Gauging interest: Starting a "Beer & Book" club in downtown Toronto? 🍻📖
Hey everyone,
I’ve been living in Toronto for a while now, and while it's an amazing city, we all know it can sometimes be a bit of a grind to meet new people and build a solid social circle outside of work.
I’m a 35 year old Irish guy, living downtown, and I’m looking to start a monthly "Beer & Book" club. The concept is pretty simple: we pick a great book, meet up at a local brewery downtown once a month, grab a pint (or a cider/non-alcoholic option), and chat about it.
The Vibe: Completely low-pretension and high-engagement. You don’t need a literature degree, and you don’t need to have deep, academic takes. It's an excuse to read some books we actually want to read, support great local spots, have a laugh, and meet some new people. If you didn't quite finish the book but still want to come out for the social side, you're welcome!
How it’ll work:
- When: Once a month, likely a mid-week evening (Tuesday or Wednesday) when breweries are a bit quieter and we can actually hear each other talk.
- Where: Rotating through local spots across downtown/West End (places like Bellwoods, Burdock, Left Field Liberty Village, Collective Arts, etc.).
- The Books: To keep it accessible and budget-friendly, I’m planning on leveraging the Toronto Public Library’s "Book Club in a Bag" service, so we can get free copies for the group. Open to all genres - gripping narrative non-fiction, fiction, sci-fi, etc.
Interested or want to join? To keep the conversation flowing and make sure we can all sit around a table together, I'm thinking of capping the active meetups at around 12–15 people per session, but if there's a lot of interest we can easily figure out a rotation or system.
If this sounds like you would be interested in, drop a comment below! If we get a core group interested, I’ll set up a simple group chat (WhatsApp) so we can vote on the first book, pick a date for August, and lock in our first brewery.
Cheers! 🍻