BookBrowse Research Reports - Book Clubs in Lockdown


Book Clubs in Lockdown

An investigation into how book clubs have adapted during the pandemic, and the implications for the future.

Now Available for Free!

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BookBrowse has surveyed readers and book clubs for more than 15 years. Over this time we have seen many relatively slow shifts including the growth in book clubs themselves, how people buy books and the formats that they read in.


However, the pandemic has caused substantial shift in so many aspects of our lives, including in book clubs. So, in October 2020 we surveyed 3,400 book club members to find out how their groups have responded to the pandemic, and the likely long term impacts.

You can download the full report for free. We recommend it to librarians, booksellers, publishers and authors; and to book club members looking to gain insight into other groups. Also available in print, see below.

In it you'll discover:

  • How book clubs have responded and adapted to the pandemic
  • How the overall book club experience compares to pre-pandemic
  • Where book clubs are meeting and what precautions they are taking
  • The good and not so good aspects of meeting virtually
  • What book clubs are—and are not— discussing
  • The ways in which the pandemic is changing book clubs for the long term
  • and much more...

For a summary of key findings, see Publishers Weekly Soapbox or our press release.

"We were both so impressed with the clarity, the thoroughness and clear sighted summations at the end of each section. You have truly knocked it out of the park. We know that countless librarians will be using Book Clubs in Lockdown as a vital reference, ourselves among them!" -- Pat Sheary and Marianne Paterniti, Darien Library, CT

Download your Free Report

You can download the full report instantly by completing the form to the right. Please do share with others.

Before you leave, please take a few moments to look around BookBrowse (we have lots of resources for book clubs), and if you like what you see, or simply want to support our efforts, please consider becoming a member, giving a gift membership, or subscribing to one of our free newsletters.

We also offer library subscriptions so all patrons can access BookBrowse's premium content from anywhere at any time.

If you have any trouble downloading, contact us.

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

 


Debugging Information
ColdFusion Server Developer 2021,0,13,330286
Template /wp/lockdown/index.cfm
Time Stamp 31-May-26 07:45 PM
Locale en
User Agent Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
Remote IP 127.0.0.1
Host Name 127.0.0.1


Execution Time

Total Time Avg Time Count Template
1780256730674 ms 1.78025673067E+012 ms 1 /root/website/app_server.cfm
168 ms 168 ms 1 top level /root/website/wp/lockdown/index.cfm
79 ms 79 ms 1 /root/website/app_globals.cfm
39 ms 39 ms 1 /root/website/app_layout.cfm
32 ms 32 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/dsp_footer.cfm
30 ms 30 ms 1 /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm
30 ms 30 ms 1 /root/website/adzones/showcase_track.cfm
30 ms 30 ms 1 /root/website/wp/lockdown/dsp_main.cfm
25 ms 25 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm
13 ms 13 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_competition.cfm
12 ms 12 ms 1 /root/website/act_check_login.cfm
11 ms 11 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_member_info.cfm
9 ms 5 ms 2 /root/website/actions/act_spider_tracker.cfm
9 ms 9 ms 1 /root/website/actions/adstatus.cfm
4 ms 4 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_wordplay.cfm
3 ms 3 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/head.cfm
2 ms 2 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/dsp_header.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_ezine.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_previous_arcs_for_ad.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/dsp_bottom_block.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/main_menu.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/main_search.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/Application.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/act_libraryIPLogin.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/actions/udfs.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/banners/ad_594.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/formurl2attributes.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/js/fbjavascriptsdk.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_free_newsletters.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/dsp_bookclubs_links.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/dsp_header_newsletter.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/google_tags.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/header_announcement.cfm
11 ms  STARTUP, PARSING, COMPILING, LOADING, & SHUTDOWN
179 ms  TOTAL EXECUTION TIME
red = over 250 ms average execution time


SQL Queries

spidercheck (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=8ms, Records=1) in /root/website/actions/act_spider_tracker.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT	a.bot_number
        FROM	bots a
        WHERE	charindex(a.bot_name, ?) > 0
		OR a.bot_ip = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(cf_sql_varchar) = Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
Parameter #2(cf_sql_varchar) = 127.0.0.1

get_member_info (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=8ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_member_info.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
select 	a.*, 
    		b.member_account_type_name, b.member_account_type_charge, b.member_account_type_charge_frequency,  b.member_account_type_months, 
            c.member_chargetype_name, c.member_chargetype_number, a.member_classification_number, a.member_book_format
	
    from members a, member_account_types b, member_chargetype c
	
    where a.member_account_type_number = b.member_account_type_number
	and a.payment_method_id = c.member_chargetype_number
	and a.member_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 0

adactive (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=7ms, Records=2) in /root/website/actions/adstatus.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT	viewby, section
    FROM	adsystem 
    WHERE	active  = 1 
    AND		start_date <= GETDATE()
    AND 	(viewby = ? OR viewby = 'all')
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = non

get_current_ezine (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=1, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_ezine.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
select		top 1 ezine_number, ezine_dt, ezine_image, ezine_brief_description, ezine_introduction
from		ezines
where		ezine_active_flag = 1
and 		ezine_type_number = 4
and			ezine_dt < getdate()
order by 	ezine_dt DESC
get_current_wordplay (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=4ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_wordplay.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT		a.wordplay_number, a.wordplay_dt, a.wordplay_name, a.wordplay_intro_text, b.wordplay_puzzle_number, b.wordplay_puzzle_question
    FROM		wordplays a 
	INNER JOIN	wordplay_puzzle_mapping c on c.wordplay_number = a.wordplay_number
	INNER JOIN	wordplay_puzzles b on b.wordplay_puzzle_number = c.wordplay_puzzle_number
	WHERE		a.wordplay_number = (	select top 1 a.wordplay_number
                                from wordplays a, wordplay_puzzles b, wordplay_puzzle_mapping c
                                where a.wordplay_number = c.wordplay_number
                                and b.wordplay_puzzle_number = c.wordplay_puzzle_number
                                and a.wordplay_dt < getdate()
                                and a.wordplay_expiration_dt > dateadd(day, -1, getdate())
                                order by a.wordplay_dt asc
                                )
get_ComNo (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=5ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_competition.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 	TOP 1 	x.competition_number, x.bb_briefs_flag
	from			competitions x
	
		WHERE	x.competition_dt <= getdate()
		AND		x.competition_expiration_dt > dateadd(d,-1,getdate())
get_current_competition (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=6ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_competition.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 	x.competition_number, x.book_number, x.competition_teaser_title, x.competition_teaser_description, x.competition_intro_text, x.competition_expiration_dt, x.bb_briefs_flag, x.competition_full_info_flag, x.competition_type, x.competition_optin,x.competition_optin_text, 
				a.book_title as "title",
				(b.author_first_name + ' ' +  b.author_middle_initial + ' ' + b.author_last_name) as "author",
	            f.edition_publish_dt AS "hardcover_publish_dt", f.edition_jacket_image as "hardcover_jacket_image",
				g.edition_publish_dt AS "paperback_publish_dt", g.edition_jacket_image as "paperback_jacket_image"
	
		FROM 		competitions x
		INNER JOIN	books a on a.book_number = x.book_number
		INNER JOIN	book_author_mapping c on c.book_number = x.book_number
		INNER JOIN	authors b on c.author_number = b.author_number
		LEFT JOIN	editions f on a.book_number = f.book_number and f.edition_paperback_flag = 0
		LEFT JOIN	editions g on a.book_number = g.book_number and g.edition_paperback_flag = 1

		WHERE		x.competition_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 0

get_previous_arcs_for_ad (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=0, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_previous_arcs_for_ad.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 	a.arc_number,a.arc_client_url,a.arc_active_dt, a.arc_off_ad_dt,
		b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_publisher, 
		b.ezine_preview_publish_dt, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_number_of_pages, b.ezine_preview_bb_comments, b.ezine_preview_isbn13,
		c.ezine_preview_category_name AS "ezine_preview_category",
		(select count(*) from arc_allocator d where d.arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) as "reviews",
		(select (CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,0))) AS numeric(12,0)))+
				(CASE WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 25 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 50 THEN 0.5
				 WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 50 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 75 THEN -0.5
				 ELSE 0
				 END)
 			from arc_allocator	where arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) AS arcrating,
 			(select (CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,1))) AS numeric(12,1)))from arc_allocator where arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) AS "decrating"

FROM arcs a
INNER JOIN ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
INNER JOIN ezine_preview_categories c ON b.ezine_preview_category_number = c.ezine_preview_category_number

WHERE arc_closed_flag = 1
AND arc_obc_flag = 0
AND getdate() >= arc_on_ad_dt
AND getdate() < arc_off_ad_dt

ORDER BY a.arc_on_ad_dt DESC
get_future_obc (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=7ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 		a.arc_forumidfk, a.discourse_flag, a.arc_promo_text, arc_on_ad_dt,
				b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_publisher, ezine_preview_publish_dt, ezine_preview_number_of_pages, ezine_preview_isbn, ezine_preview_short_summary,
	            b.ezine_preview_bb_author_link, ezine_preview_bb_link
	
	FROM 		arcs a
	INNER JOIN 	ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
	
	WHERE 		arc_obc_flag = 1

	AND 		getdate() < arc_on_ad_dt
	
		ORDER BY  	NEWID()
get_active_obc (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=7ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 		a.arc_forumidfk, a.discourse_flag, a.arc_promo_text,
				b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_publisher, ezine_preview_publish_dt, ezine_preview_number_of_pages,  ezine_preview_isbn, ezine_preview_short_summary,
	            b.ezine_preview_bb_author_link, ezine_preview_bb_link,
	            c.book_reading_guide
	
	FROM 		arcs a
	INNER JOIN 	ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
	LEFT JOIN  	books c on c.book_number = b.ezine_preview_bb_link
	
	WHERE 		a.arc_obc_flag = 1
	AND			a.arc_active_flag = 0
	AND 		arc_closed_flag = 1
	AND 		getdate() >= arc_on_ad_dt
	AND 		getdate() < arc_off_ad_dt
	ORDER BY  	NEWID()
get_recent_obc (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=8ms, Records=4) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 		a.arc_forumidfk, a.discourse_flag, a.arc_promo_text,
				b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_publisher, ezine_preview_publish_dt, ezine_preview_number_of_pages,  ezine_preview_isbn, ezine_preview_short_summary,
	            b.ezine_preview_bb_author_link, ezine_preview_bb_link,
	            c.book_reading_guide
	
	FROM 		arcs a
	INNER JOIN 	ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
	LEFT JOIN  	books c on c.book_number = b.ezine_preview_bb_link
	
	WHERE a.arc_number IN (select top 4 arc_number
							from		arcs
							WHERE 		arc_obc_flag = 1
							AND			arc_active_flag = 0
							AND 		arc_closed_flag = 1
							AND 		getdate() > arc_off_ad_dt
							ORDER BY	arc_on_ad_dt DESC)
	ORDER BY  	NEWID()
get_free_newsletters (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=4, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_free_newsletters.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT 	*
    FROM 	free_newsletters
get_ads (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=9ms, Records=0) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT		a.adid,	adweight
	FROM		adsystem a
	INNER JOIN 	ad_category_mapping b ON b.adid = a.adid
	WHERE		a.section = ?
	AND			a.active  = 1
	AND 		a.start_date <= GETDATE()
	
	AND (a.viewby LIKE '%n%' OR a.viewby = 'all')
            

	AND     (b.category_number IN (	SELECT	category_number
									FROM	category_book_mapping
									WHERE	book_number = ?)
      		OR 	b.category_number = ?)
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = showcase_track
Parameter #2(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = 0
Parameter #3(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = 0

get_ads (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=12ms, Records=1) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT	a.adid,	adweight
        FROM	adsystem a
        WHERE	a.section = ? 
        AND 	a.active  = 1 
        AND		a.start_date <= GETDATE()	
        
        AND (a.viewby LIKE '%n%' OR a.viewby = 'all')
        AND (select count(*) from ad_category_mapping where datalength(category_number) >= 1 and adid = a.adid) = 0
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = showcase_track

get_type (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=5ms, Records=1) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 19:45:30.030
SELECT	a.start_date, a.adid, a.end_date, a.camp_views, a.image_name, a.alt_text, a.views, a.code, a.adsize
        FROM	adsystem a
        WHERE	a.adid = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 594


Scope Variables

CGI Variables:
AUTH_PASSWORD=
AUTH_TYPE=
AUTH_USER=
CERT_COOKIE=
CERT_FLAGS=
CERT_ISSUER=
CERT_KEYSIZE=
CERT_SECRETKEYSIZE=
CERT_SERIALNUMBER=
CERT_SERVER_ISSUER=
CERT_SERVER_SUBJECT=
CERT_SUBJECT=
CF_TEMPLATE_PATH=/root/website/wp/lockdown/index.cfm
CONTENT_LENGTH=
CONTENT_TYPE=
CONTEXT_PATH=
GATEWAY_INTERFACE=
HTTPS=
HTTPS_KEYSIZE=
HTTPS_SECRETKEYSIZE=
HTTPS_SERVER_ISSUER=
HTTPS_SERVER_SUBJECT=
HTTP_ACCEPT=*/*
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING=gzip, br, zstd, deflate
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE=
HTTP_CONNECTION=upgrade
HTTP_COOKIE=CFID=4072749; CFGLOBALS=urltoken%3DCFID%23%3D4072749%26CFTOKEN%23%3D25a80ee697fa70fb%2DFBB336D6%2D9171%2D0C03%2D629315F1F2FF901B%23lastvisit%3D%7Bts%20%272026%2D05%2D31%2019%3A45%3A30%27%7D%23hitcount%3D2%23timecreated%3D%7Bts%20%272026%2D05%2D31%2019%3A45%3A30%27%7D%23cftoken%3D25a80ee697fa70fb%2DFBB336D6%2D9171%2D0C03%2D629315F1F2FF901B%23cfid%3D4072749%23; CFCLIENT_BOOKBROWSE=order%3Dp%23member%5Fnumber%3D0%23member%5Factive%5Fflag%3D0%23member%5Flogged%5Fin%5Fflag%3D0%23library%5Fuser%5Fflag%3D0%23view%3Dbooks%23; CFTOKEN=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
HTTP_HOST=dev.bookbrowse.com
HTTP_REFERER=http://dev.bookbrowse.com/wp/lockdown/
HTTP_URL=
HTTP_USER_AGENT=Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
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PATH_TRANSLATED=/root/website/wp/lockdown/index.cfm
QUERY_STRING=
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REMOTE_HOST=127.0.0.1
REMOTE_USER=
REQUEST_METHOD=GET
SCRIPT_NAME=/wp/lockdown/index.cfm
SERVER_NAME=dev.bookbrowse.com
SERVER_PORT=8500
SERVER_PORT_SECURE=0
SERVER_PROTOCOL=HTTP/1.1
SERVER_SOFTWARE=
WEB_SERVER_API=
Client Variables:
cfid=4072749
cftoken=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
hitcount=3
lastvisit={ts '2026-05-31 19:45:30'}
library_user_flag=0
member_active_flag=0
member_logged_in_flag=0
member_number=0
order=p
timecreated={ts '2026-05-31 19:45:30'}
urltoken=CFID=4072749&CFTOKEN=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
view=books
Cookie Variables:
CFCLIENT_BOOKBROWSE=order=p#member_number=0#member_active_flag=0#member_logged_in_flag=0#library_user_flag=0#view=books#
CFGLOBALS=urltoken=CFID#=4072749&CFTOKEN#=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B#lastvisit={ts '2026-05-31 19:45:30'}#hitcount=2#timecreated={ts '2026-05-31 19:45:30'}#cftoken=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B#cfid=4072749#
CFID=4072749
CFTOKEN=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
Session Variables:
cfid=4072749
cftoken=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
sessionid=BOOKBROWSE_4072749_25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
urltoken=CFID=4072749&CFTOKEN=25a80ee697fa70fb-FBB336D6-9171-0C03-629315F1F2FF901B
Debug Rendering Time: 5 ms