Book Club Shuffle

About a year after moving here, a year of dozens of trips to the library in Small Town, I was returning a book one day, when the librarian said, "Oh, did you like that? I think the Book Club here in town read that one month." 

Book club?  Here in town?  Why had I not heard about this?!?  I scour the weekly newspaper here in Small Town every.single.week.  I had never seen a word about the book club, not even hidden in some other seemingly-unrelated article.  

And so I asked the librarian. And she made a few phone calls. And I requested the book for the next month. And I recruited my cousin-in-law (also new to town, also a book-lover, also looking to make friends here). And we showed up, ready to discuss and participate and make friends. 

It's been a fun year of doing just that, i.e., attending "Nerd Club," as one of our husbands affectionately calls it. What a natural way to get to know people!  Doing something that everyone in the group has an interest in.  Being salt and light in a natural setting, and as a team!, rather than in an artificial setting which I have created on my own turf, and to which it's harder to get people to come.  

We both were delighted when our family reunion this summer also included a Family Book Club!  In advance of the reunion, a good number of us read Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (A "young adult" book was selected in hopes that the younger ones would read it too, but parts of it were too violent for the pre-teens).  

Although it is a secular book, we had a most challenging, encouraging, and convicting discussion (as a group of believers) comparing racial discrimination with other types of discrimination more common in today's society, and the root issue (actually the root *sin*) of our own pride.  The book club discussion sparked other sanctifying discussions throughout the remainder of the reunion weekend.  

Family Book Club whet my appetite for a book club that could be more, for a book club that could focus on redemptive books (even secular ones), for a book club that could strengthen and challenge my faith while strengthening my relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Come to find out, our new church has a quarterly book club!  I'm excited about reading their book selections and discussing these redemptive books with a small group of my sisters in Christ.  

Time will tell if I can realistically commit to both, but I'm thankful for the gift of these three book clubs!