Using the NYT Book Review Book Club To Unshelve

 It seems as if every celebrity and news organization has their own book club. It is certainly possible to use them to create a book display - read alikes for the current pick and for past picks. If circulation has dropped off on the backlist of picks, you can display them as well. Today, I am going to focus on the New York Times Book Review Book Club that airs on their podcast with reader comments on an online post. 

For July, they read John of John by Douglas Stuart. The book club post is here and the podcast post is here. You can use the book club picks as a way to create a book club, even if you don't have the staff time. Patrons could gather to discuss the book and even listen to the podcast together. The most useful part of the podcast for me is the read-alikes that the participants suggest. For John of John, the books mentioned were: 

• “Shuggie Bain” and “Young Mungo,” by Douglas Stuart
• “What We Can Know,” by Ian McEwan
• “The Banshees of Inisherin,” directed by Martin McDonagh
• “The Keeper,” by Tana French
• “A Natural,” by Ross Raisin
• “The Spell,” by Alan Hollinghurst
• “Seascraper,” by Benjamin Wood
• “Whale Fall,” by Elizabeth O’Connor
• “Clear,” by Carys Davies
• “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë
• “Persuasion,” by Jane Austen
• “Washington Square,” by Henry James
• “The Town of Babylon,” by Alejandro Varela
• “Memorial,” by Bryan Washington

Look beyond these specific titles by looking at read-alikes for them that could have a connection to the title they are reading. This will give you enough titles for a full display, especially if you add past book club picks. 

The next title they are reading is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. They have suggested resources on the announcement page. I've tried to include gift links here, by the way. 

Unshelve Your Collection Idea - Book Club Picks for April 2025 from Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly does a great service by including a regular feature in which they list many book club picks, some with celebrities leading them and some you may not have heard of. 

There are a number of book clubs included that focus on diverse works such as the Jewish Book Council Book Clubs, Mocha Girls Read, Sapph-Lit, and the Subtle Asian Book Club. Some of them have their own dedicated websites, some are based on Substack, and others ariden organized on social media.

A rotating book display with a small footprint would be to pick one or two a month and focus on their recent and past picks. I would avoid those which pick well known books unless you want to do a "Try these titles while you wait for [popular book]" display. Picks by Reece's Book Club or Read with Jenna tend to have holds that build up quickly. Working on a display like this would be great readers advisory practice for a library worker who is new to readers advisory. 

If you have local book clubs that either meet in your library or elsewhere in your community, you can include them as well. Promoting reading is a always something we should do. Not everyone will be able to come to the clubs which are directly sponsored by your library. Giving patrons online options and options outside of your building will encourage both reading and the discovery of books and authors they have missed. Don't see it as a competition. 

Unshelve Your Collection Idea: Book Club Picks.

A great choice for a fill-in book display or when your bucket of ideas has run low is to see what the various book clubs have chosen. Fortunately, Publishers Weekly has a list of more book club choices than one could imagine. 

You can check this page monthly and focus on a different book club each month. There are options beyond celebrities and booksellers like-

Black Men Read

The Jewish Book Council

Mocha Girls Read

Sapph-Lit

Subtle Asian Book Club

Good Morning America YA Book Club

Eclectix Book Club

Don't forget to include the book clubs at your library as well as your local independent booksellers!