The one with how it all started

Day 2 – The one with how it all started

In the Spring of 2008 the idea of Broadened Horizons book club started growing. I wanted to read some of those great books. The ones that have been around for years and the new ones everyone was talking about. All those I never read in high school or college because I was too busy swimming. BUT… I wanted to read those books AND talk about them with others.

I wrote a few snail mail letters inviting four of my friends to join me in forming a book club. I had just read a great book and wanted to talk about it with someone… but no one else had read it. Thus the club began.

In the beginning we met on Saturday mornings for pitch-in brunch at a local park every other month. By the fall of the first year we had a small constant group of 3-5 attending. In 2009 I asked a few regular attenders to join me in forming The Core group. (to help coordinate, plan, select books and write blog posts) We were now averaging 8 in attendance each month, but often a different 8 each time. Near the end of that year we were ready to step things up and we began meeting every month. We continued to slowly grow through 2010 and 2011, meeting in cafes or members homes. We also began mixing in special events like tea parties, summer picnics, and dinner parties.

Our group is a great mix of ages and walks of life. We all have things in common but we also bring our individual uniqueness. Our club has no attendance rules. Members are free to come as often or as little as they are able. Many have new babies, busy schedules, and many responsibilities. We are not any sort of stiff-official-due-requiring-lots-of-rules club. Our open door policy seems to work for us and still always provides great conversation. Eight is still about what we average but in January, for Bring A Friend Month, when we read The Help we had 17 show up!

This is just a glimpse of our club’s story. Tomorrow we’ll begin to dive into all the specifics. Please leave a comment and share any questions you have about starting your own book club. I hope to cover all the details you’ll need in this series.

Reading Is Social :: Table of Contents
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