Welcome to the Club

Nau Mai!

Make new friends, be exposed to new ideas, get serious, or have a laugh.

Book clubs are an interesting and inspiring way to read, share, and connect with others in a relaxed way.

Book Discussion Scheme is proud to be partnering with Narrative Muse to bring you the Narrative Muse Book Club — a chance for you to enjoy a year of social reading with books that celebrate Māori, Pasifika, Asian, Rainbow and Oceania stories.

Simply gather a group of between 4 and 12 people, choose which books you’d like to read from our curated list, and register with BDS. We'll take care of all the logistics of the book club (like providing enough copies for everyone and monthly delivery) so you can focus on going deeper with your reading by sharing the experience with your book club buddies.

Join from anywhere in NZ, at any time of the year, and enjoy some sweet discounts exclusively for Narrative Muse Book Clubbers.

Read on to find out how it all works, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your questions.

What is it?

Who is it for?

Why join?

Cost

How to join

Books

What is the Narrative Muse Book Club?

The Narrative Muse Book Club is a combined initiative with Narrative Muse, a team working to uplift diverse creators and storytellers, and Book Discussion Scheme, New Zealand’s non-profit provider of services to book clubs. Together, we’ve created a reading list of in-common titles from Narrative Muse curations and the BDS catalogue that encompass one or more of the following subject streams: Māori, Pasifika, Asian, Rainbow, Set in Oceania.

If you register as a Narrative Muse Book Club, BDS will send your group ten books of your choice from the list, one a month for ten months, with enough copies for everyone to read the book at the same time. You then meet to discuss what you’ve read — so you benefit from the shared perspectives of your group and get to enjoy a fun monthly social event. Ka rawe! Awesome!

Who is it for?

Anyone can participate in the Narrative Muse Book Club (as long as you are not already a member of BDS) and you can start at any time during the year. You just need at least four people to start your club.

BDS operate nationwide, so you can participate from anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Why join?

Narrative Muse Book Groups receive the following exclusive benefits:

Savings!

$35 membership fee* (normally $82)
No registration fee (normally $30)

Convenience!

Lower minimum group number of four (normally seven) to help you get established
A curated list of titles to help make your book choices easier

Also, this! (The best bit)

Opportunity to read content that features Māori, Pasifika, Asian, Rainbow and Oceania stories

*discounted membership fee is valid for one year for new Narrative Muse Book Groups only. If your book club decides to continue for another year, the full BDS catalogue will be available to choose from (including the Narrative Muse Book Club list) and the full membership fee and usual group minimums will apply.

What's the cost?

Narrative Muse and Book Discussion Scheme want to make it as easy as possible for groups to participate in the Narrative Muse Book Club, so here’s what you’ll get:

Ten book sets delivered anywhere in NZ (normally $82 per person + $30 per group registration fee)

For the special price of:

$35 per person
+ optional $125 per group (if requiring x10 return courier bags for the books)

Narrative Muse Book Groups also only need a minimum of four members to get started (normally seven) so you can start experiencing the benefits of book group without having to get a larger group together.

If you want to grow your numbers, it’s also free to advertise your group to prospective members here on the BDS website.

How do we join?

The first step is to get at least three mates to join you. After that, registering is easy and BDS takes care of all the logistics of running your book club — so you can focus on enjoying your books and meetings.

To participate, simply follow the five ‘R’s

Step One: Rally

Gather a group of between four and 12 members for your book club
Nominate a coordinator. They’ll be responsible for handing out and returning the books. If you’re outside of Christchurch* we’ll send your book sets to their address.
Choose a monthly meeting day that works for everyone

Step Two: Register

Complete the registration form ensuring you:

Choose 25** titles from our curated list of Narrative Muse Book Club titles
Include a name and email address for each member
Pay your discounted book club membership fee

Step Three: Read

Books start arriving (or are ready for pick up) about seven days before each of your monthly meetings
Read one book each month
Meet to discuss each book with your group

Step Four: Return

Return each book set to BDS within seven days of your meeting.
Overdue books may delay your next set, so make use of our convenient return courier bags which enable you to book a pick-up online. BDS HQ in Christchurch also provides an after hours dropbox for returns.

Step Five: Review

BDS invite your group to send us a rating and review of each title you receive. The coordinator can submit this online or fill out the feedback slip included in your book parcel and send it back to us with each book set.

By the way, the more reviews a title has, the easier it is for other book clubs to decide if it’s something they’d like to read — so by submitting a review, you’re also helping promote the stories that had the most impact on your group 💗

Really like reviewing?

Enquire about joining the volunteer BDS reviewers network, where you can read newly published books in return for submitting a review which helps us decide if they should be added to the BDS catalogue. In particular, we’d like reviewers for sci-fi and fantasy books that might have a wider appeal. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you’re interested.
You can also join Narrative Muse as a curator, submitting detailed reviews on — not only the books you’ve read — but the films and TV shows you’ve watched. Shine a light on the stories that resonate with you and help others discover them too!

*Christchurch-based groups have the option of picking up and dropping off their books at BDS HQ in Sydenham

**Why 25 titles when we only receive ten? You can rank your titles in order of preference and BDS will dispatch from the top of your list first, as long as sufficient copies are available at that time. Book groups normally receive books from their top 15 picks, but due to the unpredictable nature of returns (think: COVID, floods, life), choosing 25 means we have an emergency buffer.

Visit our FAQs page for more information on how BDS book groups work

Narrative Muse Book List

When you register, you'll select 25 titles from this curated list for your book club. About seven days before your first book club meeting, you'll receive the first of your chosen titles, with enough copies for everyone to read the same book at the same time — reading is better when done together!