Booklover Maddy Findlay is behind the creation of Coastal Chapters book club. Photo: Kirsten Hammermeister.
It’s a grey Saturday in Thirroul when the Coastal Chapters book club meets at Frank’s Wild Years to discuss November’s pick.
Surrounded by music posters, vinyls and books, with cocktails and wines in hand, the conversation is enthusiastic and thoughtful.
Coastal Chapters host and founder Maddy Findlay begins the meeting by asking the group of 14 to introduce themselves and discuss a recent favourite read.
It is then time to dive into the monthly pick, Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, a book written about the lives of three real American women with whom Taddeo had spent nearly a decade reporting their experiences.
Maddy, an Illawarra local and ‘bookstagrammer’, says she was inspired to create Coastal Chapters because she desired social connections.
“When you read you go to the library, you go to a bookstore, you pick up a book, you read it at home, read it at the beach, you read it at the cafe. It’s a solo activity,” she says.
Maddy grew up in the Illawarra and attended the University of Wollongong.
“People move here, people leave. And making friends in a transient town can be hard; I just wanted a nice space for like-minded people to come together and connect.”
Since 2020, Maddy has been sharing her love of books online on Instagram – a bookstagram account.
She says it was a natural fit for her to talk about reading on social media.
“I feel like [they were] conversations that I was having in my everyday life with people.”
Four years on, in June this year, Maddy brought her love of books from online into real life with the formation of Coastal Chapters as an all-genders, 20s-30s book club in Wollongong.
“I would post about books online on my bookstagram page, and of course, I would have people commenting about them and engaging in an online forum, which is great, but I just really wanted that social activity,” she says.
“Run clubs are everywhere and I was a part of a run club for a little while, and I loved it. But I’m not a morning person, and I’m also a severe asthmatic – I needed to find something that works for me.”
Coastal Chapters’ members gather at Frank’s Wild Years to share views and conversation on the book of the month. Photo: Kirsten Hammermeister.
The success of Coastal Chapters can be attributed to Maddy’s bookstagram and her education.
“I studied marketing at university, and I understand the power of digital marketing and media. I think if I didn’t have my personal branding behind the book club, it might not have been as successful as it has been.”
In the short time it has been around, Coastal Chapters has had fantasy, literary fiction, contemporary and non-fiction monthly picks.
Maddy says this often means people come in with passionate and headstrong opinions and it’s good to get people really engaged with the text.
She says the book club has become defined as “wholesome, lighthearted and welcoming”.
“Some people come one month, and they will come again in three months. Some people come every month.”
Maddy discusses her favourite novel with the same passion she discusses her journey to Coastal Chapters.
“My favourite book that I’ve read in the last couple of years is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
“It is absolutely stunning and the writing is beautiful. It’s about Sam and his two friends, Sadie and Marx, and their life together as friends, as business partners. It’s a book that I keep on coming back to; I think I’ve read it three times now, and I’ve met the author!”
Coastal Chapter’s monthly pick for January is The Wrong Woman by J.P. Pomare. Members will meet on Saturday, 25 January at a location yet to be determined – check out @maddys.books on Instagram for details.
Maddy is looking forward to growing Coastal Chapters in 2025.
“I am planning some author events and some workshops, some book swap events, and also casual dinners and meet-ups during the month, not related to the book.”
As a club for a young demographic, Maddy’s Coastal Chapters is appealing to the bookish community in a significant way.
“I have targeted it to people in their 20s and their 30s because we are the generation that has been shaped by social media,” she says.
“I think that we are online the most, and having a club that has a physical presence, gets people together – it’s an old-fashioned connection. It brings us back to our human roots.”
You can follow Maddy on Instagram @maddys.books and Coastal Chapters @coastal.chapters
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