How It Works

We have created a virtual book club specifically for Oxford alumni, covering lifelong learning, personal growth, novels and other books selected by our participants. The book club will connect through a private forum where all participants can discuss the current book and exchange ideas with each other. Joining is completely free, you just have to get a copy of the book to read along. The group will read one book every two months so that you'll have plenty of time to digest each book.

Our May to July Selection:

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All Souls:

A Novel

by Javier Marías

Why Join

1. Connect with fellow Oxford alumni: Want a way to connect with other Oxford alumni you may normally never meet? Joining our book club will help you learn and grow with fellow alumni to help you improve your network and get perspectives on the texts from alumni all over the world.
2. Advance your career: A book club can enhance your career on two fronts. First, the books you read may make you more effective in areas critical to success like leadership, communication and productivity. Second, the network you'll be building may help you with career advice, introduce you to new people and find your next job.
3. Reading is good for you: Take the time to enjoy reading for its own sake. In our busy lives, we rarely take the time to stop and enjoy the simple pleasure of reading. It can therefore be useful to have a peer group reading along with you to motivate you to keep reading and thinking critically about the texts.

The Books

Below are a few examples of the kind of books the group may read. We will vote between several options each period and select a book based on reader interests.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How often will books be read, what is the time commitment and what are the expectations?

We plan to start the book club by reading one book every two months. The texts selected will be lifelong learning, personal growth, novels and other topics and take an average of nine hours to read cover to cover. If you have between 1 and 2 hours a week to read you should be fine.

Will there be any in-person meetings of the book club?

No, the book club will be entirely online. You can participate anywhere you have Internet access and on days and times that are convenient to you.

Is there any cost to participate?

Participation is free for all alumni and friends!

How do I get the books?

Participants can get books for free at their local library or purchase them.

How do book club discussions work?

The book club will have a moderator from PBC Guru who manages the forum where discussions occur online. The moderator will pose questions to the book club, share relevant articles and facilitate conversation about topics in the book. Members will be encouraged to post and share as well. This format allows for ongoing conversation and makes it easy for readers to connect with each other through the forum.

How do I make a forum profile?

We're using a private forum to host the virtual book club so it's easy to connect with fellow alumni. During our sign up process, you will enter the information to auto-generate your free profile. After you complete the sign up, we'll send you a link to the forum and you can begin to post right away!

What exactly is PBC Guru and what do they have to do with the book club?

Professional Book Club (PBC) Guru is a book club management company that works with businesses, alumni associations and professional societies. We are teaming up with PBC to put this program in place for alumni and friends. You can check out their website at www.pbc.guru if you want to see more of what they do.

I've already signed up. How do I log in?

If you are already a member, you can click here to log in.

What if my question isn't answered?

Feel free to send an email to info@pbc.guru and we will be happy to help.