My Book Clubs (#nerdlution 5)

Book clubs are a part of my reading life.  Kendra, Jillian & I often form a book club around professional books.  (Reading in the Wild coming soon, ladies!)  When I began my Master's program, a group of five incredible teacher-friends started to meet as a book club each month.  Book Club brought balance to my reading life, since I was primarily engrossed in reading middle grade books for fifth graders as a new teacher.  I rarely read adult fiction before Book Club, clearly preferring nonfiction.  We weren't as formal as other book clubs, but our discussion was fabulous.  Participation in the club encouraged me to stretch myself as a reader, particularly as we chose titles from different genres.  It also really informed my teaching practice about book clubs in my classroom.  Nearly eleven years later, we still meet each month to try out new restaurants, except for our dear friend who moved to Texas.  We have been together through weddings, babies, medical issues, career changes, and sadness.  But the book aspect of our Book Club has faded away.  With young children at home and busy teaching lives, we now mostly recommend titles to each other, check in about what we are reading, and move on to "more pressing" issues.  When we met this past Tuesday night, I was reminded of how fortunate I am to have Book Club.  The Book Club gals add a different perspective to my personal and professional life.

On Wednesday night, I was preparing dinner with two little ones running around the kitchen and, out of frustration, told my children to go find something to do.  A few minutes later, the words "let's have a book club" caught my attention.  Big B (age 6) and Little C (almost 3 going on 10) went on to decide who to invite and which books to read.  You can't have a book club in our house without Minnie.  (You really can't do anything in our house without Minnie tagging along.  She goes everywhere.) Squid came, so they decided to book club The Biggest Thing in the Ocean. Once the book club members were ready and the books were selected, Big B began to talk to Little C about what he noticed in Elf on the Shelf.  In case the Common Core gods were asking, I even heard him cite textual evidence.  He went on to ask Little C what she was thinking and so it went.  My teacher-momma heart melted, as I often hope they will find as much joy in reading as I do.

Annie