“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 692 (Thursday) - book club

I was in a book club when I first came back from Tennessee. I thought it would be a good way to meet people and maybe some new friends. It met in a coffee shop that also served food, beer and wine, which is a great setting for a book club. There were always formal and intimidating discussion questions and I often felt really stupid and unprepared, like being a high school freshman who wandered into a graduate level literature class. 

Books!

Some of the members seemed to have known each other for a long time and would be involved in personal discussions that I felt like I was intruding upon when arriving at the meeting spot. They were polite to those of us not in their tight group, but it was a cool, detached, arm’s length politeness. After months of going to book club, I was going broke buying the selections which were often new releases only available in hardcover. It still felt like intruding in a clique, and I didn’t know any of the members any better, except for my cousin who was sometimes at the meetings.

Tonight, I attended my first meeting of The Boozy Book Club, based out of La La Books, the new book store on Market Street. The group of seven was informal, casual, friendly. There were no college level essay questions to wrestle with. Instead, we bounced around the characters and the issues in the book (On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong) and it felt like a very natural conversation. It was much more relaxed than the earlier book club. And friendlier.

This club has two rules for selections -- the books should be fiction and available in paperback. This is much more affordable, so we’re off to a good start. The book store is next door to the restaurant we met at, so after the meeting, I got the book for February (The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune). The goal of reading one book each month feels attainable this year. And I've already been in 100% more evening social situations than last year.

Storm prep.

On the way home, there was a stop at Market Basket, partly in case the snowstorm really hits and Saturday is, indeed, a homebound day. The primary objective was hot cocoa mix, which was the hardest thing to find. Twice I walked past the shelves, probably because the boxes were crazy and unfamiliar brands. Thirty-three dollars later, there were chips, deli cheese ends, half and half, English muffins, frozen vegetables for soup, and of course, bread. 

I’m ready for the snow that may or may not be deep and plentiful. There is a new book and snacks, and I could read all day like when I was a kid. Maybe if I disconnect the Internet and cable for the day, I can pull it off, whatever the day delivers.