Books on Tap

I attended a meeting of my library’s book club called Books on Tap, which I attend often. They meet once a month at a local bar, brewery, or restaurant and discuss the books everyone is reading. There is no assigned reading, participants just come to discuss what they are each individually reading. The conversation often goes beyond reading into television and movies, but the focus is reading. I’ve gotten great book and TV recommendations every time I go. Snacks and drinks are not provided, but attendees are welcome to purchase items at the location.

There are two library staff members who lead the club. They opened with a question of the month and left it open for discussion. For February, the question of the month was do you read any genre or books for holidays or events (ex. Romance for Valentine’s Day or Black authors for Black History Month). Many members hadn’t thought about it, particularly one who said they are a mood reader, so they have a difficult time forcing anything. One member said that last year they participated in a challenge called #23for23 where you read 23 books by diverse authors in 2023. For Hispanic Heritage Month in 2023, they tried to read books by Latine authors.

After getting through the question of the month, the conversation easily flowed, and not necessarily by the club leads. Many participants were regulars who had gotten to know each other, which helped make the atmosphere more comfortable and inviting. 

The participants were eager to talk, and the conversation quickly continued from there. In my opinion, the relaxed environment and lack of pressure with assigned reading allowed a very open discussion. 

The leaders informed me that in most meetings, they get participation like this, but sometimes if it’s quiet, they will start by going around and asking everyone what they’re reading. They’ve found that this really helps get the conversation going and encourages everyone to share what they’re enjoying. 

Some attendees spoke more than others, but I could tell that as the evening went on, some of the more quiet participants felt more comfortable speaking up. For example, in February, there were two new participants, one of whom was very quiet at the beginning. They kept to themselves and were on their phone a lot at the beginning, but they slowly felt more comfortable, especially when asked about what he was currently reading. 

There is one regular attendee who tends to steal the spotlight, particularly when the topic of romance comes up. This attendee is writing a romance book and thinks of themselves as an expert on the genre. They sometimes put down the books others are reading, but they have gotten better the past couple of meetings I’ve attended. There are some attendees who are more comfortable at talking than others, but for the most part, no one seemed to be taking over the conversation, particularly in the February meeting.

When I attended in February, we had a private room at a wine bar in town. The staff leads of the group told me that the amount of people we had this month (7) was their average, but they’ve gotten up to 17 people before. It all depends on the month and location. They told me they try to get a variety of locations in town to make it more interesting and also make it more accessible for those who can’t get to some locations.

Since there is no assigned reading, the club gets a real variety of books discussed. While I was there, I heard people talking about sci-fi, fantasy, YA, romance, general fiction, mystery, graphic novels, nonfiction, and more. It was clear that each person had a genre they mostly read and were happy to share their recent reads. Since I personally have mainly been reading romance for the past couple of years, I find that attending this club helps me in my position at the library. I get great recommendations in all genres. In fact, my sci-fi annotation book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built was a recommendation from a participant of this book club.