More than 200 people have registered for the inaugural Straits Times (ST) Book Club, which will debut at the National Library Board headquarters on Wednesday.
The re-branded book club, which takes over the newspaper's nonfiction book club The Big Read Meet, will open with ST senior writer Wong Kim Hoh's latest book, Big Hearts, Big Dreams.
He will discuss the compilation of inspiring stories about the 2015 and 2016 ST Singaporean of the Year nominees with ST executive editor Sumiko Tan.
The Big Read Meet, which was run by ST and the National Library Board (NLB) since 2013 and hosted by former ST senior writer Cheong Suk-Wai, took a break from late last year.
The ST Book Club runs every last Wednesday of the month, with a new slate of ST journalists moderating sessions on new titles. The club will focus on books by local writers, something which former Big Read Meet enthusiast Vicky Chong, 52, looks forward to.
"I used to rarely read local authors and I hope that this club will spur me to read more local non-fiction books which aren't about self-improvement," says Ms Chong, who is pursuing a master's in creative writing at Lasalle College of the Arts.
"I'd like to read more about inspiring people, like the ones in Mr Wong's book."
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BOOK IT / THE STRAITS TIMES BOOK CLUB
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WHERE: Programme Zone, Central Public Library, Basement 1 National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street
WHEN: Wednesday, 7 to 8.30pm
INFO: Sign up at NLB e-Kiosks or go to str.sg/oSZe
Big Hearts, Big Dreams will be sold at the event at a discounted price of $14 (usual price $25).
Other books that will be sold there at discounts of up to 50 per cent include Sundays With Sumiko by Ms Tan and It Changed My Life by Mr Wong, as well as Lee's Lieutenants by Dr Kevin Tan and Dr Lam Peng Er, which will be discussed at the next book club session on April 25.
Straits Times Press general manager Susan Long says: "We hope this will be a treasured place for lovers of books to exchange thoughts and ideas and have a good laugh together."
