Books
There are those who read, and those who love to chat about what they read. For the latter demographic, it can be tough when it feels like you're the only one in your friend group who loves to talk books. But hark, and listen: Here we are, in the new golden age of radio, and there are plenty of podcasts for book club lovers. You may find yourself conversing, out loud, with your podcasting app, but, like, whatever. Arguably better than talking books with your cat.
Depending on where you grew up, you're (very) familiar with the stereotypes surrounding book clubs. Women of a similar age, drinking wine, eating snacks, and chatting (sometimes quite loudly) about their lives - with the book of the month often weaving in and out of the conversation. And perhaps surprisingly, there's a long history, radical history of book clubs in the United States. Over the 20th century, all-female book clubs became places where women could talk openly with one another about books, sure, but about the social trends and ills and atmospheres of the time. They were opportunities for women to be unabashed about self-development, about continuing their education and working out their intellectual identities.
And though American book clubs have been a documented phenomenon since the 1800s, a 2014 study found that among women in the United States who read at least one book a month, 56 percent belonged to a book club. Yep, it's a trend that's still going strong.
The majority of the polled women belonged to a small, in-person book club, while 18 percent belonged to much larger, online books clubs. And now, we have the audio book club, a more commute-friendly, on-demand community that's overflowing with folks itching to talk all things literary.
'Reading Women'
This bi-weekly podcast, now on its 49th episode, is hosted by Kendra Winchester and Autumn Privett, two avid readers on a mission to illuminate the big, wide world of women writers. Each episode is a highly listen-able mix of book news chats, author bios, and books they've read. This one is perfect for those who like a dash of historical context in their bookclub discussions.
'Literary Disco'
Three long-distance friends — Julia Pistell, Tod Goldberg and Rider Strong (whose name you might recognize from a little television show called Boy Meets World) — get on the phone and chat about everything they've read. And they don't just limit their discussions to novel; they chat about essays, articles, children's books, nonfiction books. Literary Disco is ideal for those of you who like to spice up the classic, "One Novel A Month" book club premise.
'Banging Book Club'
With a running Google Doc reading list and a 3,700+ strong Goodreads book club, the women of Banging Book Club — Hannah Witton, Lucy Moon and Leena Norms — make it really, really easy (and so, so tempting) to follow along with them as they wade into the sex and gender section. For those who like their bookclubs bawdy as hell.
'3BookGirls'
3bookgirls is three friends, once a week, talkin' all about the books they've been reading and getting snarky (and sometimes a li'l wine-tipsy) in the process. "The Most Inappropriate Book Club You Never Knew You Were Missing" is ideal for those of you who want that classic, giggly, intimate bookclub.
'Backlisted'
John Mitchinson and Andy Miller dig up and dive deep into under-appreciated books in Backlisted. Each episode features a guest (or several) who have selected a book they feel should be more widely read — and the panel talks about why the book is great, why it isn't everywhere, and everything in between. Do you like your bookclubs to build out your "To Read" list? Then check this one out.
'All The Books!'
If you want really enthusiastic book recommendations from literary super-site BookRiot, try All the Books! It's all about new books hitting shelves in the upcoming week, complete with in-depth summaries and discussions. Love being the first person to read a book? This is your jam.
'Overdue'
Overdue is "a podcast about the books you've been meaning to read." If your personal "TBR" list is long and daunting, this audio book club hosted by Andrew Cunningham and Craig Getting is the perfect antidote to working through those books you should've read by now, but just, like, haven't! okay?!
'Book Fight'
There are those of us who like our literary discussions with a heavy dose of vim and vigor. And by that I mean, we love to argue with our friends. It's out of love, duh, and it's a vibe that Book Fight hosts Mike Ingram and Tom McAllister cultivate perfectly each week.
