Bookworms, Rejoice! Five Neighborhood Book Clubs to Join in 2025
Whether you're looking to chat it up about your latest read over some brews or you'd prefer not to talk at all—silent book clubs are an introvert's dream!—this list offers something for everyone.
Strong Rope Gowanus (Next Meeting: Thursday, February 6th, 6pm): Strong Rope’s book club has been meeting regularly for two years! Meetings are held monthly, and February’s book is Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend. This award-winning novel explores themes of female friendship, social class, and personal identity. Book Club is free to join at any time and open to all!
Romantic book store The Ripped Bodice holds several free book clubs throughout the month, including the Happily Everyone After Bookclub, which reads widely across the romance genre, the Queer Lit Book Club, focusing on books by publicly queer authors, and Quest For Love: Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Book Club, for those who love witches, vampires, ghosts, and other worlds. Each club meets monthly on their respective Sunday at 7:15pm.
Silent Book Club of Death @ Green-Wood (Next Meeting is Tuesday, January 28th, at 6:30pm): One of only three chapters of the Silent Book Club of Death in the country, this free club reads books that surround themes of grief, loss, and mortality. The group will mingle before setting the timer to read, and once the hour’s up, death doula and illustrator Lauren Seeley will lead a group discussion on these universal yet challenging topics. Bring your own book or borrow one from Green-Wood’s library.
The Center for Fiction hosts multiple reading “groups”, which they describe as falling somewhere between a class and a book club. Sessions are either held in person at the bookstore or over Zoom. Upcoming sessions include: Reproductive Rights and Resistance: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments with Shirley Tung, Black Women’s Literary Geography with with Dr. Maia Butler, and Reading 1984 in 2025: The Watcher Versus Being Watched with Jacqueline Ahl. Groups meet for multiple sessions, and fees vary,
Brooklyn Public Library hosts regular book clubs and reading parties at multiple branches as well as online. Upcoming meet-ups include a “Bring Your Own Book” Quiet Reading Party, a book discussion on Evergreen by Naomi Hirahira, monthly book chats where readers discuss a book of their choosing.
Happy reading! Have we missed a neighborhood book club you love? Let us know in the comments below. 👇