soon as possible.
Scroll down for this season's line up. Got questions? Visit our FAQs here.
upcoming bookclubs
25th September 2023, 7pm
The Whalebone Theatre with Joanna Quinn
We can't wait to welcome Joanna Quinn to discuss her stunning debut novel The Whalebone Theatre.
The Whalebone Theatre will wrap you up in warmth, humour and tenderness from beginning to end. From the fading glamour of a splendid country house to the war torn streets of Paris; an eccentric cast of characters, to a majestic theatre made from whalebones that looms as large as the country estate setting and the imminent war in Europe, The Whalebone Theatre's simultaneous scope and intimacy is dazzling. It's entirely charming, supremely engrossing, brilliantly funny and achingly moving. Fans of Elizabeth Jane Howards' Cazalets will love the classic storytelling of a richly painted family saga that pulsates with love, kindness and hope.
Join the BookClub to receive a copy of the book, then join us on Monday 25th September at 7pm for a virtual event with Joanna Quinn.
Your ticket price includes a copy of the book, as well as attendance at the virtual event. Buy a ticket to a single event for £18 or subscribe to the book club for £15 a month.
Join us at our virtual event to hear from Joanna Quinn on Monday 25th September at 7pm. The event will be recorded and you will be able to access the event for one month afterwards.
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Please ensure you subscribe to BookBar's mailing list on checkout in order to receive the link to the virtual event. Subscribing to the mailing list will also mean you receive occasional information such as events announcements and book recommendations.
17th October 2023, 7pm
Stay True with Hua Hsu
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Memoir, Hua Hsu's Stay True has been called 'one of the best nonfiction books about friendship ever' by The Atlantic, and 'a glorious, unforgettable book' by Patrick Radden Keefe.
When Hua Hsu first meets Ken in a Berkeley dorm room, he hates him. A frat boy with terrible taste in music, Ken seems exactly like everyone else. For Hua, who makes zines and haunts indie record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to - the mainstream.
The only thing Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the US for generations, have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn't seem to have a place for either of them. But despite his first impressions, Hua and Ken become friends, a friendship built on late-night conversations over cigarettes, long drives along the California coast, and the successes and humiliations of everyday college life. And then violently, senselessly, Ken is gone, killed in a carjacking, not even three years after the day they first meet.
Capturing a coming-of-age cut short, and a portrait of a beautiful friendship, Stay True is a deeply moving and intimate memoir about growing up and moving through the world in search of meaning and belonging.
Join the BookClub to receive a copy of the book, then join us on Tuesday 17th October at 7pm for a virtual event with Hua Hsu. The event will be recorded and you will be able to access the event for one month afterwards.
Your ticket price includes a copy of the book, as well as attendance at the virtual event. Buy a ticket to a single event for £18 or subscribe to the book club for £15 a month.
NB: We send out copies of the book at the same time each month, so our usually delivery time frame does not apply to the BookClub. You will receive an email when your copy has been dispatched or is ready for collection. Please visit our BookClub FAQs page for more details.