Last night I went to the first bookclub meeting (for everyone, it turned out nobody else could make it last month either). After getting a little lost and finding another lady with the same book tucked under her arm looking around, we finally found the place and had a wonderful evening with wine, fresh fruit, chocolate, laughter, and book talk.
There were 5 of us there (I only knew the hostess); a handful of quite diverse mommies, and while none of us particularly cared for the book, it was fun to sit around and discuss why. We went over a sheet of questions, talked about other books we liked, our kids, all kinds of things. It was a lot of fun.
One of the other women offered me a ride home and we talked all the way there – it really felt great to get out of the house and talk with grown-ups, meet new people… I look forward to our next meeting in January, we’re getting together near the end of the month. I’ll pick up The Happiness Project and get started on that one ASAP.
I can’t believe how long it took me to do this! Definitely worth it. 5 months ago
Thursday night is my first bookclub meeting! I finished the November selection last weekend and will try to pick up a nice bottle of wine to bring along. They’ve set up a Meetup group, and M. is going to drop me off and wrangle the kids. After this, we’re skipping December and then starting the new year with The Happiness Project. 5 months ago
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, I just wasn’t sure how to go about it, then it found me. One of the newer moms at the school handed me an invite to one she’s starting up at her house – monthly book talks, wine, and dessert… it sounds wonderful, even though I don’t know any of the people, I’m keen. I said yes.
I couldn’t make the first meeting, but I’ve joined the group, voted on the first batch of books, and put the first selection on hold. Looking forward to it! The next meet-up is in November, hopefully I can wrangle a free evening. I could use some more grown up time, meeting new people, getting out for an evening.
Goalpost: Reading a selection and attending the meeting for it. 6 months ago
How I did it: I was a member of a social group and noticed a bookclub activity on the noticeboard. I had wanted to be part of a bookclub for ages, but couldn't quite figure out how to join one without a group of strangers coming to my home.
The first meeting I went to was held in a restaurant. The group was quite big, about 20 people, which meant that we were spread over two adjoining tables and if you were seated at one end, you couldn't hear what was going on at the other end.
I spoke to two other friends in the social club about this and they told me they had just set up another bookclub in a different suburb closer to where we live. Because it wasn't in the city, it was smaller - about 6 people on average, which was a good number. I feel 6-10 is a good number, I don't like very large groups. And you can hear everyone when they speak!
We became regulars and met on the last Monday of every month. We picked a quiet restaurant with decent affordable food. Monday night is usually quiet for most restaurants which is important if you want to hear everyone :-) and most people don't have regular plans for Monday (as opposed to Friday and Saturday for example).
I'd been going for a couple of years regularly, only missing a couple of meets. We had a few newbies, some of whom became regulars, and some never to be seen again (not sure why, we were always friendly!) Without the bookclub, I don't think I would have made time to read books, plus discussing the books makes it more social - as opposed to reading which is usually done alone.
I met my current boyfriend in this bookclub. I was a regular for a couple of years, and he walked in one day as a newbie. I didn't know it then, but I ended up leaving my job of 12 years and a city I never thought I'd leave to move interstate with him, to his hometown. I knew I had to get out of my rut but that was a pretty drastic change especially for someone like me! It's now two years later and we're happy. I think it's really funny that I only wanted to join a bookclub to have an excuse to read - meeting a life partner was an unexpected bonus! Read how I did it… 12 months ago
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