I wanted to read again, enjoy getting lost in a good book. Starting from when I was in elementary school, my bestie and I spent many summer days at the local library, participating in the reading programs and collecting stickers for reading books. Then as a middle school and high school student, I somehow still found a way to read 1-2 books a week. That habit carried over into college, in addition to text books, I'd read a book or two a week.
It was such an escape during those college years, when I didn't quite fit into the crowd in my first year computer science classes (all men) or when I would have to get over to school by 8am for an 11am class to get a good parking spot. I'd use all that idle time to read.
What did I read? I read it all, fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies, biographies, old and new tales. Anything.
When I graduated from college, I'm not really quite sure what happened, I sort of dropped off from reading. I plowed through the first few Harry Potter books, but I lost my library card, and never got a new one. Every now and again, I'd grab a book that was highly recommended and I'd read it in a week, but I did not immediately pick up another one.
Fast forward about 15 years, we moved from NYC to Los Angeles, and I wanted to get lost in books again, but I also wanted to make some new friends in the neighborhood. I thought it would be a good idea to join a book club...or better yet start one. So I turned to Nextdoor to see if anyone had a club I could join, but I ended up posting about starting a new club. And then 38 people responded. While the response was overwhelming, we were able to get a decent group of people together to discuss how to make this club work. About 15 of us met at a local coffee shop to discuss the specifics and get to know one another. From there, WilMont book club took shape.
We've been meeting for almost a year, and have read some really amazing books. Most importantly, I meet with an incredible group of women every 2nd Tuesday of the month for laughs, wine, snacks and a little bit of book discussion. It's been amazing, the power of books has brought an unlikely group of women together.
Here's what we've read so far:
- The Commonwealth - August, 2017
- The Circle - September, 2017
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers - October, 2017
- Kaffir Boy - November, 2017
- Paris Wife - January, 2018
- The Wonder - February, 2018
- Everyone Brave is Forgiven - March, 2018
- Luckiest Girl Alive - April, 2018
- Hillbilly Elegy - May, 2018