When was the last time you gave yourself permission to read a book just for the pleasure of reading? Even if you have, how might you extend that pleasure?
Bev Yashar and Karen Kun, founders of the B-W Book Club in Beaumont-Wilshire, have created the opportunity for you to do just that.
While helping children to be better readers for the SMART Reading program (smartreading.org), Yashar and Kun found they shared a love of reading. Both women also wanted to engage in an activity that would build community while supporting neighborhood businesses. They came up with the idea of organizing a book club for Beaumont-Wilshire residents. Book club members would meet monthly to discuss a book, holding their meetings at B-W food and drink spots.
They contacted BWNA newsletter editor, who suggested they use the newsletter to invite B-W residents to contact them if interested in a neighborhood book group. To their delight, nearly 40 people responded.
Yashar and Kun decided to form three separate reading groups with three separate times during the second week of each month to discuss that month’s book. Volunteers facilitate the meetings using guiding principles Kun formulated. The principles encourage B-W Book Club members to support the establishments in which book club meetings are held, show respect for others’ points of view, and, most important, focus on building community. In addition, members can feel free to attend even if they have not finished the book!
B-W Book Club groups meet at the Hi-Top Tavern (Tuesday afternoons at 2:30 p.m.) and The Mule Bar (Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. and Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m.). Yashar and Kun appreciate the hospitality offered by the Hi-Top and The Mule Bar establishments which have graciously accommodated the book club groups. If more people join, more discussion groups could be formed, though “we probably would want to cap each group at 10 members to keep discussions intimate and allow everyone who wants to join the discussion to do so,” stated Yashar.
Book club members can choose which meeting they attend. If a member cannot attend their usual meeting, they might attend one of the other meetings. Yashar and Kun also suggested that it might be fun to have an annual meeting when all the reader groups get together. Yashar wondered if they “might reserve a section of tables at the food truck pod for an open-invitation gathering.”
Yashar and Kun surveyed book club members regarding their choices for the October through January meetings. The books selected are: “Grey Bees” by Andrey Kurkov; “How to Winter: Finding Warmth on Cold, Dark Difficult Days” by Kari Leibowitz; “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin; and “Winter Dance” by Gary Paulson.
If you are interested in joining the B-W Book Club, contact Bev Yashar at yashar@med.umich.edu or Karen Kun at karen.kun@outlook.com. “All are welcome!” Kun said.
Pamela Plimpton, a B-W resident since 1980, retired as a professor of English in 2020. Her interests include reading, writing, gardening, and singing with a community chorale. She and her husband enjoy playing golf, working out at the Northeast Community Center, traveling, and grandparenting their granddaughter.