Why Book Clubs Will Save Humanity
Hello Love and Laundry Readers,
Feeling a little hopeless and not particularly grateful as Thanksgiving approaches this year? Worried about divisiveness, polarization and the fate of western civilization?
Fear not. I have the antidote. And it's right here, under your nose, down the street, and in your own back yard.
The cure for pessimism, gloom, and ennui lies in... your neighborhood book club.
It's true.
I've spent the last four months going to book club meetings. If you are
kind enough to buy and read my book, then I am brave enough to head west on I-66 during rush hour to attend your book club meeting.
I've attended Zoom book club meetings all over the country, and in-person meetings in Manassas, Springfield, and Vienna Virginia, plus meetings here in my own back yard in Fort Hunt, Old Town, Stratford Landing, Waynewood, and Beverly Hills in Alexandria.
And here's what I've found:
People who read books are nice to each other.
People who read books know and value their neighbors.
People who read books form friendships that last for decades.
And, people who read books make really great appetizers.
One of my favorite book clubs started with a group of women who met volunteering at the bake sales and concession stands that make up the lives of elementary school mothers all over America.
Now those kids are grown up and married and these mothers have become grandmothers. And they still meet once a month to read and discuss books.
Other books groups are still firmly rooted in the little kids years, offering each other advice and support as they move through the science fair volcano/book report/spelling test/long division and multiplication table phase of motherhood. These women don't have time to read, but somehow they make time to read anyway.
I attended a book club meeting at a Barnes and Noble in Springfield where the members have nothing in common but books. They are old, young, male, and female, couples and single people, and they meet at Barnes and Noble once a month because they love to read and discuss mysteries.
The newest book group I attended is right here on my own street. I was getting the mail one day when I ran into my neighbor walking her dog. I told her how much fun I'm having attending book club meetings, and she said maybe we should start one right here in our neighborhood.
So we did. And because she is the most organized person on the planet, our first meeting was fantastic. And for our second meeting, we're reading a great novel about Marjorie Merriweather Post and we're visiting her estate at Hillwood in Washington D.C. How cool is that?
I'd like to point out that no one ever discusses politics at these meetings. They don't need to, because books offer all the drama and intrigue we need in our daily lives. Instead, people discuss the things they love most, the things that bring us together rather than push apart, things like kids, pets and the characters we meet between the papers of a book, imaginary people who are often far more lovable and real that the characters we've forced to follow in an endless series of attack ads during the course of a political campaign.
So this Thanksgiving season I'm grateful for book clubs. I'm grateful to be invited into the homes and discussions of thoughtful readers. I'm especially grateful when these readers allow me to ask them questions about what they like and don't like, how they find books and why they choose them. Listening to feedback from avid readers makes me a better writer, which allows me to write even better books to fuel the next discussion.
So until then, thank you for reading this month's issue of Notes on Love and Laundry. I hope your November is filled with three of the very best things in life, and those things are, obviously, apple pie, mashed potatoes, and the corn casserole my mother makes.
AND (dramatic drum roll), please tune in next month when I will at long last be at liberty to share some VERY BIG NEWS!!!
Yours with love and heartfelt wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Christine