I'll second this. A book club, or any other gathering I've experienced (and I've searched frantically), pales in comparison to the 'smallgroups' that were part

I'll second this. A book club, or any other gathering I've experienced (and I've searched frantically), pales in comparison to the 'smallgroups' that were part of my religious world. The closest I came to that experience in a non-religious way were some of the Alain de Botton style 'Church for Atheist' meetups. And even then only the ones that were organized by an overtly religious person!