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. Membership of the BookBar BookClub includes:
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A paperback book chosen by our passionate team
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A virtual event with the author to watch live or on record for 30 days after the event
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10% off our Hardback of the Month in store and online
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90 days MUBI membership
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Exclusive discounts and promotions throughout the year
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A monthly in-person discussion group hosted by one of the BookBar team, to discuss the monthly paperback book with other members over a glass of wine or soft drink. Space will be limited to just 10 people each month at our North London bookshop and social space and will be available to BookBar BookClub subscribers only on a first come, first served basis.
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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 via email to the virtual event a few days before. Can't make the event? We'll send out a recording that you'll be able to watch back for 30 days after. Can't find the email? Just head to our BookClub Members Page and type in the password to access all the links you need.
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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
My Friends With Hisham Matar
Virtual Author Conversation (members and one-off tickets):
Tuesday 7th January, 7pm
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December's BookBar BookClub author is writer Hisham Matar, discussing his Booker Prize-longlisted novel My Friends.
Khaled and Mustafa meet at university in Edinburgh: two Libyan eighteen-year-olds expecting to return home after their studies. In a moment of recklessness and courage, they travel to London to join a demonstration in front of the Libyan embassy. When government officials open fire on protestors in broad daylight, both friends are wounded, and their lives forever changed.
Over the years that follow, Khaled, Mustafa and their friend Hosam, a writer, are bound together by their shared history. If friendship is a space to inhabit, theirs becomes small and inhospitable when a revolution in Libya forces them to choose between the lives they have created in London and the lives they left behind.
Read a paperback copy of My Friends and and join us for a virtual interview with the author, Hisham Matar, on Tuesday 7th Janaury 2024 at 7pm.
If you are a member of the BookBar BookClub you'll be able to sign up to join us for an in-person discussion group at our bookshop and social space - date to be announced. Members will be sent a link to sign up to the limited spaces.
Your ticket price includes a paperback 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.
Please note: 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.
Martyr! with Kaveh Akbah
Virtual Author Conversation (members and one-off tickets):
Monday 10th February 2025, 7pm
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January's BookBar BookClub author is Kaveh Akbar, discussing his New York Times bookseller Martyr!.
Cyrus Shams has always been lost. He’s grown up tangled in the mysteries of his past – an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter, and his mother, whose plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby. Now, newly sober and maybe in love, he’s headed for an encounter that will transform everything he thought he knew. Can a final revelation change the truth of Cyrus's life?
Read a paperback copy of Martyr! and and join us for a virtual interview with the author, Kaveh Akbar on Monday 10th February 2025.
If you are a member of the BookBar BookClub you'll be able to sign up to join us for an in-person discussion group at our bookshop and social space - date to be announced. Members will be sent a link to sign up to the limited spaces.
Your ticket price includes a paperback 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.
Please note: 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.
Greta & Valdin with Rebecca K. Reilly
Virtual Author Conversation (members and one-off tickets):
Tuesday 25th February 2025, 8pm*
*Please note later start time
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February's BookBar BookClub author is Rebecca K. Reilly, discussing their debut novel Greta and Valdin.
This is the story of Greta and Valdin: twenty-something brother and sister with a near-unpronounceable surname, a sprawling Maori-Russian-Catalonian family and questionable taste in partners. While Valdin can’t seem to get over his ex-boyfriend who fled the country, Greta has an unrequited crush on fellow English tutor Holly, who uses her for admin support. But all hope is not lost for these lovelorn siblings.
Through the misadventures and mess of modern adulthood, at least they still have each other — unless drama gets in the way. From bad dates to family feuds and embarrassing karaoke nights, this acclaimed bestseller from New Zealand is a fresh, heartwarming and hilarious story about the trials and tribulations of love in its many forms.
Read a paperback copy of Greta and Valdin and and join us for a virtual interview with the author, Rebecca K. Reilly on 25th February at 8pm. Please note the later time than usual.
If you are a member of the BookBar BookClub you'll be able to sign up to join us for an in-person discussion group at our bookshop and social space - date to be announced. Members will be sent a link to sign up to the limited spaces.
Your ticket price includes a paperback 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.
Please note: 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.
All That Glitters with Orlando Whitfield
Virtual Author Conversation (members and one-off tickets):
Monday 31st March 2025, 7pm
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March's BookBar BookClub author is Orlando Whitfield discussing their thrilling memoir All That Glitters.
When Orlando Whitfield first meets Inigo Philbrick, they are students dreaming of dealing art for a living. Their friendship lasts for fifteen years until one day, Inigo - by then the most successful dealer of his generation - suddenly disappears, accused of a fraud so gigantic and audacious it rocks the art world to its core. A sparklingly sharp memoir of greed, ambition and madness, All That Glitters will take you to the heart of the contemporary art world, a place wilder and wealthier than you could ever imagine.
Read a paperback copy of All That Glitters and and join us for a virtual interview with the author, Orlando Whitfield on Monday 31st March at 7pm.
If you are a member of the BookBar BookClub you'll be able to sign up to join us for an in-person discussion group at our bookshop and social space - date to be announced. Members will be sent a link to sign up to the limited spaces.
Your ticket price includes a paperback 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.
Please note: 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.