Book Club Day UK: be a reading rebel, join a book club.
What is Book Club Day UK?
Book Club Day UK (11 September 2026) is a day that celebrates the joy, connection and impact of shared reading, while supporting more people to start or join book clubs in their communities.
For 2026, we are inviting people to be a reading rebel and join a book club, make their book clubs more visible or invite someone new to join their club in September.
The messages are get your books out, find your people and build stronger communities. The day is a chance to bring people together to enjoy the power of reading and book talk, us our Book Club Hub to apply for book club sets to read and review, discover resources and welcome new readers into their circle.
Meet the club
Tell us a bit about your club
We are Bookabout!
Staff at Totton Library, as part of Hampshire County Council’s library service, wanted to start a new book group as we had several enquiries from our patrons about meetings or events that was specifically for talking about books.
Bookabout is a friendly and inviting group that is open to people of all backgrounds, and is free to attend. Our average attendance is around 10-12 a month. We have welcomed members from all walks of life to come and talk about one common passion: Their love for reading!
This is a more informal take on a book club; rather than everyone reading the same book, members are encouraged to read whatever they want and to come back to discuss it with the group, sparking conversation, giving recommendations and encouraging others to read books they may not have thought about trying before. Members can read or listen to physical books from the library, or download them for free through BorrowBox.
This has been running successfully for over 3 years with the same format being rolled out to other libraries in Hampshire because of the success of the Totton group. Due to the popularity of this group, we have created a couple of other groups at Totton Library.
*Young Adults Bookabout which is run fortnightly on a Saturday for 16-21 year olds. This is new and still building but we do have young people turning up for it!
*Poetry Club – A similar style to Bookabout but all about poetry instead. Often bringing poems along, choosing poets to look at and reading verses between each other and analysing the meaning.
What’s the story behind your club’s name?
We already had a group running at the library called Chatabout aimed at building community connections. Bookabout fitted well with this especially as it was a reading group all about the different books members had been reading that month.
Where and how often do you meet?
We meet up once a month at Totton Library for an hour. (However, this often runs over on
time – the discussions are just too interesting!).
Our experience
What do your members enjoy most about being in a book club?
Our members enjoy that there is no set book to be read by all members. The enjoyment is from reading what they want to keep it fun. Members have also cited the social aspect as a fun part of Bookabout, as it helps to reduce social isolation. They also get to share what they’ve been enjoying and give honest opinions about what they may not have enjoyed so much.
Everyone is unique in their reading and have helped other members discover new genres and books, meaning they are encouraged to branch outside their usual reading habits and often find new things they like that they never would have tried before.
What book discussions have stood out?
Everyone actively listens to a review that is given, asking questions for greater understanding. Discussions vary often and many members have found new authors they enjoy.
Has your group ever done anything outside of reading together?
The members often meet outside the group socially for coffees and lunches.
Does your group use social media, a blog, or a newsletter? If so, how has it helped your club?
A library staff member collects all the book recommendations during the month and brings them out for the group. The library does also have Facebook and Instagram which regularly features posts about Bookabout to help draw in new members by highlighting how much our members enjoy Bookabout.
Our book club recommendations
What books would your club recommend to others?
As we all read different books, there is often an eclectic set of novels and not necessarily a consensus, however there are a lot of authors that we gravitate towards.
Are there any authors or genres your group keeps returning to?
We often enjoy books by Anthony Horowitz, Rose Tremain, Claire Fuller, Kristen Hannah and Lucinda Riley. Genres we tend to enjoy varies greatly. We enjoy crime, historical, non-fiction, science fiction and biographies.
Tips & advice
What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own book club?
Just go for it and take a leap of faith. You’ll never get a book club going if you only talk about starting a book club.
How do you choose your books?
We choose books through recommendations from others, from what we see in newspapers and often from Pop-Up Collections and other displays at the library. The staff are also great at providing recommendations as each team member has their own personal tastes for the books they like to enjoy.
Become a Book Club Rep!
The Book Club Hub team will be creating a group of Book Club Hub Reps of leaders of book clubs across the UK. The Book Club Hub Reps will have the chance to:
• Join a WhatsApp Broadcast Group where we will be sharing opportunities from The Reading Agency and publishers for your book clubs
• Join a Book Club Hub Reps meeting in January 2026 where we will be sharing information about our plans for the Book Club Hub and will also give you the opportunity for you to have your say and help shape the offer
• Join a database of information about book clubs who connect with the website so that we can get in touch with you directly for exclusive offers from publishers (your contact information will never be shared with publishers for this, without your permission)
Sign up to be a Book Club Hub Rep here.
Find out more
Visit our page to hear more about Book Club Day UK and how you can get involved.
Download the Comms Toolkit and Workplace Toolkit.
Let us know if you would like to have a book club spotlight by emailing bookclubhub@readingagency.org.uk.
Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, X and Instagram using #BookClubDayUK.
Keep up with all the latest news by joining our Book Club Hub Bulletin.
