📖 the makings of (The Bright Minds) Book Club 📖

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! 

You may remember that back in late spring, I started a book club. We met one time, the first Monday night of June, and we had a great time! We picked our book for the month of July and got the date scheduled, and then my life fell apart both personally and with the death of my dad. We missed that scheduled dinner in July for those reasons, but we met again last night, for the second time! We met at a favorite restaurant, and we talked about the book we'd picked to read in June. We couldn't all be there due to being out of town or sick, but a few of us met up last night and had a blast. 

I thought I'd share some things I've learned since starting a book club a whopping two months ago. I say that with a smile on my face, because clearly, I do not know everything. 🤣 I have, however, learned some valuable things that I think are worth sharing here, should you ever want to start your own real-life book club. 

First, names of book clubs are fun, but we've yet to pick one. I have some ideas for names, but we've never voted. Maybe we'll do that the next time!

My mind has changed about the name, but lately I've been leaning toward The Bright Minds Book Club (TBMBC). 💡

Secondly, size matters. (I'm laughing over my joke.) When I first put out on social media that I wanted to start a book club with local ladies, I knew in my mind that the limit would be to have no more than ten ladies, eleven if you count me. The reason I went with that number is because I know that life happens, and nobody will show up every month. Last night, for instance, only four of us could meet. That was fine, and it worked out perfectly since it ended up being a night when we shared personal stories from our own lives. We did also talk about the book; we spent about an hour eating and catching up, and the last hour was spent talking about the book. Another reason you have to consider the size is because if you have too many people there, the voices are drowned out by one another. If you have too few in number, the discussion could draw out and become awkward. It's a balance, but I think our size is perfect!

That leads me to the next point of time. Time is important! We went to a place last night that closes at 7:30, so we decided to meet at 5:30 so that we would have two full hours. I like to have an end time, because it does give us a goal to reach toward. We all work outside of our home, so none of us want to be out late on a week night. 

Next up is that we actually talk about the book. I have been to book clubs before when we didn't even get around to discussing the book we read. That is a huge pet peeve! I love to socialize and have fun like everyone else, but I also think it's important to do the thing you're meeting to do. Call me crazy, but whatever! 🤣

Keep it low key and low stress. Now, this one actually may not work for everyone, but for me personally in this phase of life, I need fun, low key, and low stress. That being said, I decided that we would always meet on the first Monday night of every month. I also decided that we would meet at a place that we can eat that doesn't require tipping and splitting up the check. This works well for us, and it's easy to set up and clean up afterwards. 

Have fun! Keep it easy breezy; I don't stress about who comes each month and who doesn't. I am of the opinion that if it's four of us, like last night, then sometimes that's more fun. It's also fun if everyone comes! I love chances for us to get to know new people, and it makes my heart happy to see relationships start to form. Don't make your expectations too high, says the Queen of High Expectations. Relax and enjoy the time that you have together. 

(This was us at book club last night; left to right are Shea to my left, Britne, and Kristy. We had a great time, even though we were small in number!)

Another thing that I think is important is that I offer to let other people pick the books and/or the location. So far nobody has taken me up for the offer, but I'm here for it, should they decide they want to do that. I'm open to suggestions and I have no issues at all with passing the baton from month to month, so to speak. 

Lastly, and perhaps the most important thing, is that communication should be clear and understandable. I am a planner, so I've already picked the book we'll read this month, I know the night we'll meet to talk about it, and I will pick the place where we'll meet sometime this week. We all have the Group Me app that we communicate through, so I'll send a text to them tomorrow so that they'll have plenty of time to read the book. My young friend Holly encouraged me to use Group Me. You can send links, videos, pictures, polls, and boxes to vote on all within that one app, and it's good for both Apple and Android users. I'm Android, and I know this is an issue between the brand of smart phones. 

Have you ever been in a book club? Do you have anything to add to this list? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'll see you back here tomorrow for the Currently link party; the prompts are things we're loving, things we're looking forward to, things we're scheduling, buying, and gearing up for! Love to all. 🖤

I'm linking up with Joanne for today's blog post.