When it comes to wonderful experiences, time spent reading has to be right up there with life’s greatest joys. Even better? Having a chance to share this passion with other book lovers, along with being able to enjoy exclusive author interviews, incisive reviews, book news, fabulous literary events, fantastic giveaways and more.
And that’s what we’re thrilled to be doing at GLAMOUR Book Club as we mark the start of a wonderful partnership with columnist, author and all-round fabulous woman, Paige Nick, and her renowned Good Book Appreciation Society. You’ll probably know Paige from her hilarious Sunday Times columns and her acclaimed novels A Million Miles from Normal, This Way Up and Death by Carbs. She also has an upcoming novel entitled Dutch Courage about Grace Hendriks who finds herself working at an Amsterdam strip club as a Rihanna impersonator, which launches on 11 May.
As you’ll discover, Paige is warm, witty, very smart and totally devoted to reading (so much so, that rumour has it she doesn’t even own a TV). So who better to play books with? Look out for exclusive author interviews and let’s do our bit for the grand adventure of reading, both on GLAMOUR Book Club and The Good Book Appreciation Society’s website.
But before all of that, meet Paige!
1 What is the purpose of GBAS and how did the idea come about?
Some years ago, I belonged to a great real-life book club with eight friends. We were called The Good Book Appreciation Society and worked together so we were able to meet every Friday during our lunch hour. But because life is crazy and busy and mad and unpredictable, we found we were able to meet less and less. Around then, I joined a book club I found on Facebook and loved the format and the fact that I could chat about books with like-minded bookie-fans online whenever I wanted. But I became frustrated quickly as I felt like there was a lot of self-promotion going on and I was looking for pure, unbiased good book suggestions. So I started my own online book club, but made it a private group, so that my non-bookie friends wouldn’t be annoyed at my constant postings. At the start, I only invited the seven friends from my real-life book club. Three years later, we have over 5 000 very active members and growing.
2 Since GBAS is digitally based and does not meet regularly like a real-life book club, what can readers expect from the society?
Readers can expect fun, interesting conversations about all sorts of books, including GBAS Cocktail Hour where we interview South African authors about their latest books and how they write, tons of great (hopefully unbiased) suggestions, as well as lots of interviews with authors, literary quizzes and more.
3 What highlights in 2016 can we expect from GBAS?
We have big plans for this year. More members, more books, more authors, more interviews, more literary quizzes! We’ve even got one-question interviews – literary Boff, Marry, Kill – and so much more.
For a really fun time, check out the books SA authors recommend here.
