Here at CMLE we love books! Of course, this isn’t a big secret – we have posted weekly podcast episodes for years now, filled with book ideas for you and to share with your patrons. We have Goodreads pages filled with book challenges. And we have hosted our own book groups! (One of my very last events just before quarantine last year was going to diner with the CMLE book group!)

Starting in September, we will again be hosting book groups. We will host this online, to make it both convenient and accessible to everyone who wants to participate. More details to follow, so stay tuned!

And we are sharing this article excerpt with you, from a fan of virtual book groups. You can read the whole thing here!

Books club are returning IRL
and I don’t want it.

“I read a lot, and I love the low pressure engagement of a virtual book club. I was bad at attending book clubs in real life before the pandemic, because my book club friends and I all have very busy schedules, so finding a time for us all to meet up was difficult. Scheduling online hangouts is easier because you can do them from anywhere — at your family’s house, with your partner, or even from your own bed. Now that the meetups are returning to apartments and bars, scheduling is once again more difficult and, honestly, I don’t want to participate in them anymore. Conversations always gets way too sidetracked and I don’t like having to get dressed up and buy a cheese board to discuss a book I didn’t like that much.

But it’s not just the scheduling — there are four main reasons book clubs are ruined by an IRL meetup, and why I’ll be staying home.

• Snacks are better at home
• I’m trying to keep it comfy
• Let’s make it low-pressure
• Keep the discussion on track

So for now, while I appreciate the idea of seeing my friends in real life, I’m going to dip from my book club and only stay in my remote hangs. My book club pals seem to fully understand — and maybe, one day, I’ll convince them to join me on Zoom.”

Read the full article here!