Who are they: A couple of different ANZA Book Clubs meet up around Singapore in the mornings and evenings to chat about all things literary. This month, we take a closer look at the long-running Tuesday morning group.
Where do they meet? “We meet on the third Tuesday of the month at 10am,” says clubber Tanya Burrows. “We tend to gather at each other’s homes. The host provides morning tea, scones, cakes and biscuits.”
What’s it all about? “It’s a lovely group and everyone’s shared love is reading. You only need to read one book a month, but we often discuss other books we’re reading as well. We choose our books over a year ahead, so people can plan their reading. We tend to read recently published books but add a few oldies as well.”
What does a typical meeting entail? “We sit around and chat and then one of us provides the author’s bio. Then each of us talks about the book we’ve just read and gives it a mark out of 10,” says Tanya. “The convenor takes notes and sends out a review afterwards. It’s always interesting when we have different points of view about the book in question!”
Guest authors: “We combined with another ANZA book group for an author visit with Rosie Milne. She wrote Olivia and Sophia (a novel based on the lives of Sir Stanford Raffles wives) and recent book Circumstance. She had interesting insights into writing and researching a book. We all enjoyed it thoroughly.”
Best thing about the group? “It’s a very relaxed, welcoming book group, with a reliable structure. We try to vary the books and that means we all read books we wouldn’t necessarily pick up ourselves. My favourites are the local Singapore novels, but we also read thrillers, classics and non-fiction. It’s a fantastic mix.”
How do I join? You need to be a current ANZA member, then head to the ANZA website and click on groups, book club. “We are always open to new members,” says Tanya. “There are day or evening choices available. We have only ladies in our group, but blokes are very welcome too.”
Hot tip: “It’s a really good idea to join the Singapore Library Service (nlb.gov.sg) – there are many branches, and tons of print books and ebooks available,” suggests Tanya. “Kinokuniya is also a great book shop if you like to own the books you read.”
ANZA currently has book clubs running on Tuesday mornings and Monday evenings. Find out more about Book Clubs at anza.org.sg/groups/book-club
