Chronicle.lu recently reached out to several Luxembourg-based book club organisers to learn about their different groups; this week’s focus will be on “The Page Turners” and the “Goosey Book Club”.
The Page Turners is an English-language book club running one Sunday afternoon a month in a Luxembourg-based café (venue announced ahead of time). The club currently counts about 20 members and is “always looking to accept more”. There is a Facebook page for those interested, but the organiser sends separate text messages to those who are not on Facebook.
Susan Thomas, the organiser, decided to allow participants to present any two to three books they like, fiction or non-fiction, during the meeting. By not imposing a book, she explained that she aims to “encourage diversity and inclusion” and added “variety is the spice of life! The purpose is to build a community of thinkers, readers and observers”. She aims to foster “healthy debate” about each book and what it means to individuals. She stressed the importance of being “kind and respectful to one another’s opinion” and of skipping the meeting if feeling ill.
For its part, the Goosey Book Club was founded six years ago on Facebook and now counts over 1,000 international members. The latter are from Luxembourg, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The group is largely online-based but participants occasionally meet up in small groups. They have a “What's Everyone Reading” exchange every Friday. The club also has regular children’s books updates on Wednesdays. In addition, people regularly post books they like. While participants read all genres, their focus is mainly on fiction. Further details are available on the Facebook page.
