How to Start a Book Club [Or Don't Bother and Just Join Mine]

Well, folks. It's been a hot minute.

Ok, "folks" might be a stretch. I'm pretty sure my only follower is my mom, and that's because I logged onto her phone to subscribe her. 

So, we survived a global pandemic, a shortage of toilet paper, a housing boom, rising interest rates, inflation, 500,000 egg memes, AI threatening our very existence, and learning an entirely new language courtesy of Gen Z (I'm in my rizz era).

Once the dust settled, you, like me, might have asked yourself what's next? 

Step One: Read Books and Drink Wine

Well, I don't know about your liver, but I drank a lot of wine during the pandemic. And I read a lot of books. Which got me thinking — what if I read books and drank wine with other people?

Genius, I know.

I'd wanted to be part of a book club for years. But work-at-home life was turning me into a bit of a recluse. I had friends at work, sure, but they lived seven states away. I wanted to find several in-person book nerds who also liked wine (or sparkling water! we're inclusive!).

It was a summer day, poolside, when I told my neighbor Dina about a great book I was reading by an author I really liked. She said, "I want to read more, but I need an excuse to read more."

So. I started a book club.

Sure, I still have several half-written novels chillin' on my laptop. But since those don't seem to be getting published any time soon, I figured the next best thing was to sit around with a group of like-minded gal pals, slurp down a glass of wine (or sparking water! you don't have to be an alcoholic to join!), and critique someone else's writing. It's cathartic.

Step Two: Ask Others to Join

After I forced, I mean suggested, that Dina join, we floated the idea by our neighbor Rhianna who was all for it. We started off with our first book and our small little group quickly grew. As soon as I would tell someone about my latest book club meeting I would be met with, "Book club? How do I join?" I mean who doesn't want to read a good book, stuff your face with finger foods for dinner, and hang out with a bunch of awesome women who have varied and insightful opinions?

Step Three: Read, Get Together, and Repeat

Today we have nearly 10 local members plus our social pages and our newly launched website. Wine Drinking Team Book Club started off like most things start off. Small and simple. But once people get to know me, (ok, US) they all want a seat at the table. (Bruh. It's the rizz.)

 

Half of 70

It is an age/number that confounded my little mind at the tender age of seven. To be thirty-five. (I'm typing it out rather than writing it numerically as it seems less harsh that way.)

I could not even fathom what or who I would be at thirty-five. It was just too damn far away and time back then moved like molasses.

I used to work with a couple of women in their forties who claimed they loved being older. They didn't put up with as much crap, life was easier to navigate due to experience, I was reassured I was heading towards greatness and told to embrace my impending birthdays. With gusto.

I do feel I have come a long way with who I am. I had some detours in my twenties, and as painful as they were, those moments are behind me. I have found strength in saying no. I have discovered the joy and beauty of creating a new family. Those detours in my twenties, if faced with them today, would not get a second glance. I am not a different person - I was a different person when being detoured - I am myself, a stronger version of myself in my youth. Except where I was uncertain, or too afraid, now I am not.

It is a good place to be.

However, I have noticed some aspects, like generational differences, I never thought would bother me.  I was convinced I could remain up to date with most trends and would never utter phrases like, "These kids today," and yet, I do. I find a deep divide between my Gen-X culture and that of the Millennials. The technology they have grown up with was introduced to my generation much later in life. We knew of peace and quiet. We knew of phone calls on landlines and missing your favorite TV show if you couldn't get your VCR to work. I made mix tapes, and then CDs.

While I've welcomed most technology, I try to keep a balance. When I go out, you know, into the world? Like a restaurant, or movie theater, my cell phone is in my purse and that's where it stays. At the doctor's office, I either read a book I've brought or flip through a magazine. And even though I own an e-reader, I still own books, because, well, there are times when I feel like a nut, and times I don't.

My husband constantly teases me for using my iPod. But wait, I'm talking one of the first iPods, not a touch screen, it has the little wheel that you have to circle around to get through your music collection. I bought it in 2007, it was top of the line at the time, lots of capacity for my large music collection AND it played movies. Now, it's viewed as obsolete.

I worry less now about any kind of social life, and more about society. What kind of world are we living in? How can we make sure the generations that follow us will be ok? As a PR/Marketing professional I really have to be up to date on the news and world events, but find I can't watch the stories of loss, destruction and conflict over and over and over again. I worry about my children. All. The. Time. I want their lives to be full, happy - I want them to be their best selves.

As for me, I want to check some items off my list. I want to be a published author. I want to run another Boilermaker. I want to see Alaska, Hawaii, Northern California and the lush Northwest. I want to be here for my kids to get them on and off the school bus. I want summers in the pool, falls full of leaves and apple cider, winters full of... ok, mostly I want winters to be over with, and springs full of flowers and that unbeatable earthy smell that I can't stop breathing in.

Basically, I just want to keep having birthdays, and endlessly celebrating life in between.