Oh, that’s awesome!
I’m in a book club that I just love. It’s comprised mainly of ladies from my Pilates studio, including three of the instructors. It’s a very smart and thoughtful group, so the conversation is always great.
We do all read the same book, but no one gets any grief if they haven’t yet read it when we meet. There are about 8 of us if everyone attends but it usually ends up being 6-7. We take turns hosting — last month was my turn. We sometimes try to serve snacks or drinks that connect with a theme in the book (we had cosmos for The Gunkle!), but it’s very loose and no pressure.
We absolutely do talk about the book! Someone always brings a list of questions about the book to spark conversation. But we also catch up on other topics too.
We had a big of a serious theme going for a while. “Huckleberry Finn,” before reading “James,” then “Song Yet Sung,” and “Madness” (the history of a notorious mental hospital for Black patients, which happens to be right in my neighborhood). Since then, we’ve shifted a bit: The Reading List, God of the Woods, and The Gunkle. It’s good to switch things up and do something a bit lighter when we’ve been in heavy material. Next month is Frozen River, and after that, Orbital (my suggestion).
The time flies by in our group too. We usually chit chat and eat first, and then after maybe a half hour we settle in to talk about the book. We’re pretty disciplined about the structure without being rigid. It’s a good balance.
I’m really grateful they started inviting me! It’s funny that gradually we seem to be adding more women from our Pilates community, but it also feels like it’s growing very slowly and naturally.
