About us
Attention all book lovers! This is a group for bibliophiles of all ages in and around the West Chester area to meet up, grab a drink, and talk about an awesome book (or pick apart a less than awesome book, which can be even more fun!). We have a lot of wide-ranging conversations and generally enjoy anecdotes and observations in addition to serious(?) literary discussion.
Frequently Asked Questions (TM)
What if I didn't like/finish/start the book?
Show up anyway, we're fun people! Diverse opinions are welcome, and discussion of the book often winds into discussion of life, the universe, and all manner of other stuff throughout the night.
Will this cost me anything?
Because we're charged a monthly fee to use the Meetup service, we request donations of a buck or two per person per meeting to help keep the lights on.
Upcoming events
1
June 2026: Taiwan Travelogue (Yang)
Kildares Irish Pub - West Chester, PA, 18 W Gay St, West Chester, PA, USHi all, our June book will be Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang
. (https://bookshop.org/a/15022/9781644453155)"May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.
Soon a Taiwanese woman—who is younger even than she is, and who shares the characters of her name—is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko’s travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the “something” is.
Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships."
Meetup charges us to host the group; contributions of $1-2/meeting to offset this cost are appreciated (Venmo = Matthew-Litke-1 or toss me a couple bucks at the meeting).
For anyone who likes to read ahead, July's selection is The Haar by David Sodergren.
6 attendees
Past events
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