Today I am sharing my honest review of Chapter 25 Book Club. If you’re not familiar with my blog, let me start by introducing myself… Hi, I’m Tina. I’ve been blogging here for almost fifteen years now, and I’m a self-confessed geek. I work from home, and my son has special needs, so I don’t get out much. Reading is something I love, so back in April, I finally joined a book club, in the hope of getting out more, and making a few bookish friends.

What to Expect From Chapter 25 Book Club

I first became aware of Chapter 25 Book Club when an ad for their Rochdale meet up, which opens soon. Sadly for me, Monday evenings aren’t possible, so I figured Chapter 25 wasn’t for me. A few days later, the ad popped up again, so I did some digging, and realised they have tons of book clubs happening all over the UK, every month. When I saw that there was a Bury book club on the first Wednesday of each month, I signed up.

You pay £9.99 per month, and for that you get access to one monthly book club meeting, as well as loads of online events. Your monthly meet-up will have its own WhatsApp group, which you will be added to. You can choose whether or not to be active in this, but I found it a great way to get to know a couple of people ahead of my first meet up.

One thing worth noting is that when you join, it’s a minimum 3 month commitment, so be mindful of that before signing up. (I missed this part of the terms, until after I signed up). I’ve enjoyed the two meetings I have attended to date though, so it’s not an issue for me. Once you sign up, you’ll get access to the entire website, where you can see your group’s next few months’ of books. Each book club has their own book line-up, which is voted for by their members.

My First Chapter 25 Bury Book Club Meeting

I joined Chapter 25 at the end of April, just a few days before the May meet up, so I didn’t have time to read the book. I was nervous about attending by myself, so the thought of attending without reading the book was pretty terrifying. I used the WhatsApp group to ask if anyone else was new / hadn’t read the book, and was relieved to find I wasn’t alone.

Our book club was hosted at Racconto Lounge, on The Rock, BL9 0PN. The session was 7.30pm – 9.30pm, but regular members said on the WhatsApp group that they tended to arrive for 7pm to eat first. So that’s what I did. When I arrived at 7pm, the table was already full. The hostess was lovely though – she quickly got me a seat, and explained the second table would fill up soon. Once a couple more people arrived, she moved to that table so we could all fit onto the table comfortably.

On my table, there were 3 other women who were new to the club, and hadn’t read the book. The session started with an icebreaker game, where we all had to work together to work out the names of 10 books, from the emojis on the handout. It definitely got us all talking. When the group began talking about that month’s book, those of us who hadn’t read it yet talked among ourselves about the books we had been reading.

Racconto Lounge, Bury

I’ve been a regular visitor to Racconto Lounge in Bury for a while. It does an amazing latte, and their attention to detail for those with dietary requirements is first class. The vegetarian and vegan menus are exceptional, so I knew I’d love the venue, ahead of time. The atmosphere is ambient, friendly and welcoming, so it’s the perfect place for a book club, really.

The Books

The May meet up was discussing April’s read – The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, which I hadn’t read. June’s meet up was discussing April’s read, which was Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malindo Lo. This was the first book I’d read for book club, and it was a fitting read for Pride month. For July’s session, we need to have read Aphrodite by Phoenicia Rogerson. I’m looking forward to reading that.

I love that there’s been a fairly decent variety of genres so far. I’m mainly into romance and crime thrillers, so all three books have got me out of my comfort zone so far. Last night at the telegraph club is a NY Times bestseller, and the book was nothing like I’ve read before, so there was plenty to talk about at book club.

My Thoughts

Overall, I have really enjoyed both of the in-person meet ups I have attended so far. Everyone has been super welcoming, and I am looking forward to July’s meet up already. There were roughly 20 people at last week’s meet up. Three of them were men, and they were all at May’s meet up too, so it’s definitely not a ladies only event.

Several of the members were taking full advantage of their “night off”, by having wine, a delicious meal and dessert. I was driving, so there was no wine for me. I did enjoy my Halloumi Messi though.

I haven’t done much with the online membership, although there’s plenty of other events you can access free of charge, as a member of C25. There’s online book clubs, Author Q&As, Virtual board game nights, colouring club, cold case club, silent reading club, creative writing sessions, and much more besides.

All things considered, I would definitely recommend joining your local chapter 25 book club. This is not a sponsored post – I paid for my membership, and wanted to share my review, independently. Finally, I used to run a virtual junior book club on my blog many moons ago. I hope they’ll expand to offer a kids / teen meet up soon.