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Story: Women’s networks and clubs

Women's book group, 2010

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Women's book group, 2010

Women's book groups, a new development in the long tradition of women's self-improvement organisations, have proliferated since the 1990s. This one was set up in 2005. Its members take turns to host monthly meetings in their own homes, where they discuss what they have been reading and swap books. Socialising, drinking and eating are an important part of the occasion. New members are recruited through existing friendship circles, and there has never been any suggestion of inviting men in this instance. Some book groups, however, have both male and female members.

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by Kristine Keir

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Women’s networks and clubs – Women’s self-improvement groups, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31013/womens-book-group-2010 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 7 April 2011.