Book Clubs

The Guide

Can anyone join?

If you love books and talking about them with fellow bookworms, you’re in!

Do I need to pay anything?

There is no registration fee, the only requirements are a name, email address and contact number for our records.

How do you choose titles?

As we get closer to the 2021 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature we focus on books by festival authors.

This means that by the time the Festival arrives, when authors discuss their work in various events or ‘sessions’, you can really engage with the conversation and get a feel for what else in their backlist you’d like to add to your reading pile.

When not discussing Festival authors, we welcome suggestions from book club members, combined with suggestions of our own at the literature foundation, and put a shortlist of books to a group vote.

What day/time do you meet?

Weekday/Weekend evening in the last week of every month. 7-8pm. We’ve tried a variety of different timings for book club, and have found evenings work best for the majority of our group.

What is the format of discussions?

We discuss the book of the month for about an hour, looking at plot, character and language (it’s always useful to bring a few thoughts or a short passage that you’d like to read out and discuss) and at the end of the chat we have a quick recommendation round where we each recommend a book that isn’t on the book club list, because we can never have enough books.

Do you focus on one particular genre?

Nope. We cover literary fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction, works in translation, sci/fi fantasy and short story collections. This means there’s a discussion accessible to everyone at some point and it encourages regular members to break out of their comfort zones every once in a while.

Do I need to read the book before I attend?

It’s important to read the book before the discussion but we all have busy lives and sometimes they get in the way. If you haven’t finished the book but still want to join in that’s fine, but remember that Book Club is FULL OF SPOILERS, and we will ruin the ending for you. (You have been warned).

Where do I get the books?

We’re passionate about supporting authors, booksellers and publishers alongside readers. We are delighted to offer a 15% discount via our Festival Bookseller Magrudy’s exclusively for book club members.

Do you still meet during the Summer months?

We do; however, we branch out for the Summer into some different titles before we move onto the new Festival Book Club year which starts in September.

Festival Book Club (Arabic)

More information coming soon!

Language: Arabic; Age Group: 18+

Litfest Children’s Book Club (9-11 years)

Next Meeting: Saturday, Oct. 31st, 10:00am-11:00am

This month’s book is Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

The Children’s Book Club is aimed at children between 9-11 years of age to meet monthly during term time to discuss books including those by authors who will attend the 2021 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. The meetings will be held virtually on Zoom.

Register for the new season of the LitFest Children’s Book Clubs via the form below. All participants interested in attending from September 2020 must sign up using the form.

Due to space constraints, please ensure that you have confirmed attendance before the meeting.

Please encourage your children to read the book in advance, so that they can join in the conversation.

Language: English; Age Group: 9-11 years

Register Below

LitFest Young Adults’ Book Club (12+ years)

Next Meeting: Saturday, Oct. 31st, 11:00am- 12:00pm noon

This month’s book is The Girl of Ink and Stars by Karen Millwood Hargrave

The Young Adults’ Book Club is aimed at students over the age of 12. The book club will meet monthly during term time to discuss books including those authors who will attend the 2021 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. The meetings will be held virtually on Zoom.

Register for the new season of the LitFest Young Adults’ Book Club via the form below. All participants interested in attending from September 2020 must sign up using the form.

Due to space constraints, please ensure that you have confirmed attendance before the meeting.

Please encourage your children to read the book in advance, so that they can join in the conversation.

Language: English; Age Group: 12+ years

Register Below

Readers’ Majlis (English)

Next Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 10:00am-12:00pm

Emirates Literature Foundation is delighted to invite all book lovers to the monthly Readers’ Majlis. Every month we discuss books on a specific theme decided on by the members. It is the perfect opportunity for you to share your experiences and passion for literature with other like-minded enthusiasts.

Each group member will choose their own book or books to read and discuss at the Majlis. Discover new books of different genres and from a number of cultures at this unique reading group.

During this next meeting, we’ll be discussing the theme of Time.

Venue: All further meetings will be held on Zoom! Register and you’ll receive a zoom link on the day of the meeting.

Language: English; Age Group: 18+

Reading inspiration for book clubs

Looking for inspiration and reading lists for your book club?

Every book club is as unique as its members, but there are reading lists for all interests. Try looking at Goodreads or BookBub’s reading lists, or browse through our previous Festival programmes for inspiration.

Magrudy’s fresh new reads are also full of inspiration, with a range of the very latest fiction, non-fiction, children’s, YA and much more.