June Invite & May Replay: Our Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers
Our June Book Club Pick, announced!
Reminder—Substack Meetup: Silicon Valley
Wednesday, May 29th from 6-8pm at Cafe Borrone, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA. You can RSVP here (it’s free)
Hello, lovelies!
If you missed our book club meeting, you can watch the replay below (scroll all the way down).
We had such a fantastic discussion of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies and talked about:
the voice of the main character
how well the author, Heather Fawcett, laid the groundwork for plot details that at first seemed insignificant but later proved incredibly important
worldbuilding: real locations vs made-up ones
writing in established mythology or legend, and making it your own
In the writer hangout portion, we chatted about:
what we’re all working on
whether we write multiple ideas at once or just focus on one story
zero drafts, first drafts, and revisions—what each stage looks like
I’m also really excited about our June book pick. Details below!
»To keep our members’ conversations private from the general internet, the book club replay is at the bottom of this post, behind a paywall.
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*I want to make sure that everyone can participate in our Book Club, so if you cannot afford a paid subscription, please email me at evelyn@creativeinspiredhappy.com and I will gladly set you up with a complimentary subscription.
Our Book Club for Writers and Curious Readers
Your June Invitation!
WHO: Writers who love reading and want to examine stories more closely, and Readers who are curious about why they feel the way they do about a book.
WHAT:
Book Discussion (30-45 minutes)—What makes this book tick? We’ll talk about things like whether the plot worked and if not, why not? Where was the pacing great and where did the tension dip, and why? And why do some people love Character A but others hate him, while Character B is universally adored?
Bonus Writers’ Chat (30 minutes): After the book discussion, we’ll have an optional hangout to share what we’re working on, ask each other for advice on writer’s block, finding a literary agent, doing book publicity, etc.
WHEN: Sunday, June 23, 2024 @ 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT
(Meetings will be at the end of each month, with book picks announced the month prior.)
WHERE: Zoom (feel free to come with your video off, introverts!)
WHY: Because it will be so much fun to look at published books through a writer’s lens!
HOW: Bring your smart insights and your “dumb” questions, and always lead with kindness, generosity, and a spirit for learning! (Because most of us are writers, too, and we know how much hard work goes into creating the books. And those of us who aren’t writers love books so much, we come from a place of admiration for the authors).
To prevent Zoom-bombing from not-nice people,
the Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers 2-3 days before the meeting. (Recordings of the book club meetings will be available to paid subscribers if they can’t make it live.)
June Book Club Pick:
The Every by Dave Eggers
When the world’s largest search engine/social media company, the Circle, merges with the planet’s dominant e-commerce site, it creates the richest and most dangerous—and, oddly enough, most beloved—monopoly ever known: the Every.
This satire takes our current social media and app-addicted world to its extremes, and it is both funny and terrifying, in a very thought-provoking way. I read this book a few months ago and I really need to talk to someone about it, so that’s why it’s our next pick!
In our book club meeting, we will discuss how Eggers manages to blend just-real-enough details with “Uncanny Valley”-like worldbuilding to create a fictional future that feels like it might be our future if we don’t stop to think about what we’re doing—that is, if we just keep playing on our apps and gamifying our lives.
I’m curious to chat about how Eggers makes a serious topic (tech addiction, corporate monopolies, and more) into an entertaining read that could, if one wanted, be read purely for fun.
We will also discuss satire as a genre—one that I am admittedly not too familiar with—and how writing in this style differs from other books that are more commonly found in the mainstream.
The Every is technically a companion book/sequel to The Circle, but you don’t need to have read the first book. (I haven’t, and I understood The Every perfectly).
How I Choose our Book Picks
Based on my many years of running another book club for writers, I’ve come up with some guidelines for our Book Picks:
We never read our members’ books — this was a hard and fast rule from my last book club, because even though we discuss our book picks with kindness and curiosity, it’s still virtually impossible for a writer to listen to other people critique their work, especially if it’s already published and there is nothing they can do to change things. (And sometimes, hearing analysis from their friends is the hardest thing!) So if I ever accidentally choose one of your books (or one of a dear friend whom you’d rather not hear analyzed), please let me know and I’ll pick something else. We are a supportive community and want everyone to feel buoyed by what we do!
Paperbacks, not new releases — For the most part, I will pick books that have been out for a while and already in paperback, because this makes them more affordable to buy and/or accessible via libraries (because new releases tend to have longer wait lists). There may be occasional exceptions if you all are hankering to read a specific new release, though.
Varying genres — We have writers and readers of all different genres in our wonderful community, so I’m going to try to reflect that. I find that even when a novel might not initially be what I’m normally inclined to read, I am often the most surprised and delighted by those very books. Plus, there is always something interesting to study and learn, no matter what the genre.
May Replay!
If you couldn’t make it live, here’s the recording. (Book discussion until 0:33, and then the writers’ hangout begins).
Got writing/publishing questions? Leave them in the Comments and we’ll talk about them at the next meeting. And also feel free to tell us your thoughts on the book!