Book Clubbing

I live in a neighborhood full of lovely people…and their husbands. A few of us have been tossing around the idea of starting a book club because we all love to read, and when we get together, it's a HOOT.

My darling neighbor Heidi and I sat down last week to plan the thing. I figured we'd pick a book, set a date, and call it done. I figured wrong.

Heidi is a teacher, and she has a couple of teacher friends who run a book club, so she reached out for tips. What came back was less "tips" and more “ascendency into literary domination” Every month, these women throw a themed party inspired by the book, complete with curated snacks and cocktails. There's a group art project. Sometimes there are costumes. I blinked at Heidi across the kitchen table and said, "We are not doing costumes, right?" She hedged.

Still, we did our homework. The internet has opinions about book clubs, and here's what it told us: the sweet spot is eight to ten members, twelve meetings a year keeps the momentum going, and the most popular book club beverage is wine. We also stumbled into an entire cottage industry of book club apps. Who knew? We looked through them and landed here. The app tracks RSVPs, snack assignments, monthly reading picks, and can politely tell you who has quietly quit your book club.

Our kick-off meeting is March 8th.

I'll let you know whether it's still a book club after that knife fight.