As fall begins to set in, it’s the perfect time of year to curl up for hours with a soothing book. To all the literature lovers out there searching for new book recommendations and reading companions, you’re in luck. Houston has a vibrant literary community teeming with book clubs, free of charge.
Brazos Bookstore
Brazos Bookstore, Houston’s longest-standing indie bookseller, offers several monthly book clubs which are hosted at their store on Bissonnet Street. While the principal “Brazos Book Club” centers on contemporary fiction, there are also a variety of book club options for readers with more specific cravings. “The Living Read” promises a ‘ghastly good time’ with its horror picks, and “Love Letters” delivers to those desperately in need of a dopamine hit with fresh romance reads. Additionally, “Voices of Asia” highlights Asian fiction writers, including both established voices, such as Alexander Chee, and newer novelists, such as Parini Shroff.
Blue Willow Bookshop
Blue Willow Bookshop is another cozy indie bookstore in Houston which organizes multiple in-person book clubs. “Coffee Cake” and “Tough Broads Out at Night” are both fiction-focused book clubs. As their titles imply, “Coffee Cake” meets in the mornings, while “Tough Broads Out at Night” meets in the evenings. For those who prefer a lower time commitment, their “Romance Book Club” meets only every three months. And for anyone who can’t decide between reading and crocheting as their main hobby, Blue Willow has you covered. They host a non-traditional book club called “A Good Yarn,” where members gather in the shop quarterly to work on yarn projects and listen to audiobooks.
Kindred Stories
When it comes to book clubs, no other place in Houston offers as much literary richness as Kindred Stories, a Black-owned bookstore in the Third Ward with an extensive rotating set of clubs. Meetings take place in-store and are staggered so that there are at least two different book clubs, delineated by genre, meeting each month. The genres include fiction (both YA and adult), non-fiction, sci-fi/fantasy and romance. What better way to spend your evenings than relaxing in Kindred Stories’ Reading Garden with other literature aficionados?
Inprint
Inprint, a literary arts organization which provides workshops and readings to enrich Houston’s creative writing community, hosts a monthly book club via Zoom. The Inprint Book Club features works from writers who have given author talks as part of the Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, an acclaimed literary showcase, so you can expect to read groundbreaking books from a variety of genres, including poetry, fiction and memoir. The club’s upcoming October pick is Bluff by Danez Smith, an Afropessimist poetry collection in which Smith grapples with questions of their social responsibility as a writer.
Houston Public Library
The Houston Public Library hosts an abundance of monthly book clubs for readers of all genres and ages. The book clubs are divided by regional branch, so you can pick which individual location and meeting time works best for you. If you’re looking to expand your range of reading without genre constraints, you can join the branch-based Kendall, Melcher or Collier Book Clubs. Or, as we near October, you might decide to lean into the spooky vibes and try the Mystery Book Club. There’s countless other options at the library, including the Heights Historical Fiction Book Club and Relax and Read events where you can enjoy music, refreshments and the company of other readers as you peruse your current favorites.
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