Dear Wanikani community,
So i’ve recently figured out what I actually enjoy reading in Japanese and it’s short stories by authors such as Haruki Murakami (yes, groan, urgh, introduce me to other people !) I am not yet at the level where I can read and enjoy full novels.
I would really like to start a fortnightly reading club where we meet on Zoom or something and discuss the short stories we’ve read in Japanese. I’m based in the UK, so please keep that time difference in mind. Anyone keen?
Hello, there is a large number of ongoing book clubs in the community, nicely organized here
In particularly 1Q84 is being read right now:
Some clubs have weekly read-aloud sessions on discord, while forum threads have shared vocab spreadsheets and discussion of grammar etc.
Level-type clubs (absolute beginner, beginner, intermediate, etc) nominate and vote on the next book choice. But anyone can create “stand-alone” club with the book they like.
Hope you’ll find this helpful.
This is such a lovely and comprehensive response! I am a newbie to Wanikani. I’ll join a few of the ones you mentioned and eventually, I’d really love to start a short story bookclub myself. Are you in any of the clubs ?
I’ve made number of attempts to follow ABBC and ABC (absolute beginner and beginner clubs) in past year, bought the books, and then dropped out because my grammar is too low to follow. Now I’m working thru Genki I diligently, and plan to get into simple reading soon-ish.
ABBC has two current books, both of which are short stories, so it is possible to jump in at any time:
https://community.wanikani.com/t/10-minute-biographies-chapter-7-absolute-beginner-book-club/48982
and
https://community.wanikani.com/t/doggy-detectives-2-%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8F%E3%82%8A-week-4-discussion/48910
Here is the listing of Reading category of the forum:
https://community.wanikani.com/c/japanese-language/reading/32
where you can see the variety.
“Joining the club” is absolutely informal procedure. You just search for material of your interest and level. Most of homepage threads have few pages of the book scanned to represent the level of difficulty, along with links where one can buy it. Then in chapter-ly or week-ly threads, people ask and answer questions, and fill shared vocabulary sheet. Even if there is a “reading schedule” for some books, later questions are still welcome, so one can read any of the past books on one’s own, benefiting from the grammar etc explanations in old threads.
Popular books even get re-read (Kiki Delivery Service and Convenience Store Woman are examples).
As you can see I really want to get into reading 
You can do it anytime! I believe volunteers are always welcome. You may check some traditions (home thread/chapter thread format, schedule or not, run a poll to see the interest for particular book ahead of time, plan starting date a bit ahead) to make the opening go smoothly.
For example, here is the new user organized Harry Potter bool club:
https://community.wanikani.com/t/lets-read-harry-potter-from-september-1st/44870
Good luck!
Thank you for this brilliant guide x