Welcome to beautiful Portland -- home of #YASummerShowdown participants, the Portland FYA Book Club!
Which club are y’all from?
We are from Portland, OR and surrounding areas. We have a Facebook group and the #FYAPDX Tumblr.
When did your club get started?
August 2013.
Where is your club’s fave hangout?
We’ve recently started meeting at Deschutes Brewery in downtown Portland, though we’ve also met several times at Mcmenamins in Beaverton.
What has been your club’s favourite book club pick so far? What did y’all like about it?
Everyone who met to talk about Ask the Passengers by A.S. King really enjoyed the book overall. One member felt like the portrayal of the main character’s narcissistic mother and the reactionary behavior of each family member was very realistic. Those of us from a small town definitely felt like A.S. King did a great job of portraying how suffocating it can be to live in that environment. We also agreed that the downplaying of the sexual aspect of Astrid’s coming out was refreshing.
Which FYA book club selection has been the most divisive? What separated the people who loved it from the people who hated it?
I’m not sure we’ve ever been divided on a book? I’m trying to remember if we’ve ever been divided at all. Maybe that long one—Diviners? Or Eleanor & Park? It seems like generally we all have similar tastes and reactions?
If you could have any YA author visit your club, who would it be and what’s the number one question you would ask him/her?
Not sure about this. Maybe what character was easiest to write, and which is most like themselves.
What kind of extracurricular activities has your club participated in?
So far we teamed up with the Vancouver, WA book club to see The Fault in Our Stars at a really cool theater called Cinetopia. We met for drinks beforehand and enjoyed the “living room” experience of food service and cushy chairs with foot rests.
Inter-club meet-up -- so cool!
What’s the best part about being in a FYA book club?
One of the best parts of this book club is getting the opportunity to discuss not only the YA book of that month but our own favorite YA books. It’s always a great experience to share the love of books with a group of people who are eager for recommendations and give you great titles to read as well. Most of the members are young mothers so it’s also just a relaxing time to take a break from the stress of life.
Thanks for stopping by, Portland FYABC! You can them on Facebook or Goodreads, or just show up at their next meeting! And look back on their #YASummerShowdown adventures on the #FYAPDX Tumblr!
Want to join an FYA Book Club? We've got locations worldwide! Don't have one near you? Grab a cocktail, send us an email, and start one today!