A Book Club For the People

For as long as I can remember, when I’ve been asked, “Claire, are you reading anything at the moment?”, the answer has ALWAYS been yes! My reading style over the years has ranged from Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (I had an intense obsession and still do) to more adult reads such as Beautiful Boy, Me Before You, and Nicholas Sparks books. When I switched into English Education earlier this semester, I tried to reflect on some of my favorite memories of reading and writing. For writing, that was simple, I thought about all of the wonderful essays I poured my soul into (including the Taylor Swift Blog post I wrote earlier in the school year for the KD Blog) throughout my many years of school. For reading, I was able to recall forcing my Dad to read the Diary of a Wimpy Kids books on all of his work trips so that we could discuss them at all times. However, I was also able to recall the very first time I felt accepted by my peers for enjoying reading…BOOK CLUB!! When I was in Fourth grade, one of my classmates and her mom decided to start a book club for our friend group. We read Heartbeat by Sharon Creech and the meeting we had that followed our reading will forever be a core memory in my mind. After recalling this moment in my life, that is when it dawned on me. I came to the realization that the thing that Kappa Delta Theta Nu was missing was a book club. At first when I had this idea I did not know if this would be something that the chapter would be interested in. About two days after I had had this thought, I was talking to Sister Annika Schenkel and we began to talk about this hypothetical book club. When I had this discussion with Annika, it solidified in my head that getting this book club in motion was most definitely something that needed to happen. I contacted Sister Caitlin Clark, VP-Inclusion, and the rest was history. As I told the members who met for book club, this was my baby and I was excited to put my all into the club to get it rolling! The book we read for March was It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. We had our very first monthly meeting on March 29th in the alcove (and in my humble opinion) it was quite the hit! We were able to have a very fun discussion about the themes, characters, plot, writing style, sequel coming in October 2022, and who we want to play our favorite characters in the movie that is being made in 2023. This was the first time in a long time that I was able to verbally bond with my peers about what I was reading and totally nerd about the little things in the book. I cannot wait to have our next meeting next month to discuss our April choice of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Something I kept in mind when trying to put together the elements of this book club was I wanted to feel like people had a say in what this book club looked like. I know reading is not a favorite hobby of everyone and I think that can be related to when people are forced to read a book they do not particularly enjoy (specifically in school). There is no better feeling than falling in love with reading through that one special book. In the group chat for the club, every month I put out a Google Form asking the members when they want to meet and what books they are interested in reading. I also added an option for members to be able to run the club discussion for that month as well. I truly am passionate about everyone feeling as if they have a voice in the club. I have also tried to make it as clear as possible that if you do not want to read a book that we are reading for the month, that you do not have to feel obligated just because you are in the chat. Same goes for sisters who are not in the group chat. If they hear in a chapter meeting that we are reading a book they are interested in, they are more than welcome to just drop in for that month. I want it to be a flexible way that people can begin to get into reading. I would like to end this post by expressing my gratitude to Kappa Delta for letting me have this opportunity to do something I am so passionate about and giving me the space to do so. I know this book club may seem minor to some, it truly is a project that expresses what I will potentially be trying to do for the rest of my professional life…making students fall in love with reading and written expression. I would also like to especially thank Caitlin Clark for putting my silly information on her slides and Annika Schenkel for being my person to bounce ideas off of. Now, I leave you all with a quote I frequently use for convincing people to give reading a shot, "Today a reader, tomorrow a leader." – Margaret Fuller, and for me, in this case, reading has truly given me a chance to be a leader in my own way!