Brooklyn Book Club provides a safe space to read and discuss books

       Members of the Brooklyn Book Club met on Nov. 2 at the Brooklyn Public Library for their monthly meeting. The club meets the first Thursday of each month from 5 - 6 p.m. to discuss a book selected by club members and to talk about other books members have read and recommend. The club was founded four years ago by Michelle Keiser Graham. 

By J.O. Parker
 
            The Brooklyn Book Club is the place to be if you love books and reading.
           The informal club is held the first Thursday of each month from 5 – 6 p.m. at the Brooklyn Library and is under the direction of Michelle Keiser Graham.
       Graham started the club four years ago with meetings held at the Center Ground Coffee Shop in Brooklyn. When the coffee shop changed its hours, Graham moved the club to the Brooklyn Library.
           “The book club is free,” said Graham. “There is no cover charge or money needed and all are welcome.”
Brooklyn Librarian Josh Gerard helps club members get the monthly books for free through the intra library loan system. All club members and guests need is a valid library card.
            “This way club members don’t have to find the books or buy them,” said Graham.
Club members pick the books each month.
          “Members give their recommendations for the books they would like to read the following year and then we do a drawing to pick the books for the next year,” said Graham. “We always pick a few extra books in the event the books are not available via intra library loan and then Josh has an alternate book to choose from.”
             At the club gathering, members go around the table discussing what they liked and didn’t like as well as sharing their feelings about the book or books read the previous month.
            The books read and discussed at the November meeting included: “The Day the World Came to Town 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland” by Jim DeFede and “Separation Anxiety” by Laura Zigman.
            Books on the list for 2024 include: “Echo Mountain,” by Lauren Wolk; “The Hidden,” by Melanie Golding; “Dark Matter,” by Blake Crouch; “The Woman in the Library,” by Sulari Gentill; “The River We Remember,” by William Kent Krueger; “Rock Paper Scissors,” by Alice Feeney; “Happy Place,” by Emily Henry” and the “Book Club Hotel,” by Sarah Morgan.
            The current book being read by members is “The Saints of Swallow Hill” by Donna Everhart.
       “Every month, we discuss the book club book and at the end we spend 20 or so minutes doing a roundtable,” said Graham. “That is when each member discusses any books they have read that month and if they do or do not recommend them.”
           Graham said some books have discussion questions in the back for the group to talk through. If not, Graham said she finds questions specific to the book from her good friend, Google.
            “Each book club member is given a journal to take notes, write thoughts own…or whatever they want,” said Graham. “I purchased stickers to decorate the journals and inspire my readers to make the journal and their book club what they want it to be. This is their book club, not mine. I just show up to discuss my love of books and libraries with them. I assure a safe and inclusive environment. They make the club. Without them, there would not be a club.”
            There are currently about a dozen ladies who participate in the monthly club. Men are welcome, but according to Graham, they don’t come.
           On occasion, the book club has guests authors who come to speak and share about their book or books.  Authors who have visited include Debbie Tindle Parker and Crystal Ferry (Stella Bixby) both of Montezuma and Karen Carr of Mason City, who has ties to Grinnell. And one month Genevieve Graham (an author from Nova Scotia) gave a presentation via zoom.
            “We were able to purchase her books and she autographed them specifically for our book club,” said Graham.
             At the end of the meeting, a club member reaches into the goodie bag and draws a name. That person will receive a gift from the goodie bag.
            “Gifts range from book lights to books, candles, book marks, T-shirts… they are usually book related,” said Graham.
            A year ago, Graham started a book club in Grinnell at the Drake Library.
            “I feel like reading and libraries are so important,” said Graham.
            The Grinnell Book Club meets the second Tuesday of every month from 5 – 6 p.m.
         “Being a part of the book club is an event that I look forward to each month,” said Barbara Dodge of Grinnell.
            “I get to read a nice variety of books,” said Lauren McCammant. “Typically ones I wouldn’t select on my own. It’s nice to get together with other readers. It’s a close knit group.”
            Sharon Ford of Brooklyn said she just joined the book club in March.
           “I have previously not been a big reader, but I am enjoying the discussions and am reading more and more,” she said.
             “It’s a joy to be able to serve the community through the book club,” said Gerard. “They check out a lot of books.”
            “Book club is very informal and everyone is welcome,” said Graham. “Some people don’t read the book and just come to listen and be a part of the group, which is fine. You don’t have to read the book to come to book club. We just want people to feel welcome and have a group of people to call their own. This is a safe space to discuss books and love of reading.”