Computer technology has not only started the evolution of paper books into e-books, but has also provided the means — via the Internet — for readers to participate in book e-clubs. Instead of getting together periodically with other readers in someone’s living room to discuss a book, you can now meet virtually on-line. While you lose out on the advantages of face-to-face communication and socialization — not to mention the munchies — you have the ability to create groups tailored to specific genres, authors, or whatever suits your fancy.

Web sites such as Goodreads.com have all sorts of groups. I’ve been a fairly active member there in the SciFi and Fantasy eBook club, where we choose one science fiction and one fantasy e-book for each month (i.e. two books per month), then share our thoughts about them. I was on the hook to come up with candidate titles for the April science fiction selection, and so far we’ve had over 100 people vote on them, which would seem to indicate the group is growing, perhaps with people who received e-readers over the past holidays.

A different sort of e-book e-club I’ve participated in from time to time is the Quasi-Official Book Game Klub at KindleBoards.com. In this online club, each monthly participant is given another participant for whom they are to select an e-book, while another participant will pick one for them to read. The idea here is to get you to try something a bit outside of your usual comfort zone. Sometimes it works great for me, and other times it has reinforced why I don’t read certain types of books.

If any of you loyal (or even disloyal) readers participate in e-book clubs and/or book e-clubs, how about sharing a link in the comments here?