
What we’re about
Join us for adventures in reading & real life! We are a community of readers who discuss books over paired outings. Like to explore? Like to read? You’ve found your people! Join us here in-person and for online discussions wherever you are on the socials! FB, Insta, TikTok, Website
Newsletter/FB group: Meetup isn’t great at sending out notifications, so to stay up to date with the latest book and activity pairings, sign up for the newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/fc5e0725650d/thenoveltourist and join the community on our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ I also post regularly on books and book pairings on Instagram via @thenoveltourist
What the Club Will Do for You
The purpose of all NTBC events is to give you the opportunity to socialize with likeminded readers who are life long learners and love to try new experiences. If your goal is read more books, do more stuff and meet more friends, being part of NTBC can be a life-changing experience!
What You Can Do for the Club
Bring your fun-loving, healthy attitude. Be committed to reading, showing up when promised, and being respectful of other members. We require that your profile includes a clear picture of yourself so others can identify you at our events.
Terms and Conditions
By joining the Novel Tourist Book Club or signing up for or attending any event offered by the Novel Tourist Book Club, you agree to the following terms and conditions:
- Readers please: NTBC is, first and foremost, a book club. We do a lot of amazing activities tied to the books. There are lots of Meetup groups that also do these fun activities. So, if you don’t like to read or don’t plan to read, we are sure there is another group out there that is more suited to your interests. Now, that said, it doesn’t mean you have to read the book or finish the book every time. Sometimes, you try and the book just doesn’t resonate with you. That’s okay! Come and tell us how much you didn’t like it! All we ask is that you try.
- No Guests: Sadness, we know! We are all about the more the merrier, but there must be a limit to the number of attendees at any one event. Events fill up really fast and so unless the event allows you to add a guest (which will be very rare) your guest must create a Meetup account and rsvp for themselves as a member. Yay new members!
- Liability Waiver: By signing up for an event, all members take full responsibility for their own actions and agree to adhere to the following terms and conditions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ZE-yUJEcHUnXF_A8MUsfxWhEmrKxZEcojrHh8FjQzc/edit; and further agree to hold harmless the Novel Tourists Book Club organizers and members of this Meetup book club from any and all claims and liability in case of possible injuries as stated in Paragraph 6 of the Meetup Terms of Service Agreement ( https://help.meetup.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027447252-Terms-of-Service#h_9e385395-a405-4361-8afc-854a4f586c82 ). When attending an event, you acknowledge that you are doing this at your own risk.
- Event Payments:
- Name: If your name on your Meetup profile is different than your name on your payment profile (PayPal, Venmo), please provide your meetup name when you make your payment;
- Include Date or Event Title: Please include the date of the event or an indication of the event title (e.g. if we are going to a restaurant put the name of the restaurant not just “restaurant” or “book club.”)
- Be Open-minded, Kind and Courteous: We can’t imagine anyone who loves to read being anything but open-minded, kind and courteous. However, I also know we bibliophiles can have some pretty strong opinions about books! Whether you agree with someone or not, no doubt you came here for a welcoming environment. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required.
- No bullies: Personal attacks of any kind are not allowed. Period. I have zero tolerance for any bullying, degrading comments about another member’s race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity. We are an open and inclusive community and to keep it that way a$$holes will be removed from the group.
- Photos/Videos: Joining the group and attending an event means you’re a-okay with being photographed/video recorded during events. We always takes pics: for the memories and for promotion of future events and NTBC.
- Communication settings: This is just helpful guidance. Events fill up really fast. Make sure your settings are set to maximize communication: Click on your profile pic in Meetup, click Settings, under General select Email Updates, scroll down and find The Novel Tourists Book Club under “Updates about your Group”, click Edit next to The Novel Tourists Book Club and then make your choices. I suggest checking “New Event Announcements,” “Changes to Event Time or Locations,” “My RSVP is confirmed,” and, most importantly: "Announcements to Members About the Group" and “Event updates from Organizer.” Also, you may want to download the Meetup app.
- Carpooling: It’s great for the planet! However, any arrangements are between you and the person driving. The Novel Tourists Book Club organizers and hosts do not provide, endorse, sponsor or take responsibility for any carpool arrangements pertaining to any event. Please use your good judgment when deciding whether or not to carpool with other participants of the book club event you are attending.
- Refund Policy:
- Events with a fee of less than $5: No refunds, even if someone takes your spot. The events fill fast and the only way to really try to make sure that those who are truly interested and able to come get a seat, is a nominal fee. This fee is offered to the event host to pay for their entrance/meal/etc as a way of saying thank you for your time and for putting this together for us.
- Events with a fee greater than $5: The general policy is if the Organizer/Host can get their money back, you’ll get your money back - if you timely cancelled. Once an event location has been paid, however, many times they won’t issue a refund. If they don’t refund us, we can’t refund you regardless of how far in advance you cancelled. That said, sometimes a refund can be issued IF you cancel at least a week in advance AND someone takes your spot. If you want to request a refund, message Audrey via Meetup to discuss. Please note, if you cancel the day before or the day of an event, there are refunds - regardless of the reason and regardless if someone takes your spot.
- If you do not agree to the above terms and conditions, do not sign up for the club. There is probably a different club out there that will better meet your needs.
Happy reading and adventuring!
- Audrey
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Suggest Book 📚for Sept. Theme: 🍎🌻Fall Harvest (Use the Online Google Form)Link visible for attendees
🍂 Suggest a Book for September’s Book Club Theme: Fall Harvest! 🍎🌻🍇
As the air turns crisp and the leaves start to turn, we’re diving into a theme that celebrates the bounty of the season — Fall Harvest! Think books involving apples, grapes, sunflowers, orchards, vineyards, or anything else that captures the magic of this time of year.
📚 Now it’s your turn to plant the seeds!
Use this Google Form to share your book suggestions that fit the Fall Harvest theme — whether it’s set on a farm, in a vineyard, at a harvest festival, or simply features the beauty of nature and abundance.
Let’s find something ripe for discussion! 🙃
After we get your ideas, we’ll pick 4 for you to select a winner!
The poll will close on July 26, so don’t delay!
——
Each month we put out a call for ideas for one book that will have both an online discussion event as well as an inperson event. After you share your ideas, we'll pick four to put out for vote as the Member Choice Book for the month. After the book is chosen…well that’s when the fun begins! Stay tuned for the exciting paired online discussion and in person event!This is not an "event" it is just a post to share the link to suggest the Member Choice Book for this month's theme. But feel free to click "attend" because then Meetup will show this to more people and we'll get lots of great book club book ideas!
🎉Stay connected to other adventurous readers! Join the Novel Tourist online community:
📸Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/thenoveltourist/
🌟Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNovelTouristThanks for participating! Reading books and doing stuff together as a book club brings us all so much joy. 🤩
Audrey and Diane
- July’s Member Choice Online 📚Book Club Book: “The Boxcar Librarian" 🚂Link visible for attendees
July’s book!!! The clear winner was The Boxcar Librarian as the July member choice book for the theme “Transportation.” Woot woot!
Inspired by true events, a thrilling Depression-era novel from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books about a woman’s quest to uncover a mystery surrounding a local librarian and the Boxcar Library—a converted mining train that brought books to isolated rural towns in Montana.
Our online discussion will be the last Monday of July at 7 PM! The event with zoom link will be posted soon!
Stay tuned for the paired inperson adventure!
This is our online book club discussion night (always the last Monday of each month). Zoom link will be posted on the day of the event.
❓Event Review Guidance:
Meetup reviews are now public. Did you love the event? Tell the world with a 5-star rating AND a comment!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I love putting together fun literary adventures and your comments feed my soul. But, if you didn't like something, please don’t submit a negative review — instead, message me (Audrey) directly with your suggestions so we can improve the club together! Also, please remember, you’re reviewing the club experience, not the location. So, for instance, if we go to a play and you didn’t like it, don’t give the Meetup event a negative, it’s not my fault the play stunk. I can’t change what I can’t control.**NOVEL: The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes
Genre: Historical Fiction
Transportation: TrainWhen Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she’s shipped off to Montana to work on the state’s American Guide Series—travel books intended to put the nation’s destitute writers to work.
Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state’s powerful Copper Kings who don’t want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired for the rest of the country to read. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town’s mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe.
More than a decade earlier, Alice Monroe created the Boxcar Library in order to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men longed for entertainment and connection. Alice thought she found the perfect librarian to staff the train car in Colette Durand, a miner’s daughter with a shotgun and too many secrets behind her eyes.
Now, no one in Missoula will tell Millie why both Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned.
The three women’s stories dramatically converge in the search to uncover what someone is so desperately trying to hide: what happened to Colette Durand.
Happy Reading!
Audrey-------------------The below is silly babble just for the algorithm - no need for book club members to read this!-------------------------------
Reading books everywhere including in Philadelphia and New Jersey and thecworkd’s neighborhoods is such a fun way to make new friends and be social with book loving book club members who like to read and explore urban areas and try new activities such as hiking, reading, craft, hobbies, museums and more! It's especially fun for a book club to go on outdoor and indoor adventures with all the book club friends who like to explore and try new hobbies and discuss books and be always - Book Crafts! ✨Bedazzle ✨a ✨📚 Book! (Rescheduled Date)Kahn Park, Philadelphia, PA$8.00
Join Audrey for a ✨ sparkly ✨ night of bedazzling books!📚
We’re going to transform ordinary book into glittery, jeweled masterpieces! All supplies (think gems, glue, and applicators) will be provided, but please bring your own paperback book.🍷 🥨 BYOB / I’ll put out some light snacks.
🏠_Note_: Because this is at my home, this event is only for members who have attended at least one prior event. If I haven’t met you before, I encourage you to sign up for an upcoming public event and we can be crafty friends next time!
💰FEE: $8 covers supplies. Limited to 10 people. First pay, first sparkle!
HOW TO PAY: Use Friends and Family! Do not use the business option because it charges a fee. Please note the event name or date on your payment.
Venmo - @audrey-Heller1 (phone ends in 4478)
PayPal - https://www.paypal.me/AudreyBug
------
🎉Stay Connected! Join the Novel Tourist online community:
📸Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/thenoveltourist/
🌟Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNovelTourist
------
🖌️THE CRAFT: Bedazzled BooksThink glitzy, gaudy, or glam—whatever your sparkle style, we’ll turn plain books into conversation pieces.
All bedazzling supplies provided, but please bring your own paperback book to use for your project.
📍WHERE: Audrey’s house
Washington Square West, Philadelphia (Exact location provided after your RSVP is confirmed).🚗 🚏Parking & Transit: Street parking is available but not always easy to find. There’s a garage nearby at 11th & Walnut. The PATCO line and bus stops are an easy walk.
----------------------- No need to read the below - it is just for the silly new Meetup algorithm --------\
Bring your creativity and curiosity to craft-centered event and be social and make new adventurous book loving friends. We’ll chat about our current hobbies and book club passions and picks while engaging in hands-on DIY craft projects—perfect for readers who love turning literary inspiration and books into art. great for people to socialize and do hobbies together. book club hobbies are the best fun.