Meet Twitter's Reading Club

Happy times are here. Books are finally becoming cool again.

In a fast-paced world where there's a new hashtag to follow, a new trend to talk about, a new force has risen, 140 characters at a time. It is The Twitter Reading Club, and it has earned the rights to be called the Official Twitter Book club, by popular opinion of course.

The goal is clear; to read at least 50 books in 2015 alone!

We spoke to TRC about their inspirations and what they hope to become in this interview:

What's TRC about?

An initiative to drive the reading culture via social media.

What do you think about the "Nigerians don't read talk". Did it in any way inspire the birth of TRC?

The whole idea behind the read club can be linked to that statement, however indirectly. On a general note, the statement is somewhat true. But there are factors - the interest, the availability of materials

So basically, TRC was born to counter the "Nigerians don't read" theory?

Yes, by introducing interest.

What’s a week like at TRC?

Reading, note-taking, research, mails (notifications and requests), blog updates, tweets. We do twice as much reading as the readers over here because the 'selling point' is the discussion day. And it has to be engaging.

What's a week like for the TRC reader?

A read club member only has to read and finish in one week. It could be tasking and that's the fun in it. Some members have a time table. Reading on the way to work, way back from work, some in the early morning, others late at night. It's like a race. Then, the discussion day is when we all converge to share our adventure through the pages of the books

When is discussion day?

Fridays, 8pm (GMT+1). We have readers from different parts of the world which is why we specify the exact time zone.

Do you have any idea how large the club is currently?

2,707 twitter followers. Since we are only on twitter, that's like the actual size of the club

How are books to be read for the week selected?

Suggestions from readers, then TRC groups the books, put 5 up for voting per week, readers vote, the book with the highest number of votes is read. Voting is done at the last week of the month. All the books to be read for the next month are voted at once. This system was Introduced to cater for people who can't finish a book in one week. So, once you know all the books to be read in a month, you can decide to read that for week 2 starting from the beginning of the month and give yourself a 2-week space to read.

Are there plans for any offline activities and meet-ups?

No meet-up plans from TRC for now. But there's something similar, that TRC is partnering with, which is Bookbarter

BookBarter? Like book swaps and all? Tell me about it.

Yeah, a book exchange party. You bring books you have and exchange for books you want. You also get to buy books at a reduced rate. Once a month. It starts in Lagos this month

Is there a date already?

End of April. The date will be communicated via @BookBarterNG on twitter

Is there any special preference to local literature? Like is there a special slot for Nigerian literature in the shortlisted books for a week?

African literature, yes. For the last two months, we've had a week strictly for African authors

Are there efforts to provide an audience for unpublished writers?

Yeah, we feature writers on our blog. Anyone with a story can share on our blog

TheReadClubInfo.WordPress.com

What do you see TRC becoming in the next, say one year?

A synonym for reading. Big enough to be subconscious. TRC would have made readers and bibliophiles. It would have changed the reading experience.

Now, wouldn't you rather join the movement?