Buddy Reading with your Squad

One of the most used claims I’ve heard in the online book community is the creators/readers joined the community because they didn’t have any “in real life” friends to read with. That’s common, and used to be my situation until I got my best friend to read my favorite series. Now most of our squad has read the series, loved it, and we as a squad now read more avidly!

Reasons Why You Should Buddy Read with your Squad
1. It gives you and your friends something to talk about! The topics of the book will start conversations, and ultimately deepen your relationships. You grow more together.
2. It’ll give you all something to be excited about whenever you see fan art, merchandise, comments, discussions, and possible sequels being announced and released! It’s fun to be excited with your friends!
3. Books are being released all the time, you will never run out of material to read and talk about! Every Tuesday multiple titles are being released into the world. Not to mention back logged books, and eARCs that are available on NetGalley and Edelweiss.
4. You have total freedom to do whatever you and your squad wants. It can be purely just recommending a book you all read on your own time, or an in person book club, or an online book club with a time restriction. You can make it as big of a deal you want, or as casual as you want.

How to Choose What Book to Read
1. Ask your friends what kind of books would interest them. Romance? Fantasy? Friendship focused? Biographies? Certain tropes? See what interests everyone!
2. Research books together, and make a list to keep track! Use Goodreads, read book blogs, and watch Booktubers! There are a lot of resources to find what you’re looking for.
3. Choose a book one of you has read, and have them lead the read along with the ones who haven’t read it before. It’s super fun! I was the only one who read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas until I got my best friend to read it. It was fun to hear her theories and reactions. Then it became a tradition in our group to introduce the series to the next person, and experience their first read through together. So far we have done this five times, and will be doing it for a sixth time soon with my sister-in-law! Yay!

Resources for Starting a Squad Book Club
1. Goodreads – Book clubs vary from small and private, to having thousands of readers involved. It’s also convenient for active Goodreads users to have their book club connected to their profile.
2. Discord – I love using Discord to connect with my friends across the country. There are different text channels, roles, and voice channels that can be used to organize and host book clubs. Discord isn’t just for gamers, it’s for everyone. It all depends on how you use it!
3. Youtube – This is more one sided in my opinion, but it’s still an option. Maybe more fit for people who aren’t interested in being involved in discussions, but still wanting to know what the host thinks.
4. Facebook – Not everyone has a profile anymore, but Facebook is my personal favorite platform to host events. Facebook groups make it super easy to not only host online events, but also organize stuff to happen in person. You are able to stream live, start discussions, post announcements, have “rooms” which are group video chats, dedicate things to topics and more. Facebook groups and Messenger are great resources for getting together and talking about books.
5. Twitter – When it comes to a platform like Twitter, it is paced at a much faster rate. Twitter is where reading sprints are more likely to happen, and book discussions where anyone can pop in and give their opinion (assuming you have your profile on public). Twitter is more like an online bar, it’s great for meeting people and reading threads if you’re searching for conversation topics, but not my first choice for a book club. But if you’re looking for a platform to join or host a read-a-thon, I definitely recommend Twitter.
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6. There is also the option to join a book club that has already been established, but do it together! For distant or online friends, you can join an online book club! These can be found on platforms I have mentioned above. For local friends, you can look for a book club you can join at your local libraries, and independent book stores! Then maybe after being a part of pre-established book club for awhile, and if it’s something you really enjoy… you can then start your own!

Well, there you go! You now have the means and resources to start a fun and fulfilling book club with your friends! Thank you for reading! I post something new every Wednesday!