Book Drives New York

Find inspiring book drives in New York and engage with readers

430kMonthly events

60mMembers

4.5App store rating

200kGroups

Booze & Books in Brooklyn

Mon, Sep 14, 11:30 PM

From Silent Book Club NYC

4.7

In addition to draft beers, **LoFi Bar in Park Slope** features craft cocktails, curated wines, and small bites. Non-alcoholic options are also available. Bring your latest read (and maybe a book light!) and **enjoy $1 off all drinks**. **[LoFi Bar](https://www.lofibrooklyn.com/)** is conveniently located near the F/G/R lines. Please note, this is not a private event and LoFi will be open to the public. **There is seating available for 40 people, available on a first-come basis.**

33 attendees

Queer Book Club - Kin by Tayari Jones

Tue, Sep 22, 11:00 PM

From Queer Book Club

4.9

Hey Everyone! **Welcome to Queer Book Club! We read books about, for and written by queer people! Follow us on Instagram @queer_book_club Our next meetup will be held on Tuesday September 22nd at Young Ethel’s in Park Slope BK This month we will be reading Kin by Tayari Jones ** Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood, but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Atlanta at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and marries into an affluent family. Annie, abandoned by her dissolute mother as a child, and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, and culminate in a battle for her life. A novel about mothers and daughters, about friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction. **At the end of the discussion we can vote on which book we read for next month so bring a queer suggestion. Make sure to support our amazing host bar, by buying drinks! They are so great to support us so we must do our part in return! We are a lovely accepting group of queers and allies, and all are welcome! Our book list is officially too long for meetup and will now live on this google doc!    [Queer Book Club - Booklist ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-fm0thuCZrdC6FvW81I6eqO8X_uXLMuT48sxtjN8_ck/edit)    See you next month!

14 attendees

September Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict

Sun, Sep 20, 5:00 PM

From Boozy Bronx Book Club

4.9

After a summer break, we’re back in September with a historical fiction pick that gives us plenty to talk about. 📖 This Month’s Theme - Historical Fiction 📘 Book Pick *The Personal Librarian* by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray Inspired by the true story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan’s brilliant personal librarian, this novel follows her rise in New York’s rare-book and art world while she protects a secret that could change everything. Set in early-1900s New York, it explores ambition, race, identity, power, and the legacy we leave behind. 📅 Date & Time Sunday, September 20, 2026 at 1 PM 📍 Location Bronx Alehouse 216 W 238th St, Bronx, NY New members are always welcome! You’re welcome to join even if you have not finished the book, as long as you’re okay with spoilers. Come for the conversation, stay for the drinks and community.

26 attendees

Tress of the Emerald Sea, by Brandon Sanderson

Mon, Sep 14, 11:00 PM

From Books With A Sci-Fi Twist

4.9

Get a copy [here on Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/80117/9781250899668) to donate 10% to our bookclub! The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

7 attendees

"Empire of AI" by Karen Hao

Sat, Sep 26, 5:00 PM

From Gotham Non-fiction Book Club

4.9

When AI expert and investigative journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined, the organization was meant to act as a check against more purely mercantile forces. What could go wrong? Over time, Hao wrestled with that question. Increasingly, she realized that this disruptive sector’s vision of success requires an unprecedented amount of resources: the “compute” power of high-end chips and the processing capacity to create massive large language models, the sheer volume of data that needs to be amassed at scale, the humans “cleaning up” that data for sweatshop wages throughout the Global South, and a truly alarming spike in the usage of energy and water underlying it all. We have entered a new age of empire where only a handful of globally scaled companies can enter the field of play. Armed with billions, pushing on trillions, OpenAI is setting a breakneck pace—toward what end, not even they can define. All this time, Hao has maintained deep sourcing within the company and the industry, keeping in intimate contact with the story that shocked the entire tech industry—Altman’s sudden firing and triumphant return. The behind-the-scenes of what happened is revelatory of who the people controlling this technology really are. But this isn’t just the story of a single company. As Hao shows through intrepid global reporting, the enormous wheels of extraction grind on. An astonishing eyewitness view from both the command capsule of the new economy and where the real suffering happens, Empire of AI pierces the veil of the industry defining our era. Support your local bookstore in Queens: [Astoria Bookshop](http://astoriabookshop.com/) (Astoria) [Topos Bookstore](https://www.toposbookstore.com/) (Ridgewood) [The World's Borough Bookstore](https://www.theworldsboroughbookshop.com/) (Jackson Heights) [Kew & Willow Books](https://www.kewandwillow.com/) (Kew Gardens) [Book Culture](https://www.bookculture.com/) (Long Island City)

14 attendees

All the Beauty in the World discussion

Wed, Sep 23, 11:00 PM

From The Forest Hills Book Group

4.7

We will discuss *All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me* by Patrick Bringley on Wed., Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Tikka n Talk, 70-11 Austin Street, Forest Hills. It's between 70th Rd. and 70th Ave. (a block and a half west of 71st/Continental), on the lower level. Closest subway is E/F/R/M to 71st/Continental. You can see the menu at https://www.tikkantalkny.com/menu/.

20 attendees

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico

Tue, Sep 29, 11:00 PM

From West Side Book Circle

4.9

A 2025 International Booker Prize Shortlist Nominee A scathing, provocative novel about contemporary existence by a rising star in Italian literature. Anna and Tom, an expat couple, have fashioned a dream life for themselves in Berlin. They are young digital "creatives" exploring the excitements of the city, freelancers without too many constraints, who spend their free time cultivating house plants and their images online. At first, they reasonably deduce that they've turned their passion for aesthetics into a viable, even enviable career, but the years go by, and Anna and Tom grow bored. As their friends move back home or move on, so their own work and sex life—and the life of Berlin itself—begin to lose their luster. An attempt to put their politics into action fizzles in embarrassed self-doubt. Edging closer to forty, they try living as digital nomads only to discover that, wherever they go, "the brand of oat milk in their flat whites was the same." Perfection—Vincenzo Latronico's first book to be translated into English—is a scathing novel about contemporary existence, a tale of two people gradually waking up to find themselves in various traps, wondering how it all came to be. Was it a lack of foresight, or were they just born too late?

10 attendees

Book Club

Thu, Sep 24, 7:50 PM

From Worldwide Writers Association

4.8

**THE BOOK YOU SHOULD HAVE FINISHED READING BY THIS MONTH IS** **LINK IN THE DESCRIPTION!** **PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT IS ADVERTISED ON MULTIPLE PAGES, THERE WILL BE MORE PEOPLE THERE.** Hello everyone, Ready to rediscover the joy of reading or diversify your bookshelf? Look no further! We gather once a month on Zoom to explore a wide array of genres, exchange perspectives, and foster connections through our shared love of literature. The idea is to read one book a month (up to 400 pages). There will be the opportunity to discuss how you have found the book at our monthly online event. All book lovers are welcome to join us on this enriching journey. You need to login into a Zoom account to join the event. To join the event, please click here: [https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83080762071?pwd=cWZjNEhzTlVJcmdQclpyT1dMYWtkZz09](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83080762071?pwd=cWZjNEhzTlVJcmdQclpyT1dMYWtkZz09) Meeting ID: 830 8076 2071 Passcode:909864

1 attendee

"The Emperor of Gladness" by Ocean Vuong

Mon, Sep 14, 10:30 PM

From JC Book Club

4.8

[Amazon:] *The hardest thing in the world is to live only once…* One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink. Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Ocean Vuong’s writing—formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness—are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.

7 attendees

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Sat, Sep 19, 6:00 PM

From Genre Book Club (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror)

4.7

WE ARE MEETING IN THE SECOND FLOOR OF BROOKFIELD PLACE NEAR THE TABLES BY "CLEAN MARKET" NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition. You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what. Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show. Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

4 attendees

NYC Romcom Club 💕: Picking Daisies on Sundays

Sun, Sep 27, 3:30 PM

From NYC Romcom Bookclub 💕

5.0

We are discussing picking daisies on Sundays.

12 attendees

Reading of Samuel D. Hunter's Little Bear Ridge Road

Sat, Sep 26, 5:00 PM

From New York City Play Reading Group

4.9

Hi! For this reading, we will be reading Little Bear Ridge Road by Samuel D. Hunter. The full script can be found online [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/19bo0KWWfJHNRrI1hqqrpNqXt-Gwod79P/view?usp=sharing). Feel free to read from a physical or digital copy of the script. We suggest bringing a digital device to read the play on, as we may change the play depending on the number of attendees. We will meet at the Public Atrium at 875 3rd Ave on the top floor above the Starbucks. I will put what I am wearing the day of in the event comments so you can find us if you are running late. This reading is going to be super casual and relaxed. We hope you enjoy being a part of a live reading! MSP is committed to enuring participation at all levels is attractive, safe, and enjoyable for all. By signing up for any of our events you agree to abide by our [code of conduct](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LfJc8EjngTX2uaaMZMPNhmE6wtQYYFXlUqOxk3VIpHw/edit?usp=sharing).

5 attendees

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Frequently asked questions

Meetup facilitates book drives by connecting organizers with participants interested in literary activities. It helps those passionate about reading to join events where they can meet like-minded individuals, share their love for books, and contribute to community bibliophiles in New York City.

To know if book drives are happening this weekend, check the Meetup platform. You can find upcoming events by searching for book-related activities and verify details like time and location. If nothing is available this weekend, consider sending notifications for similar future events.

Join local book drives in New York by searching on Meetup for groups focused on reading and book donations. Once you find an interesting event, you can RSVP and participate in contributing or planning these community activities.

Generally, it's best to RSVP for a book drive event to ensure your spot and help organizers plan accordingly. However, some community drives don't require an RSVP, but it's advisable to check each event’s specifics as organizers may have different policies.

Meetup is your ally in connecting with book enthusiasts in New York. Search for book clubs or literature-themed events to find not only book drives but also opportunities to engage with bibliophiles regularly.

Joining Meetup to find and attend book drives is typically free. However, some specific events might require a fee, often to cover venue costs or contributions to the community cause. Always check the event details for any potential costs.

Yes, book drive events often vary by themes such as children's books, specific genres, or literacy campaigns. Organizers usually provide details about the focus of the drive, so participants can contribute appropriately.

You can host your own book drive by creating a new group or event on Meetup. Ensure your event is well-described with all necessary details, including location, time, and book drive themes to attract like-minded participants.

The frequency of book drives in New York can vary based on the organizer and community interest. While some groups host regular events, others might align their activities with specific dates or charitable causes, so checking Meetup for updates is beneficial.

While Meetup is often used for in-person gatherings, some book drives may offer online components, especially those focusing on discussions about book submissions or logistics that don’t require physical gathering.

Meetup serves as a platform for organizing book drives but does not oversee the logistics. The success of book deliveries to communities relies on individual organizers and participant cooperation, emphasizing the importance of active involvement.

The need for volunteers varies per event. While smaller book drives may function with a few participants, larger initiatives typically welcome greater volunteer support to manage logistics, collection, sorting, and distribution.

By participating or organizing book drives, you directly impact local literacy. These events promote reading by redistributing books to under-resourced areas, supporting local libraries, or encouraging young readers through donated materials.

Participation often spans diverse genres, but it depends on the event's theme. Some drives may focus on specific genres to address particular community needs. Check event descriptions to find a drive that aligns with your preferred book donations.

Usually, book drives welcome used books in good condition. Ensure you review event guidelines regarding the types of books accepted, as organizers may have specific preferences based on recipient needs.