Summer’s a great time to join a book club
Area book clubs share their stories of how they got started.
If you consider yourself a reader, chances are you’re already a member of a book club or have thought about starting or joining one. Summer is a great time to get started.
Clusters of book lovers gather everywhere these days — in one another’s homes, at a library, a neighborhood coffee shop. Some in different cities meet online.
Some focus on mystery, some on romance, some on science fiction, some on nonfiction. Some require extensive research and have a lot of rules. Others meet primarily for fun and socializing and are lucky if they spend 10 minutes discussing the book! “Reading a book is typically a solitary activity, but when you gather a group of people who have read the same book and join with them with a discussion, that book comes alive in a new way,” Sharon Kelly Roth from Books & Co. once told me.
Whether you’re already in a club or just starting out, you may pick up some ideas from these well-established area clubs:
Wine, Women & Words Book Club
This club was started in 2003 by Susan Sauter, who owned a Centerville boutique. “She loved to read and invited customers to her house for snacks and wine,” recalls Susan Baker, a charter member. “Most of us had never met each other before.”
Since that time, they’ve all made new friends with two common interests: wine and books. Once each year, each member chooses a book and hosts a meal at her home (or picks a restaurant). The rest contribute wine.
The month after hosting, that person leads the discussion of her book. “We have a ritual at our meeting that we wait until after we have
discussed the previous month’s book and had our wine and dinner before the hostess announces the upcoming book,” says Baker.” We are always excited to know what our next book is going to be!”
This club has a secretary who reminds everyone of the book and the next book club meeting and also keeps track of all the books they have read. “We have had requests for our book list and there are several people around the country who receive our book club email so they can read along with us each month,” says Baker.
Baker says members do not pick books a year in advance as many clubs do. “What if a new exciting book came out, but you couldn’t offer it as your book selection?” she says. “Also reading the book before suggesting it has weeded out many weak novels.”
Whether or not members have read the month’s book, they still attend.
The “Wine, Women & Words” group has gone on road trips to wine bars in our area and created a cookbook of favorite recipes. To commemorate their 100th book, they created a logo and had it printed on a canvas book bag and on wine labels.
“The getting to know each other part of this book club has been the most rewarding aspect,” Baker says. “Reading a book that we would have not chosen for ourselves is probably what most book clubs are based upon. And we are no different. We love the surprise of a great book!”
Bellbrook Book Club
In 1980, a young mom posted an index card on the bulletin board of Winters Library in Bellbrook: “Mothers with young children, if you like to read come to an organizational meeting next week and bring your kids.”
“I hoped it meant reading more than “The Poky Little Puppy” and “Goodnight Moon,” remembers Jane Worth, who says the invitation changed her life. “It shaped the rest of my adult life through the friendships that were forged,” she says. “It was a respite from the daily chores of child care and work, as well as an opportunity to read and talk about books with more than two sentences on a page.”
In the beginning most of the members were stayat-home moms, but all eventually resumed their careers or started new ones. “We have read hundreds of books, some memorable, some long forgotten,” Worth says. “Our selections have ranged from Shakespeare and Jane Austen to current best-sellers.”
This group selects books from a list of genres: recent fiction, classical fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction and biographies/autobiographies. At an annual pot luck supper, each member picks a book from the various categories and a month later ballots are distributed and there’s a secret vote.
One member of the group hosts, another leads the discussion and a couple of members bring refreshments. “That way no one person has to run the sweeper, prepare and discussion and make snacks,” Worth says.
The group also enjoys field trips that bring the readings to life. “We traveled to Ripley, Ohio, to visit the hilltop home of abolitionist John Rankin, who risked his life to guide fugitive slaves to freedom beyond the Ohio River in the free state of Ohio. This excursion supplemented our reading of ‘Beyond the River’ by Anne Hagedorn. The highlight of the trip was meeting the author who guided us through Underground Railroad sites and then joined us for lunch and discussion.”
After reading “Loving Frank” by Nancy Horan, the group toured the Westcott House in Springfield, the only Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style home in Ohio.
The group joined an African-American women’s book club from Detroit for a getaway in Shipshewana, Ind., where they all discussed the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Worth says it was amazing to hear different perspectives and feelings evoked by the book based on their own experiences with race, segregation and integration. “We agreed this was our most powerful and memorable discussion.”
“We pride ourselves on the longevity of our club,” says Worth. “We started out as young moms and now most of us have grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren. We have supported each other through weddings, divorces, cancer scares and Alzheimer’s. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue for many more years.”
Open Door Readers
Book groups often morph into support groups and there’s no better example than the Open Door Reader Group. The group began in 2012 as a program of the Noble Circle Project, the caring and compassionate community of women committed to thriving behind their cancer diagnoses.
“It has evolved into a book group that now welcomes non-members who would enjoy discussing books that are uplifting and support emotional or spiritual well-being,” says member Jennie Stockslager. “You needn’t have cancer to join us. We meet six times a year on the third Tuesday of the month at Noble Circle’s office (2555 S. Dixie Drive, Dayton).
“All of Noble Circle’s programming focuses on bringing hope, empowerment, and well-being to its members,” says Stockslager. Books are chosen with those goals in mind.
More information can be found at www.noblecircle.org.