Best Book Clubs In Sacramento
Fans of "Game of Thrones" or "Downton Abbey" know that part of the fun of their favorite show is talking about it afterwards with other people. Many readers feel the same desire to share and dish about the books they read. Sacramento boasts a variety of book clubs that allow readers to talk about the prose they chose while socializing and meeting new people.
Book Club At The Avid Reader
1600 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95818
www.meetup.com
One Wednesday a month, the staff at The Avid Reader rolls the wheeled bookshelves back into the corners, making room for the book club to gather. Although only a portion of them attend any given meeting. The long-running group has more than 100 members. A wide selection of fiction, nonfiction and classic fiction works are highlighted, with books from each genre represented four times per year. Fiction such as "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri and Willa Cather's "My Antonia" have been enjoyed during recent months, and nonfiction about current and past events have sparked lively discussions as well.
The Midtown Booze and Book Club
Sacramento, CA
www.meetup.com
Midtown Booze is the ultimate example of a social club for literature lovers. The group, which meets monthly in various drinking and dining establishments, has a diverse membership and eclectic mix of books to be read. Monthly selections are not necessarily best sellers or one of Oprah's picks, but are smart, sometimes quirky and always interesting to read. One of the area's largest book clubs, the list of periodic attendees is almost 650 people.
The Slow Food Sacramento Book Club
Sacramento, CA
www.slowfoodsacramento.com
This topic-specific book club features members who are into food, gardening and a perhaps more earth-friendly view of the future. The bimonthly get-togethers take place at various locations and the members, appropriately enough, bring appetizers to share. Food-related fiction such as Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" have been on the reading list, and members enjoy supporting local authors when possible. Nonfiction choices reflect local pride at Sacramento's recent status as America's Farm To Fork Capital. Popular times have included "The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year" and Carlo Petrini's "Slow Food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures of Food".
80's Babies Book Club
Sacramento, CA
www.meetup.com
The most common denominator of this group is related to numbers rather than words; members were all born during the 1980s. As much a social club as anything else, members like to get together for non-book-related fun at other times. The fun, fiction-focused group meets at different places depending on the weather, often outdoors by the rose garden at Capitol Park or indoors at Panera or Crepeville in midtown Sacramento.
Sacramento Woman's Book Club
Time Tested Books
1114 21st St.
Sacramento, CA 95811
www.meetup.com
This relaxed, friendly book club was started in 2006 and meets on the third Wednesday of each month at the venerable Time Tested Books on 21st Street. Members bring food to nosh on while they chat about that month's choice of books. Many genres are represented; recent selections include Paula McLain's novel about the turbulent romance between Ernest Hemingway and Hadley Richardson and nonfiction about how one woman's human cells were used to develop the polio vaccine and in vitro fertilization and to study the effects of the atomic bomb.
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Valerie Heimerich is a freelance writer out of Sacramento. She typically covers animals and community issues. She has volunteered and worked for many organizations helping animals and people.
Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
