I Started a Book Club!!

As an English major, my college career involved a lot of well.. English. I constantly had my nose crammed in a book and I always kept around a journal to be able to jot down potential story ideas. I was obsessed. My classes involved a lot of discussing what we were reading and I absolutely loved this. I enjoyed being able to give my opinion and point of view and then get to hear what everyone else got from the text.

Post-graduation itself is a weird, uncertain time. But during a pandemic? Yikes. Not only was I ripped out of the academic world, I also moved cities all on my own. Talk about a completely different chapter.

But I kept reading and writing through all of it. It has kept my grounded and sane. But it obviously wasn’t the same as being in a classroom setting. No one around to keep me accountable or make sure I was staying on track.

I started talking to my cousin about this transition – she’s currently pursuing an English degree online – and we talked about how much we missed face to face interaction discussing books. So, we decided to start a book club together – via Zoom of course! The first book we read was Followers by Megan Angelo. It was a science fiction novel that touched on the complexities of the advancements of social media and how dangerous it can be to display your entire life online. It was so fun to read and discuss every week. We even roped a couple of other people into reading it with us.

And now, after we’ve finished that book, we’ve decided to keep the train rolling and read another book together! The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is currently en route to my home. I can’t wait to read it. Here’s a little excerpt from it:

“Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?”