meetup.com Walking & Talking About YA Books in High Park
I’ve been on meetup.com for a while now and have participated in quite a few fun activities such as kayaking to Ontario Place to watch Blue Rodeo play and travelling to Collingwood to attend the Elvis Festival (ah-huh-huh). When I perused the Toronto book clubs on the meetup site, I didn’t see anything that suited my reading interests, so instead of moping, I created a brand new meetup group called: Walking & Talking About YA Books in High Park. Here’s the pitch I wrote:
Do you love contemporary young adult fiction? Do you love walking and talking? Then this group is for you! Fans of the latest YA book releases will meet at the corner of High Park by the fountains (across from Keele subway station). We’ll split into smaller groups of two or three as we leisurely stroll for 1.5 – 2 hrs around the park, making a pit stop at the Grenadier Cafe, and then looping back to the subway station. Every twenty minutes or so, we’ll switch up the groups to keep the conversation fresh.
- Small group discussion means no round-robin pressure to contribute
- No need to fight extroverts or English majors to have your say
- Can’t bake? No problem, no pressure to bring food to our meetings, just your thoughts and your walking shoes
- Finally, a great excuse to clear the books shelves of those high-brow literary fiction words you secretly never liked!
In all seriousness, Walking & Talking About YA Books in High Park strips the book club down to its core then adds a healthy dash of fresh air and exercise. I hope you’ll join me as we experience they joys of contemporary YA fiction.
Well, we had our first meeting in August. A half dozen people showed on a very humid day and it turned out to be a terrific success! We chatted endlessly about our August book (The Hunger Games), discussing male and female archetypes, the dystopian world and how the book differed from the film.
My goal for this meetup is to discuss two similar YA books in the same genre back-to-back, but one book containing a female protagonist and the other with a male protagonist. For example, September’s novel is, The Maze Runner, our second dystopian read. This way members can discuss the book and also have the option of comparing and contrasting the work to The Hunger Games.
I have no idea what October and November’s books will be, but I’m open to suggestions on other genres like mystery, fantasy, contemporary, horror, etc. as I love discovering new stories.
Since the first meeting, word is gradually catching on. I’ve gone from one member (me), to now over a dozen. One day, I would love to have a 100 members – is that crazy? I think it’d be a blast.
If this sounds like an interesting group that you’d like to join, new members are happily welcomed: http://www.meetup.com/Walking-Talking-About-YA-books-in-High-Park/
Cheers, Nicole
