Our favorite Book Store Down The Cape, located in Brewster.

Every 6 months to a year, the book club I organize meets, not for a movie night. Not for a discussion of a shared book experience. Nonono. We meet, to argue the merits of what we will be reading next.

Every book club is different. But what I have found, is that the kind of people I want to spend time discussing stuff with are smart and educated. They come from all walks of life, come in all colors, preferences, etc…. Only things we all have in common is that we are all over 18, and we all love to read. Beyond that we hail from all the different cultures and regions this country has to offer. We work in a wide range of fields. From College Professor, to dog trainer, to homesteader, to medical transcription, to nurse, to therapist, etc… Some come from two parent homes, some come from single parent homes, some come from communes, etc…. Some originate in big cities, others the back of beyond. So as can be imagined… Trying to select books for this crowd of smart women and non binaries, is…. Well…. Not easy. More importantly, it is above my pay grade.

This methodology for selecting as we do, has evolved through some trial and error early on. The more you attend our meetings the more ownership and voice you get in the club itself. This way, the one time attenders are not driving the bus. Those attending regularly, are valued and as involved as they wish to be. Every club is different each one has it’s own methods. Some put a lot of pressure on their members. Everyone hosts when they do they pick the book. I didn’t like this model in part for selfish reasons, and also because, the sorts of people I enjoy, don’t always have all that much time to plan a whole event and then pick the book too…. Seems like a lot to saddle someone with kids and a job with. Another method I have seen is everyone meeting at a cafe or brewery, and at each meeting the organizer offers 3 book options and the club chooses from those. I don’t drink coffee or booze. I have to have milk in coffee and I can’t because then I have an allergic reaction. I don’t drink booze…. Cuz I have never met any that doesn’t taste in my opinion like arse. I also like the members of my club. I want them to feel some sense of belonging and being part of something as a member of the book club. It has been refered to as a sisterhood, and more than once as a book coven.

Our book club, works by everyone who has attended several meetings and become part of community/coven/sisterhood, gathering here at Wildflower once to twice a year. Snacks are present. So is tea, and wine if folks who are not me want it. Then we sit down. Each member who has chosen to attend brings a stack of books to introduce to the group. A master list is slowly amassed from all the recommendations and the book descriptions. Then we see how many of the suggested books have a second party interested. We put those in a maybes list. From there we begin to haggle, debate, and discuss. Factions can form, and after much discussion there is a vote. Before we vote we decide are we picking 12 or 6 this time? Once that is decided, the voting commences. When it is over we have a list of 6 or 12 books, that we will read together, one per month over the course of the next 6 months or a year.

We have certain focuses as a club. We are interested in feminist lit/woman authors/female experiences/female main characters. We are great lovers of just about all genres. But those are the unifying theme of our club, women’s empowerment. We also try really hard to get at least one of everyone’s suggestion on the list or more. It doesn’t always happen, but we do make a concerted effort to that end. So one book selection you may get 3 of your suggestions on the list, get only 1 at the next selection and 0 at the one after that. It varies a bit and we are not fascists about anything. Still, we do make an effort towards that goal. Our final list has a lot of different kinds of stuff in it. Often from fantasy to memoir, to everything in between. Once the master list is formed, the final step is begun, which leads to another round of haggling, debate, discussion, and campaigning. We set an order, one book per month.

We met last night to sort out some new reads as after our meeting next week, we have but 1 more book in our current collection left. Still Alice. By making sure that we gather a moth or two ahead of running out of agreed to books, we ensure that our club continues on uninterrupted. It also ensures as organizer I don’t feel stress about the continuation of the book club that I have been working over the last nearly 4 years to build into what it is today.

We met, and we decided for the next year, beginning in May after our final book in this current selection collection.  We are all super excited about our choices so I thought I would share our list here in case anyone else out there might enjoy any of the books we will be reading together.

May: Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman
June: The Language Of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
July: Mad Honey by Jodi PIcoult
August: The Tea Girl Of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
September: Educated by Tara Westover
October:The Guernsy Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows
November: Dead Inside by Cyndy Drew Etler
December: Tress Of The Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
January: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
February: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
March: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
April: Absolution by Alice McDermott

The nice thing about Wildflower’s book club, is that it is almost always hosted here at Wildflower. That cuts down on the work for a group of highly intelligent and busy women who meet here to chat books. It keeps things simple, and low stress for those with full time jobs and families. All they need to do is show up, and if they want to bring something to eat or drink that is totally welcome.

It also allows the book club to make the important decisions about the stuff we all care about the most, together. Allows everyone who has put in the regularity to have a voice and a seat behind the wheel steering this book club. We also just enjoy each other’s company, so getting together is just fun and often fairly magical. It’s a wonderful crew that has formed gradually over the last 4 years. Every third sunday of every month, I feel so lucky to have gathered a tribe that I truly enjoy. A crew that challenges me and each other. A group that genuinely cares about each other. A group that enjoys a good laugh together and can handle the heaviness of the human experience together. We don’t always agree, and debate will rage. But our genuine care for each other, is always present and we build on it to build each other up even as we disagree.

I feel so very very lucky and so unbelievably gifted, to have this group of women to discuss books with and to grow as a person with through our conversations and debates about the books we read together.

Well, there is our list for the next 12 months.
I should warn you unlike all sales, these choices can be over turned at meetings by calling for a book club town hall in which hand raising decides the fate of our original selections and what will replace them if anything.
Thank you for reading.
Amanda of Wildflower Farm