About us
Join other book lovers for adventures in reading and real life! LOVE TO READ AND TRY NEW ACTIVITIES?
Join this unique book club where we will casually discuss a book while engaging in an activity or exploring a location inspired by the book! This will be a no-pressure book club. If you don't finish the book or didn't like it, no problem. Please join us anyway for a meal and an event. We’d love to get to know you!
Newsletter/FB group: Meetup isn’t great at sending out notifications, so to stay up to date with the latest book and activity pairings, sign up for the newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/fc5e0725650d/thenoveltourist and join the community on our Facebook group: [https://www.facebook.com/share/z7aGScVNC95MEbi6/ ](https://www.facebook.com/share/z7aGScVNC95MEbi6/)
Audrey, the club founder also posts regularly on books and book pairings on Instagram via @thenoveltourist
This will be a great way to meet fellow book lovers who also want to live a well-read and well-rounded, adventurous life. Most of the activities will take place in and around Cecil and Harford Counties and surrounding areas. Sometimes we will branch out to further areas.
Are you ready for a new book and a new activity? Grab that book (or eBook) and let's go explore together!
Diane and Audrey
Upcoming events
3
- $65.00
READ: "The Bookbinders Secret"/EVENT: Book Binding Workshop
North East Branch Library, 485 Mauldin Ave, North East, MD, USThis month, we'll be exploring the art of book binding. This will be a hands-on event with the instructor, Bria, from Build-A-Book, LLC. The workshop includes all materials and instructions needed to bind your own hard cover book.
I will provide lunch, (salad, soup and/or sandwiches) snacks and drinks. I'm really looking forward to this one.
We'll have lunch and book discussion at 12:00 and Bria will arrive at 12:30 to begin the workshop.
LOCATION: North East Library, 485 Mauldin Avenue, North East, MD
FEE: $65 per person, which includes all materials and instructions
1/2 ($32.50) is payable when you register to attend to:Venmo: @diane-flemming-2 (last four of phone number: 8037) or
PayPal: @dianeflemmingThe remainder will be paid directly to the instructor the day of the event.
Please read the refund policy below.
LUNCH: I'll provide, lunch, snacks and drinks. (Please provide any foods you won't eat or any allergies in the question section below)
NOVEL: The Bookbinders Secret by A.D. Bell
GENRE: Historical Fiction
From Amazon:Every book tells a story. This one tells a secret.
A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder. Now a USA Today bestseller!
Lilian ("Lily") Delaney, apprentice to a master bookbinder in Oxford in 1901, chafes at the confines of her life. She is trapped between the oppressiveness of her father’s failing bookshop and still being an apprentice in a man’s profession. But when she’s given a burned book during a visit to a collector, she finds, hidden beneath the binding, a fifty-year-old letter speaking of love, fortune, and murder.
Lily is pulled into the mystery of the young lovers, a story of forbidden love, and discovers there are more books and more hidden pages telling their story. Lilian becomes obsessed with the story but she is not the only one looking for the remaining books and what began as a diverting intrigue quickly becomes a very dangerous pursuit.
Lily's search leads her from the eccentric booksellers of London to the private libraries of unscrupulous collectors and the dusty archives of society papers, deep into the heart of the mystery. But with sinister forces closing in, willing to do anything for the books, Lilian’s world begins to fall apart and she must decide if uncovering the truth is worth the risk to her own life.
Happy Reading,
Diane and Kelly
3 attendees 
Online discussion of March’s member choice book - The Bookbinder’s Secret 📕
·OnlineOnlineWe have a winner! The Bookbinder’s Secret by A.D. Bell won the popular vote for March’s Member Choice Book!
Online discussion as always on the last Monday of the month at 7pm.
‼️Stay tuned for the paired in-person adventure! It's definitely going to be bookish!
Zoom link will be posted on the day of the event.
🎉Want more ideas for bookish fun? Join the Novel Tourist online community:
📸Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/thenoveltourist/
🌟Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNovelTourist📚**NOVEL: _The Bookbinder’s Secret _by A.D. Bell
Genre: Historical FictionEvery book tells a story. This one tells a secret.
A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder. Read more
❓Event Review Guidance:
Meetup reviews are now public. Did you love the event? Tell the world with a 5-star rating AND a comment!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------The below is silly babble just for the algorithm - no need for book club members to read the below
Reading books everywhere including in Philadelphia and Maryland and the world’s neighborhoods is such a fun way to make new friends and be social with book loving book club members who like to read and explore urban areas and try new activities such as hiking, reading, craft, hobbies, museums and more! It's especially fun for a book club to go on outdoor and indoor adventures with all the book club friends who like to explore and try new hobbies and go on day trips.4 attendees
EVENT: NCCo Reads Evening with the Author/READ: "The First Ladies"
Chase Center, 815 S. Justison St, Wilmington, DE, USOnce again this year, we'll be hosting the New Castle County Reads Evening with the Author. This is always an informative and fun night as we hear directly from one of the authors of the book. We'll meet before the event at Timothy's to discuss this wonderful book. After dinner, we'll walk or drive over to the event. If you're not joining us at the restaurant, please meet in the lobby of the Chase Center around 6:50.
Event Description: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is the 2026 selection for New Castle County Reads. A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—an unlikely friendship that changed the world.
Co-author Victoria Christopher Murray will join New Castle County Libraries for a discussion of the book. Victoria Christopher Murray is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of more than 30 novels, including the New York Times Instant Best Seller, The Personal Librarian, also co-written with Marie Benedict.You must: Register for the Event.
DINNER/5:30: Timothy's on the Riverfront
930 Justison Street, Wilmington, DE
302.429.7427
MENUEVENT LOCATION/7:00: Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington, DE
NOVEL: The First Ladies
Genre: Historical Fiction
From Amazon:The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends confiding their secrets, hopes and dreams—and holding each other’s hands through tragedy and triumph.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, the two women begin to collaborate more closely, particularly as Eleanor moves toward her own agenda separate from FDR, a consequence of the devastating discovery of her husband’s secret love affair. Eleanor becomes a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly on civil rights. And when she receives threats because of her strong ties to Mary, it only fuels the women’s desire to fight together for justice and equality.
This is the story of two different, yet equally formidable, passionate, and committed women, and the way in which their singular friendship helped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement.Happy Reading,
Diane and Kelly
7 attendees
Past events
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