SOUTH MAIN BOOKCLUB

BY SARAH VILLASEÑOR

Lauren Gordy and I were excited when asked to lead a book club on Wednesday nights. Especially after three years of irregular attendance (for me personally), I was eager to find a way to jump back into a church routine!

But how does one go about hosting a church book club? How do you pick books?

Easy! Lauren and I wanted to make sure we hosted a weekly meeting with manageable reading “assignments.” Once the group votes/selects the next book (no genre restraints or book censoring here) we split it up into about five to six sections to match with the number of weeks we are meeting.

This empowers readers, of any schedule, to jump in and out of our weekly meetings, read (or not read), and be ready to discuss. We have small nights with five attendees and nights where we have 10-15 people.

Our book club is a cross-section of folks who gather each week to share how we are connecting or not connecting with the reading. It’s refreshing to have an array of life experiences to discuss and connect with different perspectives.

We recently read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Being immersed in a book written by an agnostic author about two young boys and their coming-of-age story that is centered around life in a small town, and is rife with religious symbols, has made for great discussion! We enjoy discussing destiny, fate, and how our lives are shaped by the people who surround us. who surround us.

Come one, come all and join us when you can!