{"id":47987,"date":"2019-10-16T13:01:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T13:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=47987"},"modified":"2019-10-16T13:01:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T13:01:48","slug":"book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Book-bloggers in Newport and Cardiff join internet trend as they launch new book clubs&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Book-bloggers Irene Leon, 26, and Charlotte Clark, 24, prepare to kick off their book clubs in the coming weeks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Irene will host her book club every first Wednesday of the month at Octavio\u2019s Book Cafe and Wine Bar in Cardiff from 6 November. Charlotte will be hosting a young-adult book club at Newport\u2019s Waterstones from 27 October.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Irene started book blogging on Instagram in April, she realised more and more people were approaching her to discuss books.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating her book club seemed like the perfect way to encourage even more discussions. \u201cIt is a way to connect with others that have a shared interest,\u201d Irene said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Socialising can be difficult as an adult: meeting people is one of the advantages of in-real-life book clubs. Charlotte, who has been blogging for four years, said, \u201cI work from home and it can feel a bit isolating sometimes, so having a group to meet up with and chat is great to get me out of the house more often.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If book clubs are helpful for mental health and socialising, the meet-ups also give the extra push to dedicate time to read.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI often find myself in reading slumps, where I don&#8217;t want to pick up a book for a while,\u201d Charlotte said. \u201cIt helps me to have a deadline to finish the book by.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Irene is hoping to broaden people\u2019s reading horizons as the next books will be chosen at random from readers\u2019 suggestions. She said, \u201cThat should push people out of their usual genres.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Charlotte wished for a specialised book club. She tweeted that there was no young-adult book club taking place in the area, so Newport\u2019s Waterstones suggested she host one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Irene\u2019s book club (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lostinthepages8\/\" target=\"_blank\">Irene\u2019s book club<\/a> launches with Naomi Alderman\u2019s<em> The Power<\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WBookishBlog\/status\/1183325832514867200\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Charlotte\u2019s starts (opens in a new tab)\">Charlotte\u2019s starts<\/a> with Rainbow Rowell\u2019s <em>Fangirl<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Book-bloggers in Newport and Cardiff join the latest internet book trend as they launch new monthly book clubs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19],"tags":[6636,6637,203,6638,478,6639],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-47987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-culture-home","tag-book-club","tag-bookstagram","tag-cardiff","tag-local-bloggers","tag-newport","tag-reading-community"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities - alt.cardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities - alt.cardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Book-bloggers in Newport and Cardiff join the latest internet book trend as they launch new monthly book clubs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"alt.cardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-16T13:01:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elissa Abou Merhi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elissa Abou Merhi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/\",\"name\":\"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities - alt.cardiff\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-16T13:01:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/fb51faf1defaae71620628413e2cc702\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/\",\"name\":\"alt.cardiff\",\"description\":\"If it\u2019s offbeat and in Cardiff then it\u2019s online here.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/fb51faf1defaae71620628413e2cc702\",\"name\":\"Elissa Abou Merhi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/49fb9e270ebb1c6509a990eb38c6a027\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/680bdd2b2d337f13d53fb023fbddb202ae787262e5f8e2a51760bac5a7c855e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/680bdd2b2d337f13d53fb023fbddb202ae787262e5f8e2a51760bac5a7c855e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elissa Abou Merhi\"},\"description\":\"I am Elissa, a 22-year-old trainee journalist at Cardiff University, following a PPA accredited course in Magazine Journalism. I am half-French, half-Lebanese and I have lived in both these countries as well as in the UK and the UAE. I am passionate about cinema, literature, LGBT and race issues as well as Lebanese food (and its ongoing revolution!).\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.elissaaboumerhi.wordpress.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/author\/elissa-abou-merhi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities - alt.cardiff","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities - alt.cardiff","og_description":"Book-bloggers in Newport and Cardiff join the latest internet book trend as they launch new monthly book clubs","og_url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/","og_site_name":"alt.cardiff","article_published_time":"2019-10-16T13:01:48+00:00","author":"Elissa Abou Merhi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elissa Abou Merhi","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/","name":"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities - alt.cardiff","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-10-16T13:01:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/fb51faf1defaae71620628413e2cc702"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/10\/16\/book-clubs-on-the-rise-as-bloggers-set-up-locally-based-communities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Book clubs on the rise as bloggers set up locally-based communities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/","name":"alt.cardiff","description":"If it\u2019s offbeat and in Cardiff then it\u2019s online here.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/fb51faf1defaae71620628413e2cc702","name":"Elissa Abou Merhi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/49fb9e270ebb1c6509a990eb38c6a027","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/680bdd2b2d337f13d53fb023fbddb202ae787262e5f8e2a51760bac5a7c855e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/680bdd2b2d337f13d53fb023fbddb202ae787262e5f8e2a51760bac5a7c855e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elissa Abou Merhi"},"description":"I am Elissa, a 22-year-old trainee journalist at Cardiff University, following a PPA accredited course in Magazine Journalism. I am half-French, half-Lebanese and I have lived in both these countries as well as in the UK and the UAE. I am passionate about cinema, literature, LGBT and race issues as well as Lebanese food (and its ongoing revolution!).","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.elissaaboumerhi.wordpress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/author\/elissa-abou-merhi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47987"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=47987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}