Frequently Asked Questions
1. What books have you been reading & do you have any favorites?
- Here’s the book we’re reading this month.
- Here’s our global reading list which continues to grow.
- The team* that manages the book club also has individual lists of their favorite global reads. See the recommendations from:
The co-founders - Beth & Mia
The moderators - Julie, Sue, & Gemma
The FB group expert - Beth C.
2. How often will we read a book?
We'll read one book from a different country every month.
3. Am I required to read every book or participate?
Nope. We want the book club to be fun so it's up to you whether you read all or just some of the books. While we also encourage participation in the monthly discussions & in daily posts, that's not required either.
4. How do you decide which books to read?
The book club exists to read books from outside of the US to expand our literary knowledge. Beth, Mia, & Ivor alternate in selecting the country & then scour the libraries/Internet to unearth the best books across genres. We also rely on suggestions from book club members.
A list of 6 books is compiled as follows every month for each country we read:
Most months, Beth & Mia will each suggest 2 books, & then we’ll use 2 suggestions from community members.
On the months that the moderators are selecting the country, they will each suggest 1 book, Beth or Mia will suggest 1, & we’ll use 2 suggestions from community members.
Then, the community votes on which main book we’ll read & discuss. If that book doesn't appeal to you, there'll be 5 other books from that country to choose from which you can read instead. (Members are then welcome to post about that alternate book instead since someone else may be reading it as well.)
Note: 99% of the time, the vote results in a winner because of the way we’ve set up the voting. However, in the case of a tie, the book club management team will decide between the two books tied to win.
5. How do you decide which book suggestions to use from community members?
If more than 2 books are suggested, the entire list of suggestions will be entered into a lottery with 2 randomly chosen.
If fewer than 2 books are suggested, the book club mgt team will add to the list to ensure a total of 6 books is compiled.
If more than 1 suggestion is provided by a single member, we will choose the book we feel will work best for the book club.
6. Will we read more than one book per country?
The book club will vote on which main book to read & discuss. However, if that book doesn't appeal to you, there'll be 5 other books from that country to choose from which you can read instead. (Members are then welcome to post about that alternate book instead since someone else may be reading it as well.)
7. Do you read or exclude specific genres?
Nope. We like to read all sorts of genres so every month we try to include a variety of both fiction & nonfiction. You can see all the different genres if you select "View books by category" in our global reading list.
8. What books has the book club read so far?
We set-up all of our books with different tags so you can search for them easily in our global reading list. The books we've read every month are listed with the tag, "*previous group reads".
9. What's the book club's schedule?
Start reading the book at the beginning of the month & discuss at month's end.
Around the 9th of the month, we’ll ask members for book suggestions for the next country.
The middle of the month is when members will vote on which book to read next month so there’ll be enough time to buy/borrow the book.
Anytime for other bookish posts & discussions regardless of country.
10. How do the book discussions work?
Each discussion occurs online & is set up as a Facebook event.
Book club members RSVP to the event if they plan on attending the discussion.
During the month, members can post about the book in the event if they think it helpful as long as it’s not a spoiler. For example: One of our members posted what “fly agaric” was which was prominent in the Estonia read.
On the last day of the month, the book club management team will post the first question by 12 noon ET & will alternate questions over a period of 5 days. Club members can then respond to each question as well as to each others’ comments.
We also love when book club members create their own posts in the events with their own questions & comments which encourage discussion.
11. Is the book discussion mandatory?
Nope. We want reading to be fun so if you enjoy discussing the book, great. We’d love to have you join us. However, if you want to just read the book, that’s ok too. You’re then welcome just to lurk in the discussion without posting or completely disregard the discussion. Up to you.
12. Can I join in on the discussion at a later time?
Of course! Members can join in on the discussions at any time whether it’s a week later or months later. This is one of the reasons we switched to using events for discussions instead of posts in the group. You can find past discussions from May 2018 on by navigating Events> Settings>Past Events in our Facebook group. However, we have found that more people will interact during the scheduled book discussion than at a later date.
We stand firm in this regard. All books must:
- Largely occur in the location specified unless the world/situation described is not specific to a country (e.g., sci fi, fantasy, some poetry, philosophical books, etc.)
- Be written by an author born there who has spent a good portion of their life there
- Exist in paperback & ebook available on both Amazon & Kindle at least in the US & hopefully elsewhere
Also, we love it when folks suggest books which are also available in audio format. While we know this isn’t always possible so it is not a requirement, it is more inclusive & something for which all of us should strive.
14. How do the requirements from #13 work when authors are born in countries under foreign rule (e.g., in an Soviet Socialist Republic) or when country borders change?
Generally, it’s clearly defined into which country an author was born. Whether the country was under foreign rule or its borders have changed during times of war, the country itself is usually still clear. For example: An author might be noted as being born in the “Ukraine” though at that time the Ukraine was under Soviet rule (e.g., Svetlana Alxievich born in 1948) or born in “America” though at the time the American Colonies were under British rule (e.g., Washington Irving born in 1783).
In addition, the countries are often culturally distinct from one another. Just because the USSR occupied Lithuania, doesn't mean that the Lithuanians & Soviets were alike. Their language, traditions, experiences, & attitudes were very different. The same is true when you think of all the different countries ruled by Britain (e.g., Jamaica, Egypt, etc.).
Therefore, referring to the birth country rather than the regime governing the country makes a more clear delineation & the one we follow. Of course, there are some exceptions where an author’s place of birth is not clearly defined. In these cases, we make a decision on whether to include the author or not after performing a vast amount of research.
15. There are lots of great books which don’t meet the book club requirements noted in #13. What about all of them?
We love books written by authors about a country who aren’t native to that country. However, most native writers don’t get the press that many authors do from places like the US, UK, & Canada. This means that people are more often reading books about a country from someone who doesn’t know it as well & native authors aren’t being read—which is a shame (e.g., someone from the US writing about China). Our book club was specifically set up to focus a spotlight on the native authors, reading books from other cultures, & books from beyond the English-speaking world so our global reading list will only include native authors.
That being said, we still love to suggest great books related to a particular country that aren’t by native authors—whether it’s an author from China writing about Europe or a US author writing about China. So after we finish each monthly book discussion, we also include a '“related reads” post listing a variety of books related to the country.
*Bonus FAQ: Who the heck are Beth, Mia, Julie, Gemma, Beth C., & Sue?
Beth & Mia are the co-founders of A World Adventure by Book. They met in Central NJ when they were teenagers. Beth is the admin for the web site as well as the book club’s primary admin while Mia is the book club’s co-admin. Julie, Gemma, Sue, & Beth C, were all members of the book club who have since become members of the management team. More info is included about all of them on the About Us page.