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Best Online Book Clubs: 15 Online Clubs to Join in 2020

Emily Martin

Contributing Editor

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.

So you want to join a book club but don’t have time to commit to real-life meetings. Or maybe you just prefer to discuss books in the comfort of your own home? Here are the 15 best online book clubs to join right now. Have fun!

The 15 Best Online Book Clubs to Join in 2020

Book Riot Insiders Epic Quarterly Read

Book Riot’s very own Epic Quarterly Read for Insiders is one of the best online book clubs starting up in 2020. Here’s how it works. Every quarter, Book Riot Insiders will vote for a book that will satisfy a Book Riot Read Harder 2020 task. Then everyone will read along together, with page goals, discussion questions, and food for thought provided by that quarter’s discussion leader from the Book Riot staff. Finally, on the second Saturday of the last month of the quarter, there will be a video chat about the book.

Epic Quarterly Read is just now starting this quarter, so now is the perfect time to join!

FabFitFun’s Book Club

Here’s another brand new book club to get excited about. If you’re already a member of the FabFitFun community, it’s easy enough to join. FabFitFun is a quarterly subscription box that offers up a lot of really amazing goodies, and now you can get the book club pick of the quarter added on to your box, if you’d like. Then just head over to the book club page to join in on the discussion. The club will include discussion forums, check-ins throughout your reading, and a chat with the author herself.

Andrew Luck Book Club

Love football and reading and want a book club that merges your two interests? Look no further than the Andrew Luck Book Club. Andrew Luck is a quarterback in the NFL, and he also loves reading. So much so that he’s created this club. There are two book club options here. The Rookie Book is a children’s book, and the Veteran Book is, you guessed it, an adult book. And even if you don’t know who Andrew Luck is or don’t care about football, this club is still for you. The books are not football-related.

Here’s how it works. Every month, Andrew Luck will recommend two books (an adult book and a children’s book). During the football season, Luck says he may even have “surprise” hosts help with the book selections. Share your thoughts about the book with the hashtag #ALBookClub, and listen to the podcast to hear Luck’s thoughts about the book, interviews with the authors, and much more.

Poppy Loves Book Club

The great thing about this online book club is you have the option to take it IRL as well. Poppy Loves Book Club offers the opportunity to join or create a local book club or just participate online. This is a book club specifically for women featuring women authors.

Their mission statement is as follows: “Poppy Loves Book Club is a celebration of women that is getting bigger and better every day…It’s your gang. It’s your sisterhood. And it’s heart-pingingly wonderful.” Sound good? Check them out!

Our Shared Shelf

Our Shared Shelf was originally created by actress Emma Watson as part of her work with UN Women. The mission was to read as many books about feminism and equality as possible. Now Emma Watson’s team no longer manages the Goodreads group. However, the group remains open so that members can continue to run the book club on their own. Continued discussion of books and feminism in general are still happening in the Goodreads group now. So it’s still a happening book community that is very much worth checking out!

The Rumpus Book Club

The Rumpus Book Club is a book club and subscription service all rolled into one, which I think is pretty neat. Here’s how it works. Each month you pay $29 and in exchange you receive a brand new book that hasn’t been released yet. The book club discusses the book throughout the month as you read it. Then, at the end of the month, there’s an exclusive moderated online discussion with the author of the book.

The Rumpus also has a Poetry Book Club that works similarly. The best part? You can sign up for both book clubs for a discounted price of $50/month.

The History Book Club

This book club is exactly what it sounds like. And if you’re looking for a community of history lovers who also love to read, then this is the best online book club for you. There are so many discussions going on, including monthly books to read and chats about history in general. Join up to become part of one of the biggest Goodreads communities.

New Adult Book Club

Speaking of great big Goodreads communities, here’s another one worth joining. This online book club focuses on New Adult books. If you’re new to the New Adult genre, think Young Adult but with more mature themes. The community features monthly group reads, challenges, opportunities to chat with authors, and much more.

Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club

Here’s another great Goodreads community, and this one lists itself as the official unofficial Goodreads Choice Awards book club. Over the course of the year, this book club reads Goodreads Choice Awards winners throughout multiple categories. So if you’re looking to read a good variety of highly rated books and discuss them with others, here’s the book club for you.

Girls’ Night In Book Club

Girls’ Night In is a project that’s all about promoting mental health awareness and self-care practices for women. The book club is one of the many things they do, and while they do have in-person meet-ups throughout the country, you can also participate online using the hashtag #GNIReads. This book club focuses on picking books written by women and nonbinary authors.

Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club

This is another book club that requires a monthly subscription, but it comes with a lot of exclusive content. Sign up to get access to exclusive author interviews, community discussions, and even classes. The classes cover a wide range of reader-related topics like how to write better book reviews, journaling techniques, how to ask for Advanced Reader Copies of books, and much more. If you’re looking to enrich all aspects of your reading life, the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club wants to help you do that.

The Reddit Book Club

With over 80,000 members, the Reddit Book Club is the place to be if you want a large and active community. Every month, members vote for their next read and then discuss the book via discussion threads. Threads remain open so you can go back and chat about previous book picks as well.

The Perks of Being a Book Addict

This is another Goodreads community that offers up two monthly reads every month. One book is based on a theme as voted on by members. The community also includes reading challenges, promo threads for authors, giveaways, and blogs.

Reblog Book Club

Love Tumblr? Then why not make it your hub for your online book club community? Each month, this Tumblr book club announces its book and its reading schedule. To become part of the discussion, just post on your own Tumblr blog using the hashtag #ReblogBookClub. The Reblog Book Club will then reblog it into the main conversation. And because Tumblr is all about multi-genre blog posts, feel free to discuss the book however you want. Some suggestions: a written review, fan art, gifs, poems, letters. Reblog Book Club even encourages you to post your nail art.

The Procrastinators Book Club

One last Goodreads book club to round out the list! This one is all about finally getting around to that book or series you’ve always wanted to read but haven’t gotten around to reading just yet. Join your fellow reading procrastinators here for group reads, games, challenges, and more.


For more book club recommendations, check out this list of 5 Goodreads Book Clubs. Happy book clubbing!