The  Chicago Business Blogging Academy - is where small business owners, local business SEOs, internet marketers, Social Media players, entrepreneurs, start uppers, bloggers and writers gather...online and in person to learn and do things right. Ask your self these questions - How much would you pay for 1. A website evaluation from an SEO, traffic and business blogging expert? Read what people pay me for website evaluations. (The earlier you get in the higher the likelihood of getting an evaluat …

Have you ever wanted to read the books you hear everyone talking about? Here's your chance! Anyone is welcome to this casual monthly book group. Each month, we'll have an informal discussion of that month's selection. Togther we will choose next month's book. Suggestions welcome!

This group is for anyone interested in learning about speed reading. Help us organize speed reading classes in your area. Free Speed Reading Class - Watch it Now! Iris speed reading classes are held in major cities throughout the U.S. Help us reach out to even more people by organizing sessions in your city!

This group is about making friends over a good bottle of wine and (hopefully) a great book. We will pick a book each month and meet to discuss the likes, loves, and dislikes. Would like to branch out to other adventures once this meetup starts to help foster friendships. All are welcome.

What would happen if you took a culinary club full of fun foodies and added gourmet reading and travel? Join us for exciting culinary and literary adventures here in Chicago and around the world!  If you enjoy eating, reading, writing, cooking, dining out, reviewing great restaurants and immersing yourself in fascinating new cultures and cuisines, Litereati is for you. Whether you're a professional chef, a food blogger or just someone who enjoys good food and good books shared with friends, you' …

The River North Fiction Book Club is a community of christian fiction lovers coming together to read great fiction, share personal insights, grow in faith, and inform the publishing process. River North Fiction is an imprint of Moody Publishers. Benefits include: * Free books in exchange for online reviews * A voice in the fiction publishing process - help us choose covers, rate manuscripts, help select titles for future projects, give content & marketing ideas. * Future studio attendence …

The objective of the Big Picture Book Club is focus on and discuss books addressing the big questions of human history, science and technology, social and political issues, the future, and how we, as individuals, can flourish and even make a difference in the Big Picture. You can check out an initial list of books we're interested in here. No one can read every book for every meeting. In each meeting notice, there are at least a few online "book content cheats," including links materials about t …

Have you been looking for a place to share musings on your latest novel? Would you like to meet more people in Chicago's literary community? Are you curious to hear others opine on their recent reads? Fabulous -- welcome to the Open Book Club! The Open Book Club meets monthly for casual conversation followed by discussion questions moderated by Open Books staff. All are welcome and there is no monthly commitment. Come read with us! Second Tuesday of each month at 6 pm at the Open Books store. FR …

The Chicago UX Book Club is part of the international UX Book Club network. Join us for monthly book discussions and the opportunity to interact with students and professionals looking to share their passion and knowledge of UX, IA, UI, IxD, etc. Each month, we will choose a book or article to read and discuss. You don't have to read the book to attend -- just come with an open mind and an interest in the subject. We are also open to discussion suggestions and presentations by members related to …

We are an established book group that is looking to expand our membership. We meet at 2:00 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month. We are co-ed; most current members are over 40 but we welcome members of any age. We read fiction and non-fiction; usually books are chosen by group consensus.

Looking for like-minded folks who dig super-contemporary fiction and are dying to talk books! If you read newer stuff like Murakami, Junot Diaz, Jonathan Franzen, DFW, Jennifer Egan (also the best of non-fiction) I think you'll like us. Meetings are once a month in the Ukrainian Village / blue line area. Guys and ladies 25-40ish who are serious about reading and want awesome book club selections, please join!

What better way to start 2013 than to read books set in Chicago! We meet up locally – surrounding western suburbs area – for the book discussion. Whether it be a café, lounge...what a way to spend a few hours for a book discussion, build friendships, and consume a bite to eat and a drink as well! So join us! :)

Are you a music fan?  Are you intrigued by your music idols, curious about how they got to where they are, and what inspires and makes them tick?  Are you a former groupie, feeling nostalgic? If so, meet up at our next Rock and Roll Book Gig, where we'll read the memoirs of our favorite musicians and rap about them at a local tavern.  Hell, if they're on tour, maybe we'll catch their next show! Become a fan, suggest some artists, and let’s get rockin’.

I'm starting this group to encourage myself to read more and to meet new folks in the neighborhood. Join if: You are in your 30s You live in or around West Lakeview. You want to meet folks in the neighborhood to discuss books with and potentially become friends with as well. You like to have lively discussions. The group Meetups will be capped at around 30 people to keep it manageable.

A book club for mystery lovers! We will read new authors as well as the classics. Explore what makes a great mystery. Socialize and have fun.

Every year brings the hottest diet and latest exercise craze.  Are they the best or just the most popular? Should we eat a low-carb diet?  Buy a juicer?  How do we stick with an exercise program for months, or even years? This is no ordinary book club.  We are here to explore literature that help us better understand the fitness journey: diet, exercise, motivation, lifestyle. My name is Daniel Lona, and I'm a kettlebell instructor and nutritional coach, and now proud organizer of this unique and …

I would love to meet other women in the Skokie area who are working professionals and love reading! Let's start a book discussion group with slightly older women, 50ish, who would love to laugh, talk, and enjoy great books!

Love good wine, reading books, & discussing ideas with other friendly people? Then come join us at our monthly discussions while enjoying wine at House Red! The goal is to have fun discussing & sharing our thoughts & ideas on the literature we've read over glasses of wine. The group is new (Spring 2012) & was started with a small group that met at a wine bar. We're growing now & would like to welcome new members. I've noticed many groups are women only; we aren't gender restrictive, but you must …

Celebrate your freedom to read! BANNED! is the perfect book club for anyone who enjoys reading and thinks that literary censorship has gone a little too far. We will be working through the Banned and Challenged Book list from the Radcliff Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century as well as the NCTE Banned and Challenged Book list and will be discussing not only the book, but why it has been banned or challenged in the US and if we agree that it should be banned from our libraries and …

This is a book club dedicated to exploring great writings about the environment. We will discuss both the great past works and their influence on society as well as explore the pioneering notions and ideas found in the present literature.  Field trips, lectures and other activities will supplement the reading (or provide a way for our fellow Naturalist Book Lovers to get to know each other better).

Inspired by Kinna Reads' Africa Reading Challenge, I decided to create an offline space to share my newfound appreciation for African literature. If you are interested in reading books from the African diaspora (with emphasis on authors from Africa and the Caribbean), join us! Check us out on Tumblr: http://CHI-ReadingAfrica.tumblr.com & on GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/87568-chicago-reading-africa

Have you read the Fifty Shades books by E.L. James? Multiple times? If you'd like to talk about Anastasia and Christian with other devotees, please join us. We'll delve into the characters, plot lines, and what makes these books so compelling to so many people.

Guess what! You are not the only person who finds it a bit challenging to make new friends at a nightclub. You are also not the only person who is concerned with having money to pay for important things (such as shelter and the occasional dentist appointment, maybe) but unwilling to surrender to a life of Stouffer's frozen dinners! Welcome to Cheap Eats, Good Reads. Here are the goals of this group: 1) Meet friends. 2) Eat good food that is also cheap. 3) Talk about interesting things. Every mon …

Come on out and experience our Public Library systems! We participate in many FREE EVENTS... Free (or at nominal fees) Movies, Concerts, Book Club, Coffees, Lectures, Reading Programs, Book Mobiles, Friends of Library fundraisers and programs, Used book sales, after school reading programs for your kids, and much much more. Join here to be kept abreast of what is going on at your local library! [Chicago & Suburban Libraries Please Click Here] (to see the best layout for creating your profile fo …

This club is for anyone (chico or chica!) who loves to dive in and digest the wisdom from authors like Williamson, Chopra, Dyer, and so on. I started this group because the only thing I love more than reading these books is discussing the self-growth and awareness with like-minded folks! We'll start by taking a few weeks to read the same book and then meet discuss our impressions in the Streeterville/Gold Coast area. My hope is that this group opens up hearts and minds, along with formulates n …

We hope to critique each other's drafts of all sorts in a mutually supportive and awesome environment. This group is invite-only to ensure that we stay tiny (hence the name). We meet about twice a month and share drafts to read a few days in advance. We're into all sorts of writing styles, from humorous to serious to abstract. Many of us are sex-positive feminists; if you're not down with that please don't apply.

Meeting to discuss our own poetry. Working out chinks in the armor, making improvements, listening for sounds, searching for themes and generally becoming more self-aware as a writer, as well as learning to become better self-critics. And of course a good place to chat with other poets and find community, and lay it on thick with pet peeves regarding the state of poetry. We would also go to occasional readings and maybe if everyone is up to it to an Open Mic as well. We will begin by meeting o …

We're making reading a social activity. In this group, we'll gather for 'independent reading' time (my favorite part of elementary school!), outdoors when possible. The idea is very simple. Meet up, read together for a while and then follow up with discussion, reading suggestions and general mingling. We'll also have special 'literature-focused' events on occasion in which we hike, bike picnic, BBQ, etc., adjusting activities in the colder months of course. We'll do an optional book-club-type re …