The Wimbledon Book Club is a book discussion group that meets twice monthly on the second and fourth Mondays of every month in Wimbledon, South West London, England and was founded in 2008.
We're open to anyone and everyone who'd like to read and discuss our monthly book choice over a drink and hopefully make new friends in the local area.
Unlike many other Book clubs we are genuinely open to all. We don't silently exclude people on the basis of race, colour, creed, nor sex, sexual orientation, class or political persuasion, either explicitly or implicitly via our book choices. If you're looking for a book club that is as open to all as possible then we're the book club for you.
What we do read
We usually read contemporary fiction paperbacks and being an adventurous bunch we will often read things outside of our comfort zone. We aim to read as wide a range of books as possible, that will appeal to as wide a range of people as possible. This may include Historic Fiction, Romantic Fiction, Science Fiction, Family Sagas, Classic Fiction, Graphic Novels, current affairs, Classics, topical non-fiction, or anything else that helps us become 'Well Read'.
What we don't read
In general we will not be reading books series, Chick-lit, Body-Mind-Spirit works or the very latest bestseller that are promoted by endless TV shows, there are enough book clubs catering specifically for these books already. As a rule of thumb most of our book choices are under 400 pages and something that a commuter will easily be able to finish within one month. Once or twice a year we may have a longer book (650+ pages) but they will almost always be proceeded with a few months of shorter books, plus we'll always give people months and months and months notice of the longer book. Also impenetrable literary works, with a reputation for being unfinishable such as James Joyce's Ulysses will probably not be chosen either. There's no point picking books that are so challenging that they stop being fun. We once tried to read 'The Name of the Rose' and people are still in therapy over that one... 😭 We once read Wuthering Heights and 30/32 people, who came along to discuss it, hated it! The only two people that did like it were English teachers! 😆
How our book choices are made
Our reading list is made by The Chief Bookworm © in order to ensure it appeals to as wide a range of people as possible, men and women alike. This means we are as likely to read Science Fiction as Crime Fiction as Romantic Fiction as anything else. Bookworms (Members by any other name) are encouraged to put their book suggestion in the suggest a book form which is provided for just that purpose. The Chief Bookworm © does occasionally look at these for suggestions.
People want to come to a Book Club to enjoy themselves, chat about their shared book experience, have fun and avoid the politics and favouritism that plague many other Book Clubs when book choices are made. I'm sure we have all experienced examples of a small cliques voting for each others choices, we don't have that.
It's very common for Book Clubs to exclude particular demographics via the books they read, we aim to pick books that will appeal to as broad a demographic of people as possible.
Membership Costs
Thanks to the amazing support of our sponsors we can keep our membership fees as low as possible and at the time of writing its £25 per year. We may advertise our book discussion events on other platforms but members who have joined and booked a place on this website will always take priority. Everything you want to know about Dues can be found >>here<<.
Group size
So that meetings do not get too crowded a maximum limit of sixteen (16) people per meeting has been set. This is large enough to generate a diverse range of views but not so large as to inhibit shyer members from speaking up. Members are expected to book a place before attending to allow us to control the number attending each meeting and provide the best experience for as many as possible. Those simply turning up without booked a place will be asked to return with a booking.
Waiting List
As we limit the size of meetings to ensure they are small enough to be friendly, places often get filled quickly. After that you can add yourself to a Waiting List, which will email everyone on it should a place become available. After that its first come first served on who gets the place. That obviously gives an advantage to those who have an SmartPhone or use their email all day but no system would be perfect. Good luck with it though.
Two Strikes
Due to places at the book club being limited to 16 per meeting, members who twice change their status to NO within two days of a meeting or who simply don't turn up will forfeit their places at future meetings and for a while they'll have to book a place on the day of a meeting. When people cancel at the last minute it means that someone else misses out on taking that place, which is poor form.
Cherrypickers
Our priority is to run the book club for regular members to get to know each other, make friends and have a good time. To this end members, or so called 'CherryPickers', who only seem able to book places to really famous or popular books may loose their place at these meetings if regular members look to be loosing out. In this case 'loose their place' would mean their booking being change to No. For the same reason as the two-strikes rule, The Chief Bookworm © is not in a position to judge whether members/CherryPickers have a real reason for only attending famous/popular books. This is not a judgement on these members/CherryPickers, their reading habits or their ability to attend. Its very human to want the best of things but if you want to in this club you'll need to join in.
Name tags and Profile Pictures
We would ask people to upload an image of themselves to their profile before attending. This is mainly because we would like the book club to be a friendly place where people recognise and get to know each other. Without photos it has taken some members months to recognise other regular members by name. A photo will help us all put names to faces 
.
Contact us
If you would like to contact the organiser of the Wimbledon Bookclub for whatever reason please feel free to do so here.
** Spam
Unsolicited Commercial, Public Relations, Advertising or "I thought you might be interested" emails will automatically be blacklisted and forwarded onto Spamhaus and recorded as spam. You have been warned. We will also never provide our members email address to a commercial company or email our members on anyone else's behalf, so please don't ask! Its embarrassing.
