A while ago, one of my best friends mentioned that she attends a medieval literature book club. That’s a rather specific community to be a part of, was my first thought. But the longer I pondered over it, the more I found myself liking the idea. After all, who among us hasn’t enjoyed bonding over a shared, albeit niche, interest? It’s no surprise, then, that book clubs are enjoying a resurgence.
The modern book club takes many shapes and forms—not all of them are quite as focused on medieval literature, of course—but what they have in common is a carefully considered aim of building community and an awareness of the potential that words hold.
For Seet Siew Ling, co-founder of online bookstore Wormhole and its Bookworm Club programme, a welcoming environment to all readers is a priority. “A few years ago, I had signed up to attend a book club with a friend, who then bailed on me just hours before the meeting because she was anxious about not having anything clever to say. That left an impression on me and it got me wondering how these events must feel like for introverted or shy people,” she shares. “We were very keen on figuring out how to make a book club accessible and enjoyable for different personality types and varying levels of participation. Eventually, we expanded that thinking to consider people with busy schedules and not enough time to finish reading the book.”
As for the women-led No Readgrets Book Club, co-founded by friends Elfarina Roszaini, Firqin Sumartono and Martina Moy, the focus lies on empowering local minority voices. “Our sessions are safe spaces and we forefront fictional and non-fictional works that feature marginalised voices or are written by folks from the minority races,” Roszaini explains. “There is so much more to unpack beyond the storylines and these books can be a great gateway to a richer discourse on society, politics and culture.”
Of course, the literary community extends well beyond just the readers. While Book Bar might not be your typical book club, the community-driven space regularly holds book launches, poetry readings and literary discussions for readers and writers to come together. Co-founder Alexander Chua elaborates: “When people see how others have enjoyed a book, it can encourage them to start reading as well. That, in turn, encourages the author, too.”
Whichever book club you find yourself a part of, one thing’s for sure: it has the power to transform your reading experience, opening your mind to new perspectives that you might not have previously considered.
Seet concludes: “The thing about consuming art in any form is that it’s coloured by your own lens and filtered through your individual history. When you gather different people, each with their own unique experiences of a book, it’s a wonderful to reexperience a book from many new perspectives, something that is never going to happen when we read in isolation.”
Below, we asked the book clubs for one title each that they would love to discuss in the future. Consider picking up a copy for yourself and joining the conversation.
1 / 3
Bookworm Club: 'Good Material' by Dolly Alderton
“Dolly Alderton’s books feel deceptively simple and light-hearted, but that belies really astute observations about human nature and relationships.”
2 / 3
Book Bar: 'Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop' by Hwang Bo-reum
“This is a relatable Korean novel translated by a Singaporean, about a woman who decided one day that she wanted to open a bookshop because of how books healed her.”
3 / 3
No Readgrets Book Club: 'Singa-Pura-Pura: Malay Speculative Fiction from Singapore' edited by Nazry Bahrawi
“A meaningful and rich collection of short stories that explores speculative fiction writing, unmistakably drawing from the minority Malay experience.”
The December ‘Carouse’ issue of Vogue Singapore is available for sale online and in-store now.
