Book Club Babes



Book Club Member and me at a book signing. The book was about
Madame CJ Walker



Make no mistake about it, I am a sucker for groups. I love my running groups, hiking groups, biking groups, but my favorite group is my Book Club Group.

When I first moved to the DC area, I was in one of my favorite places at the time: Barnes and Nobel. I discovered that B&N had lots of book clubs: Mystery, Science Fiction, African American etc. When I read about the African American book club group that met the third Tuesday of each month, I decided that I would read the book and attend the meeting. Little did I know at the time, but this book club has become a huge part of life.

Eight, nine, or ten years ago, I arrived at the meeting, and I met such a lively group. I think that the group had been meeting for about a year or more before I came aboard. What surprised me the most was, there were African American men at the meeting. Now, I know that African American men read books, but I never expected to see them at a book club meeting. This is not one of the most masculine places for a man to be. So, with this diversity, I knew that this was the group for me.

Every third Tuesday at 8 o'clock, we met at B&N for years. We had different people to come each month, thanks to the advertisement in the B&N newsletter. When we read Black, White and Jewish by Rebecca Walker, the daughter of the great author Alice Walker, we had a Black, White and Jewish guy from New York to add to this great discussion on the experiences that Rebecca wrote about in her novel. We have also had different authors to meet and discuss their books with us.

Overtime, B&N stopped having their book clubs meet in the store; the book clubs were converted to virtual. Not sure how they do this, but they do it. Even though B&N disbanded their group, we continued to meet. For the last eight, nine or ten years we have met the third Tuesday of each month religiously, except when something major happens like the death of loved ones, travel plans, school etc. But for the most part, we meet regularly. The location has changed, but the group has not.

For the first five or six years, I did not know these ladies names or how to contact them outside of the group. We just faithfully showed up at B&N to discuss books, our lives, our careers etc. We really got to know each other real well, and  after the meetings, we would go our separate ways. We experienced a member being a foster mother, the lost of a husband and daddy, someone trying to quit smoking, and me changing jobs ALOT until I found the one that was perfect for me.

All of the women in this group are so awesome; they make me want to live my best life. One member has run about 35 marathons, maybe not quite that many, but quite a few. This same member is always ready for a trip. One member is my true hangout buddy. We meet at day parties, jazz set, and concerts at the blink of an eye. Our oldest in age, but not at heart, offers us culture. She does everything cultural in the city. She even had season tickets to the opera this past year. She is constantly telling us that we need season tickets to something. Another member is our City of Alexandria activity girl. She informs us of all of the activities in City of Alexandria. She is famous for bringing a newspaper clipping about an event that we really need to attend. So, you can see that this book club rocks.

We've never formally given ourselves a name, but we often refer to ourselves as "Book Club Babes." If you are ever in our neck of the woods, give us a heads up, and I'm sure that you will be warmly welcomed and pleasantly surprised.

Repeat Picture: Book Club member and me on a trip



Both Members of the Book Club: Mother and Daughter

Book Club Member and me hanging out