Book Club

Dear AWA book clubs,

Summer and travel time (ha,ha,ha) are coming to an end, and we want to follow the tradition of writing postcards, even if this one will come from "travels to nowhere" into your mailbox.

How have you been? We are doing well, thanks to our monthly meetings. This is when we come together, enjoy coffee and treats in a member's home and almost immediately start chatting about the book of the month. It gets even better when the host provides statements and questions around the book.

Jen, an AWA Tuesday morning book club member, shares that: "As a person who is in multiple book clubs, I can honestly say that you, dear AWA book clubs, are great because each book is taken seriously and talked about thoroughly in a respectful and fun way. I also really like the fact that you not only consist of American women but rather women from all over the world, which makes the experience of living abroad richer and more meaningful."

Besides getting a diverse group of women together, you introduce us to various books (memoirs, South East Asian literature, fiction, and non-fiction books), many of which wouldn't have come across us without you. Voting on our suggestions about what to read next is as much fun as rating a book at the end of every meeting. If the selected book isn’t enough, we all are happy to share recommendations on what we read independently. Wonderful and full of wonder, each book is tantalizing.

Over the summer, one AWA book club had a Zoom book discussion with the author Kristin Blair on her book Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything. Thank you, Kristin and Julie, who organized this for us. Another experimental book club meeting was a collective reading of Address Unknown by Kressmann Taylor. The members alternately read aloud the letters, becoming bolder as the reading and discussions deepened.

What can we say, dear AWA book clubs? Nothing can separate us from you; No Covid restriction is too tough. We always will find ways to enjoy discussing books with five or eight members, in one or two households, or using Zoom. And when we finally had to part, shared delight and discussion continued via phone. Loyalty runs strong, as evidenced by Julie’s nomination of her AWA Tuesday morning book club as "Best Book Club on the Little Red Dot.”

Sending all AWA book clubs best wishes and hope to meet again with old and new members.

Love,

Anita C, Anita Y, Carrie, Carol, Jen, Julie, Karen, Karla, Katherine, Kerry, Marina, Melanie and Noelle