Community, Books and Gatherings
At my office last week, I was chatting with a few colleagues. One mentioned that she was in a book club. That snowballed into how much several of us would love to be in a book club and then into me saying, “let’s start one!”
So in a few weeks we are going to have our first after-hours office book club. We are going to rotate homes and discuss one book a month.
Our first book is going to be All The Light We Cannot See. I’m 100 pages into it and am REALLY loving it. (My friend Amy at Mom Advice encouraged me to pick up this book. Since its SO LONG, the book club was the perfect prodding to dive in.)
I’m really excited about the opportunity to be in community with colleagues in an outside of work setting. Gathering in homes always brings me such joy.
The more I fling open the doors to my home, the more I realize how much people crave community. I need to remember that toys in the living room don’t matter. Perfect decor doesn’t matter. What makes a difference to people is that you opened the door.
Also, as I share in The Fringe Hours, things like book clubs are awesome for women because they do two things – encourage you to pursue a passion (like reading) and be in community.
Needless to say, I’m so excited!!
Are you in a book club? If so, do you have any book recommendations? A few on my list are At the Water’s Edge and The Nightingale, but would welcome your suggestions!
I joined a Women & Wine book club at a local indie book store. A few colleagues at my office joined as well. So once a month we do happy hour then head to our book club. I’ve been in it for over a year and it is one of the best decisions ever. Keeps me reading and in the book world. It also gives me a much needed, already schedule night out. One time I had to bring my two kids (3&5) and when we left both kids exclaimed that they couldn’t wait to join a book club!
My book group is a joy! We have been meeting for nearly 22 years — some of us have been together since the beginning. We read one book a month and welcome each member to attend even if “life” got in the way of reading or completing the book. I have learned so much over the years and have enjoyed books that I would not have discovered except for the book group.
All the Light We Cannot See was my favorite read of 2014!
22 years?! That is incredible.
I have been in a book club for several years. We have gone to a format that everyone in our book club gets to pick a book for the year. My last selection was the Madonnas of Leningrad. We really liked it. We have different tastes so even though some of the books wouldn’t be my first choice, I’m always thankful we have read them. Oprah has some great book club book selections. We’ve managed to read quite a few of them but not on her suggestion but suggestions by others. We also do some theme book club meetins by having foods that realte to the book.
I hope you enjoy book club as much as I do.
What a fun idea for book selections!
I just finished At the Water’s Edge (loved Water for Elephants, which is why I read this one) and it was the book that got me back into reading after many months of not being able to get into anything – it was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Now I’m reading The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates and it’s great – I can’t wait to read it each morning at breakfast (I get up earlier than I need to just to have that 10 minutes of eating and reading by myself!).
That makes me so happy!! I LOVED Water for Elephants, which is why I asked for At Water’s Edge for Mother’s Day. #booknerd
And good for you for finding Fringe Hours for you! Mornings are my favorite me time.
My book club has been together for 23 years, but I have only been in it for 13 years – when I moved to the area. I love it and typically go even if I have finished the book. I enjoy reading books that we pick that I might not have read otherwise. Some of my favorite reads from book club: The Invention of Wings, the Posionwood Bible, Flight Behavior, the Night Circus, and the Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly.
My book club is meeting for the first time today. We read Confessions. I am currently reading All The Light We Can Not See. My son has recommended Seventh Son-he is 13-it is fun to read some of the books he has read.