I am a book addict, and that extends to book clubs as well. In fact, I am in an unreasonable number of in person book clubs (18 that meet to discuss a specific book, and two silent book clubs) as well as one virtual book club that actually doesn't feel real to me yet because I keep forgetting to show up for the meetings (sorry Cuz. I'm super excited about the next two books because I at least own both of them). Being in 18 book clubs means that I spend a whole lot of time reading books that other people tell me to read. This is a very weird thing for me to want, since I hated reading as a subject in school because I didn't like being told what to read and when to read it. I have even become a bit notorious in the Colorado Springs book community because everyone remembers the chick who is crazy and in 18 book clubs.
People in several of my book clubs consistently tell me I should pare them down, get rid of a few and maybe read some books that I pick for myself without a deadline for a change. And it's solid advice. I don't actually recommend being in 18 book clubs. But I also don't want to quit ANY of them. How would I even choose which book clubs to leave? In fact, I was recently kicked out of my fantasy book club (that's a WHOLE thing), and instead of taking the L, I started a new fantasy book club. I have problems.
As we were heading into March, I decided to have you all help me to MAYBE narrow down my book clubs to a more manageable number (to be clear, the only times I miss meetings are if I'm ill or they conflict with other book club meetings, so I'm technically managing it already) by doing a Battle of the Book Clubs March Madness style. I am in enough groups for a solid bracket. Sure, we're starting at Sweet 16, but even I know 64 book clubs is too many.
Up first, we have The Next Chapter. This is a rebrand of the first book club I joined here in Colorado. I have been in it the longest and I'm a founding member (twice over since it's technically a new group now, but all but one of the remaining founding members of the original group is in this group so...) This group gave me the village that I've been searching for my entire adult life. There is not a doubt in my mind that if there was some sort of emergency that required my husband and I to leave the state for an extended period of time, these ladies would step up as they're able to make sure our pets are taken care of, including administering meds twice a day for our cat who has seizures, and that our teenagers aren't throwing wild parties without adult supervision (I don't actually trust that there would be no parties, but there would be an adult present, and it would probably be Karen).
I consider this a generic book club because we've read from a variety of genres. The hosting member for each month gets to put forth choices to be voted on by the group, typically. But the hosting member is also allowed to be a dictator and just tell us all what we're reading for the next meeting. Some of my favorite book discussions for The Next Chapter include The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (this was a dictator decision, but the meal she prepared was well themed and so worth it), and Nocticadia by Keri Lake.
We aren't just a book club. We're actually friends.
I'll be back tomorrow with a review for Shelf Care Book Club, and then the first match-up will begin. - Katie
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