TWM Book Club: A Retrospective

I am fortunate enough to have been a part of The Women's Mosaic Book Club, which began this past summer. I started attending because I had never been a part of a book club before, and wanted to experience what it was like to discuss a selected book, its themes, characters, plot, and so much more. Christianna, TWM's Program Coordinator Extraordinaire, did a great job organizing the event, which included inviting participants, securing the location, and posing the specific questions in our discussion to ensure that we did not drift too far away from the book itself. I was one of the interested participants who came up with the idea of a theme for each book club meeting, and then choosing a selection that corresponds with it.

Each month this summer, my fellow bibliophiles and I came together to sip beverages and nibble on some Italian cookies and pastries, while discussing books written by women. I have enjoyed every meeting I've attended because my fellow attendees have always been respectful and good-natured with one another; there never was anyone who acted like they were too smart for the room.

When the summer was over and I learned that there would be no meetings until next year, I was curious to see what power (if any) I had to resurrect the book club before the holidays began. After speaking with fellow TWM member Julie at September's TWM Visioning Workshop, I was relieved to see that I was not alone. After discussing the matter with Christianna, Julie agreed to use her apartment on November 18 to discuss Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson. In my humble opinion, it was the best book club meeting we ever had, even though the group was smaller than before. The same spirit of freedom to discuss the book’s controversial themes candidly and constructively, combined with our new, intimate setting, contributed to a thoroughly successful, end-of-the-year TWM Book Club Meeting.

I hope to meet more TWM members (and those who are interested) at next year’s meetings.