A UX (User Experience) Book Club is a get-together in which people interested in the area of user experience come to discuss a book relevant to the discipline.

A UX Book Club would operate as follows:

• Everyone who attends should try and read the nominated book (you won't be barred from entry, but it helps everyone get more out of the night);
• Everyone needs to jot down and bring along: 2 things in the book that really struck a chord; and 1 thing they either hated, disagreed with; or don't understand.
• The book would be within the practice of user experience, which might include books like Indi Young's Mental Models; Dan Saffer's Design Gestural Interfaces; Todd Zaki Warfel's forthcoming Prototyping; and classics such as The Design of Everyday Things; Don't Make Me Think; The Inmates Are Running the Asylum; etc.
• The book should not be arduous to read!
• Next Month's book will be announced at the current meeting.

Communication via twitter & through mailing lists like IAI-members, IxDA and some of the LinkedIn groups dealing with UX and/or IA. Or set up a social network page at Amazee or Ning.

In keeping with the book-club theme the location would be somewhere like a wine bar or a bookstore. The important thing is that the noise level has to be low, and be able to accommodate a group of 15-30 people.

To provide some added interest (and help visualize the topic), each book might - where appropriate - include a film reference to watch along with reading the book. So, for example, Todd's book on prototyping - or Buxton's book on sketching - might be read in conjunction with a viewing of IronMan. Dan Saffer's book on gestural interfaces might be read in conjunction with a viewing of Minority Report or Quantum of Solace. People would be instructed to watch the film with the topic of the book in mind. An alternative - if a venue could be found - would be to show parts of the movie at the book club meeting, but I think it's more managable if people watch it themselves.