Volume II · About the Club
A small, private reading
community in Johannesburg.
Rachel's Book Club began in 2023 around one long table, four bottles of wine, and the shared suspicion that a book is better when it is discussed. Three years on, we are twelve readers who meet in living rooms and quiet corners of Johannesburg to share what we have been reading, eating, and thinking about.
Host & Founder
A note from Rachel
I started this club because I love reading and wanted to share that with people who feel the same. I am honored to have been able to do that for the last 3 years.
On this website, you will find the epubs to books we are reading, events, and member sign up and tracking. Our bookclub has become its own little ecosystem and deserves a place to live and grow. As always, Happy Reading!
— Rachel
The Rhythm
How a cycle unfolds
- I
The shortlist
Rachel curates four candidate titles — a mix of fiction, memoir, essay, and the occasional wildcard.
- II
The vote
Members vote within the week. The winning book becomes our next read; the runners-up join the to-read list.
- III
Independent reading
Roughly six weeks to read, annotate, dog-ear, and let the book settle.
- IV
The gathering
A long lunch in someone's garden or a quiet corner of the city. Themed table, dress code, discussion questions, playlist.
- V
The keeping
Photos, notes, favourite quotes, and a playlist are gathered into the book's archive entry — a permanent home for the conversation.
- VI
And again
A pause to breathe, then a new shortlist appears. We have done this fourteen times now.
What We Care About
Four things we
hold to.
We aren't trying to be a literary salon or a content network. We're trying to read well and gather kindly. These are the quiet rules of the room.
Value 01
Quality of attention
We read slowly and well. One book a cycle, read independently, then unpacked together over a long lunch.
Value 02
Genuine friendship
We are small on purpose. Twelve readers who know each other's lives, not just their reading lists.
Value 03
Beautiful keeping
Every gathering becomes part of the archive — discussion notes, photos, playlists, the line worth remembering.
Value 04
Welcoming intelligence
Bring your half-formed thoughts. Bring the passage you underlined twice. Bring yourself.
Membership
What we ask of each other
Read the book. Come to the lunch. Bring your real thoughts and the generosity to hear someone else's. Help host when it's your turn. That's the whole arrangement.