When we first started Briarbook Lane, we knew we wanted to run an associated book club, so that at the very least the two of us could read, review, and discuss a book together every few months. We are both very much fans of fairy tales, and so it was easy for us to decide that we’d like to theme this book club after fairy-tale retellings.
We settled on doing a fresh book for each quarter, and the four books we did in the past year are: Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire (Snow White; June 2020), Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Rumpelstiltskin; September 2020), Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson (Diamonds and Toads; December 2020), and Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi (Hansel and Gretel, The Gingerbread Boy; March 2021).
We may have started out with just the two of us, but we wanted to share the fairy-tale love. In September, 2020, we started up the Enchanted Garden Book Club Facebook group, where anyone is welcome to join to discuss our chosen titles and all things fairy tale. New members have been trickling in, and we’ve been excited to see the group grow. We also have a token presence on Goodreads, though no one has joined the group there.
What would you like to see in the future? Some ideas:
- Add a Discord
- Have Live group discussions
- Official discussions in the off-months on non-book retellings such as movies or short stories
We’d love to hear your thoughts!