Barre with Justine

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting members of my Wellness Book Club to discuss Delia Owens’ novel Where the Crawdads Sing. I adored this book and felt emotional when reading it. It can be read as a murder mystery, a coming of age story and a beautiful tribute to the natural landscape that Kya inhabits.

As always, the students were engaged and thoughtful in their conversations about the text…they brought up things that I had never considered in the text and had perspectives that challenged my interpretation of the book.

Planning the book club is not an easy task (with REB approvals, promotion, coordinating meetings) but, every time it happens, the experience of the meetings and the opportunity to chat with students in an informal way is just SO lovely that I feel like planning the next one right away. I have yet to dive into the surveys to see the feedback and if/how things have changed but – if nothing else – it’s a wonderful way to feel more connected with students and their experiences.

My takeaways from this fall:

• the students seem to prefer fiction titles for the book club
• Next time I will tighten the timelines from sign-up to book distribution & meetings (I think many signed up before the semester got busy and then didn’t have the time)
• Finding a time to meet is nearly impossible! I ended up settling on 2 in person meetings during the evening on campus, but still others could not attend. I’m not certain of how to address this but will give it thought!
• I am committed to keeping the Wellness Book Club running.

There are times when the number of participants and the time involved makes me reconsider whether this is worth doing but then I watch the students (who may have just met) with each other and realize that this is about community building and finding connection.

This week, a report was published that identified the decline of social engagement and the growth of social isolation. While the survey looked at Toronto residents, it echoes trends that are occurring in society.

Opportunities to bring students together for discussion in a friendly and informal way can help us all feel better.

What do you think? And…what book would you recommend for a student book club?