Readers in Reading Groups

Abstract

Using the findings of an online survey that yielded 252 responses from readers in Canada, the USA, Australia, the UK, Israel, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Japan, this article shows who readers are, what they read, and that reading is an integral part of people's lives. Equally as vibrant is the book club movement in which the readers meet either in a face-to-face (f2f) or a virtual environment, bringing with them to each reading and meeting their own specific, influential socio-cultural resources, which also influence what they get from their clubs and how they operate within those cultural sites. Through club discussions, whether online or in person, members interpret books, forming social bonds that allow them to fulfil their desires to learn about the world and themselves. The article also attempts to explain why book club members are mainly women and how the mass media might influence this. It concludes with an argument that both f2f and virtual book club research must be conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods.