Founded in 2002, Bookclub-in-a-Box is a community of readers, coming together through our love of all things literary. By publishing well-researched literary discussion guides, our mission is to reach out to readers of all kinds, both local and international, in order to inspire fun and to promote understanding of the great many novels waiting to be read and appreciated.

Buy our Discussion Guides

Bookclub-in-a-Box publishes discussion guides for both classic and contemporary literary fiction. We currently have more than 60 guides available in print and downloadable PDF, plus many of those are now available as ebooks through Amazon, Kobo, and the iBookstore. These guides make great tools for getting your book clubs and classrooms buzzing!

Hire Marilyn to Lead a Book Club Presentation

Marilyn Herbert, founder of Bookclub-in-a-Box, discusses contemporary fiction and films with book clubs throughout the Greater Toronto Area. If you'd like to arrange a visit from Marilyn for your group or class, send her an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Meet the Bookclub-in-a-Box Team

Marilyn Herbert, Founder/Executive Director
Marilyn Herbert, B.Ed., is the founder of Bookclub-in-a-Box and an international speaker and book club facilitator. With more than 30 years experience as a teacher and school librarian, Marilyn loves to read and talk about books, and in 2002, this led to the creation of Bookclub-in-a-Box, the ultimate discussion companion for contemporary works of literary fiction. Marilyn is always looking for a great debate about books and welcomes all feedback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .


Laura Godfrey, Associate Director
Laura is in charge of research and editing, and is one of the voices behind the Bookclub-in-a-Box blog. She has an Honours BA in English & professional writing from York University and a diploma in journalism from Centennial College. She is also a freelance writer and book reviewer for Quill & Quire magazine, a page designer and copy editor for Pagemasters North America, and co-writer of the Bookclub-in-a-Box guides to Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad and Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus.
 

Aaron Kreuter, Associate Director
Aaron Kreuter creates content for the Bookclub-in-a-Box blog and newsletter, and performs several other website-related tasks. He holds a Master of Arts in English literature from the University of Victoria, and is a fiction writer, poet, and freelance writer, with stories and poems in numerous Canadian journals and magazines (see his website). Aaron is also the co-writer of the discussion guide for David Grossman's To the End of the Land and the 2-in-1 guide to Nicole Krauss's The History of Love and Great House.
 

Jo Anne Carlisle, Executive Assistant
Jo Anne has the distinction of being the very first customer of Bookclub-in-a-Box. She liked us so much that she now works for us in the capacity of executive assistant. She looks after all of our shipping and record-keeping needs, and in between those time-consuming tasks, she edits and proofreads as well. She is a lovely "Jo Anne" of all trades.
 

Jo-Ann Zoon, Marketing Director
Having spent many years at the CBC, where she worked in the communications and sales & marketing areas, Jo-Ann now brings her expertise to Bookclub-in-a-Box as our marketing director. Jo-Ann, also our senior writer and a passionate reader, helps find new ways to connect readers with Bookclub-in-a-Box and spread the word about our discussion guides.
 

Paul MacKenzie, Elehost Web Design
Paul is in charge of programming. He runs the Toronto web hosting and web design company Elehost Web Design, which he started in 1998. They are environmentally conscious, and pride themselves on offering unique, personal service. Paul and his team are easy to work with and help us bring you new guides and other information as soon as everything is ready.

Click here to meet the Bookclub-in-a-Box freelance writers.