Avid reader or not, you might find the Hyogo AJET Book Club has something for you. We tend to gather every two months at a nice little side-street café in Kobe to chat about our most recent read.
Members of the book club come from all over Hyogo so it’s a great chance to meet new people or re-connect with friends further afield. It’s a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere (we’d like to think!) and all about democracy when it comes to choosing the next book. All the books are suggested and voted by the members so we’ve had a range of genres, from a thriller by S.J Watson: Before I Go To Sleep, to a story about suicide in Japan, Ruth Ozeki’s: A Tale For The Time Being.
We get lots of great suggestions and obviously not all of them can be picked so we file them away onto our virtual bookshelf- take a look at our goodreads account.
It’s as much about the venue as it is about the reading! Past places include Macha Macha whose pizza oven is the centrepiece and glory of this low-lit, popular eatery and Café Mamounia, a quirky coffee quarter.
So do you like reading? Do you like coffee? Do you like eating? Do you like Kobe? Do you like people? Do you get bored sometimes at school and need something to do/look forward to? If you answered ‘yes’ to at least one of them, please consider joining in for the next book!
All event details are on the Hyogo AJET Facebook page. Click ‘going’ and grab a copy of the book!
If you’re still not convinced, see what the book clubbers had to say about it all in the Hyogo Times.
-Sean Mulvihill
Book Clubber’s Tip
“For anyone who can’t find a hard copy of a book, you can always buy the e-book version. There are a number of apps and programmes you can download for free to read e-books with on your computer. Here is one that I use which can read e-books in any format (.epub, .mobi, .pdf) http://calibre-ebook.com/
–Jess, Kita-ku, Kobe.
The Next Book Club:
Please see the Hyogo AJET Facebook Group for the most current book.
Past Books and Venues (where available)
(23) Howl’s Moving Castle (September 2017)
(22) Guns, Germs and Steel (June 2017)
(21) 1Q84 (April 2017)
(20) The Magicians (March 2017)
(19) Confessions of a Mask (January 2017)
(18) Stardust (November 2016)
(17) Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls (September 2016)
(16) The Wind Up Girl (June 2016)
(15) Burial Rites (April 2016)
(14) Slade House (January 2015)
(13) Neverwhere (October 2015)
(12) Real World (October 2015)
(11) Oryx and Crake (September 2015)
(10) From the Fatherland with Love by Ryu Murakami. Nomadika (June 2015)
(9) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Akashi Castle. (April 2015)
(8) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Ellen Forney (Illustrator). Loco’s Kitchen OluOlu (January 2015)
(7) The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. Ripples Cafe and Restaurant (November 2014)
(6) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Bambino Kobe Coffee (September? 2014)
(5) 1Q84 (Book 1 & 2) by Haruki Murakami. Nomadika(June 2014)
(4) Ender’s Game: 1 (The Ender Quintet) by Orson Scott Card. Rough Rare (April 2014)
(3) A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Bo Tambourine Café (February 2014)
(2) Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith. Macha Macha (December 2013)
(1) Before I Go To Sleep, S.J Watson. Café Mamounia (October 2013)