Why I started a Book Club

Whenever I tell my friends and co-workers that I started a Book Club, they immediately look at me like I lost my mind and need some sort of intervention (although I do believe I lost my mind many years ago but that's another tale). 

The truth is, everyone seems to have this vague idea of what a book club looks like: a bunch of nerdy looking people (usually suburban women), drinking tea, and discussing Jane Austen's books.  That's such a stereotype! And if that's what's been keeping you from joining a Book Club, let me tell you a little secret: Book clubs can be Fun!  

Here's a common scenario: you finish reading a book and you NEED to talk about that book to someone! Except, none of your friends like to read.  Your partner doesn't read fiction.  Your co-workers claim they have no time. You even give a copy of the book to your best friend to see if she'll get the hint...Nah. Nothing.

Maybe you just moved to a new town and would like to meet people.  Maybe you've lived in the same town for a while but would like to meet new people.  Maybe you've been a member of a more classic book club and you're looking for something different, where you can get your monthly dose of literary discussion while drinking wine.  

Whatever your story, if you can't find the right book club, start one. Make your own rules.  Don't want to meet in someone's home? Don't have to.  Agree to disagree.  Keep it civil.  Make it Fun.  Allow everyone to suggest a book (don't be a dictator, the world has enough of those already).  

Starting a book club was one of the best things I've done!  I met an incredible bunch of women (yeah, there was 1 guy on the very first meeting but he never came back).  The book club has grown to 85 members (I never thought that would happen), and we are a very diverse group, at different stages in our lives, that share something in common -- a desire to think and discuss.  

From the Book club, we've had two spin-offs already: Trivia Night at the local bar and Board Game Night! 

What's not to love about this?

As Neil Gaiman mentioned on one of the best commencement speeches ever: 

"Fiction has two uses. Firstly, it’s a gateway drug to reading. The drive to know what happens next, to want to turn the page, the need to keep going, even if it’s hard, because someone’s in trouble and you have to know how it’s all going to end … that’s a very real drive. And it forces you to learn new words, to think new thoughts, to keep going. To discover that reading per se is pleasurable. Once you learn that, you’re on the road to reading everything. And reading is key.."

If you do decide to start your own Book Club and need help, BookRiot has an article titled "How to Start a Book Club that Doesn't Suck"  

And finally, here's what my Book Club is reading in 2018:

1. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate (JANUARY)
2. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (FEBRUARY)
3. Watching Glass Shatter by James J. Cudney (MARCH)
4. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (APRIL)
5. The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman (MAY)
6. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (JUNE)
7. Good Neighbors by Joanne Serling (JULY)
8. Exit West by Moshin Hamid (AUGUST)
9. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (SEPT)
10. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan (OCT)
11. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (NOV)
12. The Woman in the Window by A J Finn (DEC)


I hope you enjoyed reading this post!  If you did, please leave a comment :-)