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Hi there:
I’ll let you in on a secret. Book clubs intimidate me.
Most book clubs read one book each month, discuss the book one time, and then move on to the next book. I don’t read particularly fast, and I like to meander between books and thoughts. By the time I’m on board with a book club’s choice, they move on to the next book.
I’ll let you in on a second secret. When other BLUU team members suggested a BLUU book club, I wasn’t convinced. As excited as everyone was about the idea, nobody on staff was actually in a book club. When I pointed this out in a team meeting, we all laughed. Many of us are parents, and all of us play many roles in our communities. We just didn’t have the time to commit to book club meetups and the reading that went with them each month, even if we are avid readers.
Then I remembered, the rules exist until someone changes them. So that’s what I decided to do.
I’m starting a BLUU book club that meets multiple times for two months to discuss one book. This way, we have more time to read the book, more time to deeply engage the book’s themes, and you don’t have to opt out of reading the featured book if you happen to miss one session.
Each book will offer readers the opportunity to engage a new book by a Black author, sometimes a Black Unitarian Universalist. We will read books that ground us, challenge us, and teach us. And we will get to know each other better in the process. Folks can drop into any session, even if they can’t make all of them.
Our first book club starts September 10. We are reading Incantations for Rest: Poems, Meditations, and Other Magic by the incredible poet, writer, and longtime BLUU Beloved, Atena O. Danner.
We’ll meet weekly through Oct. 22 to talk about pieces from the book and how we relate to spirituality and rest in these times. The book club is Black sacred space, created for and by Black people.
For the rest of the month, BLUU Beloveds get 30% off of the book with a special code that should be in your inbox now.
I hope you join our intentionally slow, easeful book club. And if you’re a BLUU supporter who isn’t Black, I hope you’ll share this email with a Black community member you think would enjoy the space.
Much Love,
Marchaé Grair
BLUU Programs Manager for Community Engagement
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