How to Start a Classics Book Club

Starting a Classics Book Club: Tips, Traditions & Literary Travel with Keri & Liz 

Have you ever dreamed of starting a classics book club but didn't know where to begin? In this episode, I sit down with two friends who started my personal book club, Keri & Liz, to talk all things classic literature and the magic that happens when readers gather around great books.

Keri and Liz share how their classics book club got started, how they recruit and retain members, and what a typical meeting actually looks like — from how they choose their reads to what happens when someone hasn't finished the book (we've all been there!). We dig into why classic literature still matters in today's world, which books sparked the most passionate debates in her group, and how timeless stories connect to our modern lives in ways we never expected.

We also tackle the harder conversations — navigating uncomfortable themes in classic texts, managing group dynamics, and keeping a book club thriving year after year.

And then we get to the really exciting part: Keri and Liz have actually traveled to England with The Book Club Tour, and they share how experiencing the real landscapes, homes, and villages behind beloved books completely transformed the way they read. If you've ever wondered whether a literary travel experience is worth it, this episode will answer that question.

Whether you're a seasoned book club host or dreaming of starting one from scratch, this episode is packed with practical advice, genuine inspiration, and a healthy dose of literary wanderlust.

Interested in combining your love of classic literature with travel? Visit thebookclubtour.com to learn more about our immersive literary tours to England.

In this episode we cover:

• How to start and grow a classics book club
• Why classic literature is more relevant than ever
• Book club meeting formats, discussion tips & member dynamics
• Navigating difficult themes in classic texts
• How literary travel deepens your connection to the books you love
• The Book Club Tour experience in England

Love this podcast? Imagine walking the Yorkshire moors where the Brontës found inspiration, visiting Jane Austen's writing desk at Chawton, and exploring Shakespeare's birthplace with fellow book lovers. We do all this and more on The Book Club Tour!

Follow along with our adventures, or join us! 

🌐 Explore our tours: thebookclubtour.com
📸 Instagram: @thebookclubtour
👥 Facebook: @thebookclubtour

Transcript

0:03

Okay. All right. Welcome, Carrie and Liz. Thanks for joining me on the Brit Lip Book Club podcast. Happy that you're here. Thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks for coming over for tea. So you guys run a classics book club that I am in. I feel so lucky. Like the week that I, it was actually the day that I moved here. You guys invited me to the book club and I remember we were living in an RV and I had to get clothes outta my rv and. It was, I think it was Jane Eyre. It was the actual day. Yeah. So I hadn't read it. I mean, I'd read it in like high school, so I remember I watched the b BBC miniseries to like refresh my memory on the story. And then I came and we had like a tea party. And it was so fun. Anyways, the other guys. Yeah, the other list. Yeah, that's'cause I was your number one fan and stalker and I was like, you're moving back. I was. So let's go. And you guys were also, you were already scheduled to go on my book club tour before COVID. Yeah. And then I moved back here and I hadn't lived here for years. I moved back here. And then I got to go with my own book club on my book club tour, which was really cool. Yeah, that was really fun. That was awesome. Best thing ever. Yeah. Um, so let's just talk about like your origin story, how it got started. So just take us back to the beginning and how did the two of you decide to start a classics book club and why classics specifically? Well, it begins with another book club. Mm-hmm. We were, Liz and I were in a book club together and. What started happening was we would go or somebody would host and then nobody would come. Yeah. I've started tons of books. That's very typical, right? Well started every single one and yeah, it's kind of people come and they end up not reading the book and they just talk about everything else and it's like, what was the point? Like we wanted to actually discuss stuff or it almost became like a popularity contest. Like some people, everybody would come to their house. And then another, like I went to one, it was just me and the host. Oh, seriously? Yeah. It was so sad. That's really sad. I didn't know that. Yeah. And also, I guess it was, it was inspired by,'cause we used to homeschool. Mm-hmm. And there was this group called Wild and Free. And there were some of the members from there who had Assembly four was the name of their book club. Mm-hmm. And that's, we patterned ours after that one. Yeah. Did they have four people in their book club? They had 12. Oh, 12. Oh, okay. Number. They four times a year. Oh, okay. I was like, why is assembly four? Okay. That makes sense. Four times a year. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, and we meet four times a year. Right. Also. Right. And there's 12 of us. Yeah. And theirs was also classics and I don't know. Why we decided that was the way to go. I was a little obsessed with classics at the time. Okay. I think that we might've been having a conversation about it'cause my kids. We're at a classic charter school that they studied a lot of classics and then we started homeschooling and I grew up with not a great education at the time. I hadn't even gone to college. And I remember I was sitting in this lecture that they had and they were talking about the allegory of the cave and like all this stuff I had never heard of but was just, it's Aristotle. So anyway, it was for me, a wake up call to be like. I could be in charge of my own education. I could learn more just by reading some of these classics and some of the great books out there. So for me, I made my own and I think we had a conversation'cause we were looking at that and then I, we were like, yes, let's do this.'cause I think we're also looking for a community of women too. I think we've also, when we've done books in the past, I mean, it's fun to read all the modern books and do book clubs based off of that. But there is something about classics, obviously they're timeless. And there's gotta be lessons. They're time tested. There's gonna be stuff that is important in those that we can gain. Um mm-hmm. I don't know. Just, yeah.'cause classics are timeless because they resonate with people a reason. Yeah. Yeah. They have, you know, the lessons that are timeless that we need to keep learning and remembering and think about. I know that there's so many books in this book club that I never would've picked up on my own. Never. So it's been really good to just like push me outta my reading comfort zone. Yeah. You know?'cause I can have like my genres that I like. Mm-hmm. And you know, we just read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. You loved that one today. I just loved it so much. Like, that is not something I would've picked up on my own and probably, probably would've been happy not doing it. But, but I did it. But I did it and I can say I did it. You know, and there were actually a lot of references in there that I was like, oh, oh, I've heard that quote before. I've heard that, you know, that theme or that term before. Yeah. So it was good for me to it. I think that going along with that, that's something that I really enjoy about classics. It makes you more culturally literate. Right. And you're able to pick up as layers of depth to other. Um, other modern fiction and just other Yeah. Just references that you wouldn't get otherwise, right? Yeah. Well, they'll elite educate their kids in classics and when they are going to their private schools, that's what they're learning, right? And there's so many references across. All time. Yeah. With all the classics. So it does, it's that cultural literacy that's really important. Yeah, it's true. Okay, so we've kind of already talked about this, but there are 12 members of the book club and how did you recruit members and was it intentional to keep it at that number and why? Well, yes. What we started by what? Sending messages over Facebook saying who wants to join or, I think I texted people who I thought might be interested. Mm-hmm. And it was more of a first come, first serve. If you get back to us. Then capping it at 12, capping it at 12. And we put it all out there, all of our rules. This is what we're gonna do. We're capping it at 12, we're meeting four times a year. Like this is a serious book club.$25 per you have to come. We made them sign in blood. Just kidding. That's good though. But it's been effective. I mean like almost all of our book clubs, almost everybody is there. Yeah, so, which is, I mean, I've never been in a book club that has been like that, so I think that's pretty cool. Yeah. Well I think paying for it. Yeah. Yeah. You got some skin in the game's. Yeah. And then also if we have a rule that if you miss two in a row, you can't be in book club anymore. Yeah.'cause if you, that's six months, that's half a week. If you can't make two times, half a six months, maybe it's not, maybe it's not for you. Yeah. At this stage at least. Yeah. It just doesn't always work out. Unless it's an emergency you can miss one time, but really, people don't miss. Yeah. Unless it's an emergency, because people love to be there. Yeah. I think we've changed flights to make it. I definitely have. We've changed plans. Yeah. So it's important. It's important to us. I think that's great because otherwise, like you said, you have, I plan everything around book club. Yeah, I really do. It's my life. Yeah. I'm just kidding. I'm like, I need to know it months in advance. Here's my travel schedule. Please plan around me. Yeah. Which is what we did for the last book. Yeah. Okay. Did you have a vision for what you wanted the book club to feel like? And has it turned out to be the way that you imagined? I think it was more than we imagined. Yeah, I think so too. I mean, I don't know what you imagined, but I feel like it is, we really wanted to create just like this group of women that, like a sisterhood. Yeah. That just, you know, we can count on each other. Mm-hmm. We can, Be there for each other. So I remember our very first meeting and I'm a total sap apparently. Mm-hmm. But I went in there and I felt, I feel stupid saying it, but it was also true. I would think I told everybody, you know, be prepared to be very loved because I just, these people mean so much to me. And if I didn't know you very well at the time, like we're gonna be friends. Yeah. I'm gonna force it on you if necessary. And it has become a sisterhood and some of my best friends. And, um, I would do anything for any of the people in it. And I think. Beside that too though, we really wanted this to be a celebration of the authors. Absolutely. And, uh, their lives and just the books that they've created. And that's been kind of key in the meetings that we have. It's a celebration. I think we always. Say a celebration of the classics or, so we, we celebrate our books. I think we mm-hmm. Say that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. It definitely feels like a, you know, each book club is not just like sitting down and discussing, it's like themed and mm-hmm. Food and there's a party and food. It's a requirement. Yeah. Food is definitely a requirement. We're big on food. Right? Yeah. Okay. That's fun. Um, in your experience, what does a book club give people? That reading alone simply can't. Um. Yeah. I think community for one. Yeah. I think we all, everybody's so different, you know? So you're gonna interpret something one way and somebody else is gonna have a completely different idea, love it or hate it or mm-hmm. Have a different perspective that maybe you didn't think about. Right. So there have been so many books that, you know, we've read and like. You know, not so many, but there have been a few that I did not like, and then after having the discussion, it was like, okay. Like I see, I see the meaning behind this and you know, like the beauty of this book, just because somebody else had a different viewpoint. Oh yeah, I remember. What did we read Jabber Crow. And I did not. I did not love it. And but then one of our other book club members loved it so much that they were gonna have their whole homeschool co-op read it because they loved it so much. And I was like, wow, you kinda see some appreciation. Yeah. You wouldn't otherwise. I felt like that about a river runs through it. Well, my husband to that book, but after, so we, okay, so just for my listeners, we read a river, runs through it, and then Keri husband, Corey came and taught us all how to fly fish I think having the. The feeling and learning and being involved in something that's so, imperative in the book. That just made it more memorable and more special. I think it was also seeing how much he loved the book. Yes, yes. Which was really fun because loved it. I still do not love the book. Yes. But it was really fun seeing his excitement over it. So in the book, Whenever they would catch a fish and take it home, the lady would say, my mind. And so now that's my requirement. Every time I have to every text, he sends me a picture and I say my, that's cute. That's adorable. Have you seen the Club genuinely changed someone's life or perspective in a way that surprised you? Well, it's changed my life, I feel like, and I don't know. It's hard to talk. For somebody else. Right. But, um, I do know that we have some members who. It has changed their life. Without going into specifics. Yeah, I want specifics. Just kidding. Just kidding. We'll talk off, off camera. No, I would agree. I mean, just, I can't speak for anyone else. I mean, just, you already shared that it kind of brought you into us, like an automatic set of friends that you Yeah. I moved here with like nothing, and then I, you know, was able to come into 11 other friends automatically, which was really nice. Just moving, you know? Yeah. So I can only speak for you and my and myself though.'cause I mean, I've always been a very shy person. I have not liked putting myself out there, and I, I think this has kind of forced me. I would, I think it's very common you can be in a group of people surrounded by people, but still feel so alone. Mm-hmm. And I think I felt just really out of place all the time. And I would try to do these different groups and they wouldn't work. And it was super awkward. Um, and finally it was kind of like, you know what? If I want friends, if I want this, any type of community, I need to just go for it. And, it has allowed me, I think. To be more of a leader than I have before. Mm-hmm. And has pushed me out of my little bubble. And to be more outgoing and to be more willing to recognize the need of community for other people. And so I'm much more willing to reach out to others and I tend to be more of the mindset, you know, the more the merrier. And obviously we have a cap on this for mm-hmm. A reason, but, um. It's really pushed me. Oh, I love that. I think, you know, there's a lot of people that hear about our book club and like, oh, I wanna, you know, I mean, we just had a new member join because someone left and she'd been on the list for like five years. Right? Yeah. I mean, like, people really want to be in this book club, which is great. But I, I tell people all the time, they're like, I wanna be part of that. I'm like, start your own. Start your own. Start your own. I've actually had two people ask me for it, or maybe more, but I know one of them, she actually did end up starting her own based off of it. We talked over the phone and she asked me all the logistics and. And, I was actually also ta talking to Jenny Yeah. About how to start one herself and then she's the one who just joined, so she never had to Yeah. But yeah, and my daughter joined, uh, made one too. Did she really? Yes. I love that they meet more'cause they don't have kids and they can, they have more time. They wanna be, they want to do it every month, but I love that. And they don't just do classics, but, um, she saw our book club and how much fun we have and the community that we've created. It's kind of like, you know, a village where you say like. You wanna have a village around you and mm-hmm. It's for her. It's created that too. So, yeah. I think, I think you're right though. I think our kids see that, you know, and they wanna emulate that kind of community for themselves. I think that's so good for them to see. Mm-hmm. Okay. Let's talk about why classics matter. What would you say to someone who asks, why read a 200 year old book when there are so many brilliant new ones? How can the classics connect to modern life, the and current events? Okay. Yeah. So we kind of, I know we talked about that at the beginning too, but if you wanna say anything else about it. Yeah. Um, I have a senior in high school right now, and he is really into the, all the politics and everything that's going on, um, and always connecting it to books. And he always keeps saying if people would just, mm-hmm. Be educated and read their books. They would see all the stuff that's being repeated, all the things that are happening and the history. You know, he just always connecting the dots. Um, I think it was a play that he's in a theater class for college right now, and it was one of the, it was like a Roman or Greek play that they were doing. And he's like, all of the connections, it's all the same history, just repeats and repeats and repeats. Mm-hmm. And part of the reason that's important, you know, like, yeah. That's impressive that he was able to, you know, pick up on that as a high school student to be able to pick up on that, you know? Yeah. It's so true though. I mean, what is it that is the United States, the average reading level is seventh grade. Yeah. And I feel like, and this type of stuff, you, you do miss out on a lot of lessons. I saw, I saw, um, a post about that the other day. Yeah. That like. 1984. I think I sent that in the book club. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, did you send that? I think so. I posted it as well. I'm like, where did I see that? Yeah. Yeah. Those are all above the average reading local. Yeah. It was like 1984 Fahrenheit 4 51, you know, like tale. Yeah. Important books that are, messages about our time and even Hunger games, you know? Yeah, yeah. Hunger Games. Yeah. Yeah. And if you're a reading at a seventh grade reading level and aren't able to comprehend, those stories. Yeah, yeah. It's kind of a tragedy. I think it gives us empathy too for different situations and, um, a viewpoint into how other people think. Especially if it's something that you maybe wouldn't read normally or it isn't in your comfort zone. Um, there's also things that like, were like, we can't experience, you know, a book 200 years ago. We can't experience those things right now. So if we wanna know, what slavery felt like. You know, like there's no other way really than you have to read the stories. You have to read the stories. There's no other way to know what that was like. Right. You know, I mean, you can read it in a textbook, but that's, it's not, you're not gonna have the same empathy, like you said. Yeah. Not the same feeling that, that the books, it's harder to put yourself into someone's shoes when you're just reading it in a textbook, so. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That is true. Agree. Do you find that classics hold up differently depending on the reader's age or life stage? Have members come back to a book they read in school and seen it completely differently. I feel like there's like so many of the books that we've read. For book club that I have read in school. Mm-hmm. Like, oh, I hated that as a kid and now I, you know, appreciate it more. The one that automatically pops in mind is, um, everybody's reaction to Romeo and Juliet. Oh yeah. Right. Yes. We just did that. It was a year ago in February, right? Mm-hmm. So we read, we read it and then discussed it, and then we went to go see the ballet. Yeah. Which was so cool. Yeah. But I don't know, people seemed very much like, oh, it's so romantic when we were in high school, I guess, right? I guess. Yeah. I don't remember. And now we're like. Red flag, who let those kids outta the house? Exactly. That's so true. Um, I felt that way about Jane Eyre too. Like I loved Jane Eyre in high school, but reading it as a mother to teenage daughters was just like toxic, red flag, toxic relationship. Love. Avoid a avoid. I still love it. I know. I still love it. Yeah, I still love it. I mean, Wuthering heights. Oh my gosh. Even like To Kill a Mockingbird, a lot of people I think really love that book, but to me it was more just, okay, this is an interesting story, but reading it as an adult, especially having children. And seeing Scout and the innocence that she had and trying to hold onto her childhood. But she's put in these situations where she's having to confront really horrible things in their society. And, I, I appreciated that a lot more. I think we just have more life experience now too. Mm-hmm. You know, we have just more to draw on. Yeah. And we're reading which classic has generated the most passionate discussion in your group, and why do you think it would, it hit such a nerve? Which one came your mind? Frank? Frankenstein. Frankenstein. Oh, that was pre my time. That was pre my time. So you'll be talking. My first thought too was Frankenstein, which I think is funny because, well, I, I had never read Frankenstein before Really? And I loved it. Mm-hmm. Um, I didn't realize the story was what it was.'cause I just, you look at, see all the shows and the movies and Frankenstein's rah, you know? And I didn't expect it to be so emotional. It, it created quite a stir because so many people identified with it in a way of toxicity and maybe their relationships. And it was a lot. Yeah, there was a lot of talk about narcissism. There was a lot of, a lot of, honestly, it kind of surprised me how. Negative people were about the author. Yes. And how immature she was and whatever they were saying. I, I thought she was brilliant. I mean, she was like 19 when she wrote the books. I mean, she was immature. Yeah. I mean, you know, but considering she created that as a 19-year-old Yes. I think is pretty amazing. Yeah. Um, I actually just wrote up my podcast episode about Mary Shelley. Mm-hmm. And Frankenstein. Um, I was on the plane last night actually, and so I have lots of thoughts about that right now. I haven't read it in a few years, but just learning more about her life and researching for the podcast. Mm-hmm. And like the relationships that she had and all the children that she lost, and just the themes of like, wanting to bring a child to life, you know? Mm-hmm. It's like, anyways, that would've been really fun to have you there for the, yeah. You can listen to my podcast and, uh, I think in two weeks that'll be out. So Yeah, it was surprisingly. For, it was surprisingly spirited. Yeah. Good times. I'm sad I missed that one. But honestly, I think. It was one of those times where, sometimes people are a little more outspoken than others and it was to, yeah. Yeah. That was a hard one to, we did have a member leave. After that one. Yeah, we had two. Two, yeah. We had two members leave after that and, and thank goodness one of them came back again. I convinced her to come back. I'm glad this was before my time. That's I'm saying like, it was, that it was, it was not fantastic and it, it could have been'cause the whole actual activity and everything, like it was set up. It was awesome. Yeah. It was so good. And then it was like, oh, dang it, what happened? It was really. Kinda a disappointing as far as, but also the cleanup, you know, I think that's a good book that can create that much emotion from people. Mm-hmm. You know, that much, whether it's good or bad, you know? Right. Like if it creates a feeling that triggers something inside of you. Yeah. You know, and that's also where you talked about earlier about, reading by yourself versus reading with a group of people have their different life stories and they're able to see things that you wouldn't even pick up on. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think, I think it's also important to respect those opinions, you know? Somebody's gonna disagree with you in life. Like that's just gonna happen. And especially in book club and Right. You know, we can agree to disagree and, you know. Right. It's, it could be said about anything in life, I guess. Yeah. That's a good practice for us to do in book club. Right. There was actually another one that made me think of, um, is not without laughter. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That did. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That was a good book club. It was a fantastic yes. I, I don't know how you felt ston about it. I loved it. I, I think I was in finals or something. I wasn't there for the entire book. I think I, I came for dinner and I don't know that I stayed the entire time, so I think. I left halfway through. Yeah. We had some heated discussion there. It was just a lot of racial discussion in that one, you know? Right. So I think people, that was when the author or the guy, not the author, but yeah, we had the guy to us. Yeah, I, yeah. I hired somebody to come and speak to us about what it was like growing up as a black man in America and. Hearing his story. I mean, we can't begin to understand what it's like growing up black in America. Mm-hmm. We are all very white, you know, middle-aged women. But some people were pretty defensive about the way that he was speaking about it and kind of like, well, I've had a hard life too. And it's like that's, yeah. People got pretty heated about it. Yeah. And had a hard time, I think coming to terms with the fact that, you know, race racism is real. Yeah. And it affects people's lives. And it was kind of heated. Yeah. Yeah, it was good. And I think it was good to read that book, like put yourself in this guy's shoes. You know, this actually happened, this was, this was you's life. Well, and I think every February we read a book that surrounds Yeah, for black history men. Except for we didn't it this time it it, I feel like we tend to, but not necessarily. We don't have to. But it seems like it depends. Usually try really try to, I think some people are intentional about that and other people are like, let's read a love story. You know? It just depends. But we have been. Yeah, pretty good about it. I think we had a lot of heavy books in a row, so we were trying to fix something. Fun light. Yeah, so true. I dunno. I dunno if it was fun or light, but it was something. It was something, something. It was absurd and I liked it. Uh, okay. Are there any classics you've read that felt surprisingly modern almost like they were written yesterday? That's a good question. I'm trying to think of any. I don't know that they necessarily feel like they were modern so much as some of the dystopian ones that felt more like, wow, I can see today. Mm-hmm. In that, that's true. Like 4 59 was huge. Yeah. In 1984 as well. Yeah. For me, I think it was Fahrenheit 4 51, where they're talking about, you know, these people who, their homes are basically made of screens and they're just watching, it's essentially TV all the time. And they've kind of disappeared from the old or from the world. Reality. Reality. Like their family became the family that was on the tv. Yeah. Yeah. And that surprised me for when it was written to like, oh, that's, it's happening. That very real. Yeah. Again, important why we read these. Right. Well, and I think Pride and Prejudice is obviously not something that's modern, but so many of our. Modern movies that everybody loves Clueless. You've got Male are all based on Jane Austen. Sorry, clueless was Emma. Emma, yeah. You know what I mean? Like Jane Austen type thing. Those, those stories are kind of a timeless situation. Yeah, definitely referencing those classics. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Walk us through a typical meeting format length. Who leads the discussion? Do you have food, drinks involved? So maybe we can talk about like who's hosting and Yeah, like the, just logistics of it. Yeah. So we host in groups of three. So that we can what host or do it four times a year? Yeah. So 3, 3, 3, 3. And, and take the pressure off of just one person having to do everything. Yeah. It's a shared responsibility. So you're just hosting once a year? Yeah. So it's, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You host once a year and it's, um, the people who are hosting are the ones who choose the book. They reveal it at the time, at the meeting beforehand. Mm-hmm. So, so you've got like three months to read. Yeah. All three of the people usually get together and be like. Read it quite a ways in advance so they can say, what is it we wanna do or not. You know, so you can pick out things that you wanna do like. I thought the Romeo and Juliet, ballet was a great theme. Yeah, it was really neat. We read East of Eden and went to, that was fantastic. Yeah, we went to his childhood home and the museum and all that stuff. We had Agatha Christie and did Crooked House and we went to the Winchester Winchester Mystery house. That was fun too. So, you know, um, being able to read it and work together to find a way to really celebrate the book. And we don't always go places, you know, like a lot of times it can be. A tea and discussion or Yeah. We did what cold comfort farm here a couple months ago and just did like a, like the wedding feast from the, you know, just kind of like a, like a lunch and what doing Alice in Wonderland and we did croquet dressed up as characters. I feel like we'd usually try to do some kind of activity that relates to the book. Right. And you already mentioned the fly fishing Yeah. As well. Exactly. Yeah. So lots of fun stuff. Um, we had a regency, a regency dinner for our very first one we did. Oh, that's fun. Like it was North Drive five course meal or something. We had the kids like serve it to us and. Yeah, that was fun. It was really fun. That's so fun. I think we should redo that again. We should do another, do another re regency dinner. Come. My regency draws. I'm ready. Yeah, you are. Um, and you know, originally when we started, um, we thought doing Socratic discussions would've been, do you remember when we were doing that for a while? Um, but that's a lot of work and not everybody understands really what a, so, yeah. Do you wanna, do you wanna explain what Socratic discussion is for my listeners? Oh my gosh. I feel like I'd have to like read off the, go for it, Carrie. Um, a Socratic discussion is more in depth and so you have to really work together in a way of reading the questions that build off of each other in a way that sparks deep discussion. Is that, is that a good way to explain it? So is that like a set of questions that you have beforehand that like, that build on each other or you're just naturally building on stuff? Sure. We're gonna read the, we're gonna read the definition to you. I'm curious'cause I've heard it, but I, I don't really know either. So, yeah. Okay, so everyone sits in a circle. Discussion centers on text ideas and essential questions. You ask open-ended questions, people respond to each other, not just the teacher claims are supported with evidence or reasoning, and the goal is a deeper understanding, not proving someone wrong. So I mean, we basically, that would've been helpful for Frankenstein. Yeah, we basically do that now. I think it's, yeah, we do this really naturally, right? Yeah. Naturally really, really good. Um, yeah. But there is a format to use when you're doing Socratic. Discussions. We felt like it got a little too formal and a little too, it was hard. So I'd be kinda interested to just do that once just to see what it's like. Yeah, we could, um, maybe for a next regency. Yeah, I do, I actually do, like when people, it says using evidence from the text. I do like when people actually have quotes to support it. You're very good at that. You're very good at right doing the quotes and telling why you liked the quotes. And you know, Socratic discussions are usually from annotating in your book. Right. So you definitely have to do your research beforehand, bring with you. Looks like crazy. Yeah. Okay. How do you choose which books to read? Kind of already covered it, but, well, the books have to be older than 50 years old. Mm-hmm. And we have decided there are some modern classics that we have decided within one year you're allowed, A host is able to do that one time. What? What do we, we did a river runs through it. Was that the last modern, that may have been ish. One that we did. Maybe so. But I mean, even if we haven't done Handmaid's Tale, but that would count as one. And if people are wanting to do. I think House on Mango Street is another one. Oh, I think so too. But if people are wanting to do that for their book choice, they have to kind of get approval from Keri and me.'cause some people try to claim something's a classic and it just really isn't. Yeah. We did a cookbook once. It was Oh, that's right. I forgot about that. It was, it wasn't old. It wasn't old cookbook, but there's a lot of stories in there. I like it was the Pepper Bridge Farm. Uhhuh. Yeah. Fun. I thought it was kind of fun. Fun. It was really fun. It was fun. Not a classic. But it worked and it was really fun. Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. Yeah. So sometimes we veer off course, but it's still, it's still fun. Yeah. And it's kind of crazy to me'cause 50 doesn't seem so long ago since we're getting older, you know? And I like, oh dang. I'm a classic myself. I know. I'm gonna be a classic in a few years too. It's all Oh, that's crazy. Okay. What happens when half the group loved a book and the other half didn't? Does conflict make a better discussion? Absolutely. About that too. Yeah, I think it's great. Um, just even in this last one, right? Um, there was a lot of, I didn't like it. I did like it, but I think one of our members, she said, you know, I appreciate that. I hated this book, but other people really liked it and it's giving me, you know, a better, appreciation for it. So. Yeah. I also appreciate the fact that even though there were such differing opinions, there wasn't anybody, like with Frankenstein, right? There was nobody who was overbearing and wouldn't listen to anyone else. And we usually don't have book clubs like that. You really don't. I've never been in six years I've been in it. I have not experienced that. Right. Yeah. That was the only one. We usually have really good discussion. Are discussion. Pretty respectful. Mm-hmm. Actually very respectful and can also laugh it off if they don't, if you guys don't disagree. It's not like people are getting super offended. It's just you kind of laugh it off and respect each other's opinions and mm-hmm. You have to, it's a good skill to have in life. Yeah. How do you handle the member who always dominates the conversation versus one who's too shy to share? I think we have a lot that are shy to share, but I don't know that we have a lot that dominate. Yeah. Not right now. I don't think so. Sometimes I feel like I dominate the discussion, but I also wonder sometimes if that's because I'm like, okay, things are starting to, you're like, you wanna feel like the silence? Yes. I wanna continue the discussion. I get that. Yeah. Come on. You don't wanna stop. Let's keep going. And I know there's more to discuss, so let's pull some more stuff out here. But I do think, which is good. Yeah. Yeah. And I, but I do think that the, probably the harder thing is trying to get people to speak up. Mm-hmm. Because people have great thoughts. I just dunno if it's being shy. I know. I always wonder if it's like shy or is it just somebody else's talking so they feel like, you know, like I run, I run a women's mastermind and there's definitely people that. Yeah. Or you know, more talkers in there and it's, people are, don't feel comfortable to share. I, it would be a good idea if we ask everybody to at least bring one quote that they love from the book to share. Or one thought we, we used to do that. I know we've gotten a little lax, huh? Yeah. We gotta beef up our rules a little more. We talked about that. We do. We do. I know, I was thinking about that. Like we need to find a way to give people permission to speak up. You think? Busy hosting next time and I was talking to her about it and I like, I just recommended like, it's like good. We just like all went in a circle. Like what do you think? What do think? Do you think that's true? Just everybody opportunity in our, in our Socratic discussion for our next book. Exactly. I know. I really wanna try this out. It sounds fun. What do you do when someone hasn't finished or didn't even start the book? I was just going to say it also means that somebody has, if you're not reading the book, they have to read the book. Yeah. Yeah. And that has been a problem with at times. Hmm. I've always read it, so I don't know. Yeah. Do we have people who are not reading them? Yes. There are people who do not read it and I know it can be kind of frustrating. Tell them about to listen to this podcast. That's okay. It can, it can be frustrating when you put all this time into it and you only have to read a book four times a year. Like it's not, yeah. I realize people are busy, but again, that's why we don't do this monthly. It's quarterly. Exactly. So that people can do it and put thought. You know, be thoughtful about it. Yeah. And also I think because there are so many people on our wait list, there are a lot of people who would love to be part of this. Yeah. So it's like, if you're not gonna fully participate, let somebody else come in. Who would want to, not that I want anyone to leave,'cause I love our group. Yeah. But I think, um, I just want everybody to be fully invested. I get that. Exactly. I get that. Exactly. Yeah. While I think that's fair to ask. Yeah.'cause while it's definitely a social group, it's first to book club. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it's a lot of work, so, all right. What's the hardest part of running a book club? It's been a fairly easy book club for the most part. Mm-hmm. Navigating feelings, I think maybe sometimes. Yeah. I mean, you get a group of women together anytime that's, I think that's, there has been some drama that we've had had to work out on the side, to make sure that people are feeling heard, but also. I know. Yeah. You know?'cause sometimes you're hosting with somebody, maybe you don't click with or have Yeah. The same ideas or they say something that hurts your feelings or you know, it happens. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like for the most part it's been okay. But there have been a few times where it has been a little, I'm, because I'm trying to think like, what has been difficult. Yeah. I mean, one of the more difficult parts is just people paying their, getting paid. I was gonna say money. I know. I, yeah. Okay. How much, how much is book club Talk about that because I don't think we talked actual numbers, just so people can get an idea if they wanna do that. It's, it's$25 per time per book club. Yeah. So a hundred dollars total for the year. Yeah. And people either pay each time or, yeah. Upfront. But um, so you have a budget of, what is that per book club? Like$300 total.$300, okay. Per meeting. Yeah. Which I think is great'cause. It gets unfair when one person's hosting and they put a lot into it. Mm-hmm. And this great dinner or, and then you go to the next one and somebody puts out some crackers and cheese and then you're like, well, I put all this money in. So it does make it fair. Yeah. Like, you have$300 please. Spend, you know, and then sometimes we have leftovers and get to do extra fun things, which is nice. Yeah. They, because having it in an actual account makes it a lot easier instead of trying to just kind of figure it all out in my mind. Right. Like you actually can see what is rolling over to the next one so that this time when we went to Monterey for Cat's Cradle, we were able to use the extra, extra money to help buy an extra meal for people that they wouldn't have had otherwise. Mm-hmm. And so it is nice, we don't always use all of it, but, and then there are times where we. Use more than$300 and we just pay out of pocket for what we go over. Yeah. Yeah. And that's also if we're gonna go somewhere special or if, yeah. If people are like, the host will pay extra, but if we're doing something like Romeo and Juliet mm-hmm. You know, people will pay extra money for the tickets or like their tickets. Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Okay. That's good to show. Okay. Some classics deal with themes that are uncomfortable by today's standards, racism, sexism, colonialism. How does your group navigate those conversations? We've kind of already talked about that. Yeah. Talked about racism, not without laughter talked. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah, I mean different, I think our group has a lot of different, uh, political views. Yes. Like just knowing the women in there, and that's been interesting to navigate. But I also, I think it's, I think it's really good not to put yourself in an echo chamber, you know? Yes. Like, it'd be really easy for me to make a book club of women that are just all exactly like me, all the me, we all have the same political views, you know? And you know, it's good to have those groups as well, I think. But I think it's good to be part of, groups that. Think differently than you two. Yeah. And we have different ages, like Yeah. You know what I mean? We, what's our biggest gap? Like 13 years I think. but it's, it is nice to have, people I know that I can look up to and people have been through different stages and have different perspectives to bring to conversation. But also just like I said, it's a sisterhood and being able to help each other through things that are not related to book club. Yeah, it's become really. Okay. Incredible. Yeah, I had, um, people come help with my kids' weddings, which was really nice. I think, um, we tend to help out when people are sick. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, yeah, we don't get together just Yeah, a book club too. Like we just went out for like February birthdays, right. Like we, and we did Christmas party and Yeah. So we do see each other outside of just book club, which is nice. It's four times a year. Not enough. Not enough. Not enough. When you have a connection, like we've. You know, ground to have. Yeah, exactly. Um, how, uh, has your membership changed at all and how do you handle someone leaving or wanting to join? Yeah, I think we make it really open for people. To know, like if you have to be added to the wait list, you wanna be on the 25 people on wait list, you can list Yeah. Like we want you to be here. But you know, we have a group that really likes to stay and yeah. Mm-hmm. People really will only leave if it's a time of their life really, where it's not working out and they, and we've had lots of people come back too. Yeah. Several people. That's true. That have left and then came back, right? Yeah. So yeah, at the very start we had a lot of turnover. Yeah. Like a lot of turnover and probably people are like, this is too much for me. Right. Socratic discussions a lot of the time. A lot of the time though, was usually when people were, it was their turn to host and they would decide last minute, I don't wanna do this anymore. So I felt like I was jumping in. That's hard, like you've had to. Mm-hmm. Also, to kind of fill where they left and that was, it was hard, but, you know, we want people who want to be here and there are plenty of people who want to be, and as we've gotten more grounded, um, how many are from our core group? That started, I was wondering not to six, I think six of us are still here. It's pretty good. The upper group is still there for, would we say seven years? Eight years? Yeah. It's pretty good. Eight years. Yeah, eight years. And I joined six years ago, eight years, almost six years ago. Maybe five and a half. Plus a book. Plus. Plus one quarter. Plus a quarter. Yeah. That's impressive. How many people do you guys have on your wait list right now? Do you know? Yeah. 10 people. 10 people. They could create their own book. Yeah, I know. They could. You should alert them like, Hey, you've got enough. Yeah.'cause we went a couple years without any turnover. Okay. How has leading this book club changed you guys as a reader, as a thinker, as a person, yeah. During this book club, I got my master's degree from scratch. And you were just saying like, you hadn't even graduated college when you started this. Mm-hmm. Like, which is so crazy. Mm-hmm. Yep. So for me, beyond. The friendship part of it, which has been amazing. And I can't even say enough about the friendship part of it. Like it's, I can't imagine my life right now without it, to be honest. Aw. That, that alone has been life changing. Yeah. It's hard to make friends when you're an adult. I think. Yeah. Keri's getting teary. I know, I'm, I'm crying. But I, I grew up in an abusive home. I went to a lot of different schools. And I was really always very insecure about my education. Always. I didn't even know my timestables as an adult. So starting to read the classics and just broaden my horizons and then go back to school. I think for me it has given me a lot of, confidence, pride, just, you know, all this thing that I didn't ever have. Yeah. So I love that. Mm-hmm. And then just the friendships Yeah. Has really changed my life. Yeah.'cause I think we can all feel lonely in raising kids. Mm-hmm. And being busy and all the things that we have going on. Having a village is really important. Yeah, absolutely. Mm-hmm. I remember when you graduated, we, we threw you a, a graduation party. It was so fun. Yes. And we were so proud of you. Yeah. So cool. It's so cool to see you accomplish that. Someday. I'll go back. Oh, you don't have to. You're doing great things without it. It's true. Even makes me think of with Camilla. With my daughter, who when we were doing, we did foster care and the adoption and everything like that, and everybody celebrating that too. Mm-hmm. It was very special. We've been there for those like life events, you know? Yeah. And you know, there was that time she was very, very sick and we thought we were gonna lose her. And having that support system was huge. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I've seen lots of life changes. Like you were saying, like weddings, grandchildren, adoptions, birth. Um, you know, deaths. Deaths, yeah. And it feels like genuine friendships. It's not the surface level. I have a hard time with surface level stuff. Yeah. I just, I love the depth of our friendships. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. I think, um, my grandma who raised me died n you and Becca brought me her favorite flowers and left'em on my porch. I don't even remember that. Like that's kind of ring a be now. It was super special. Oh, I do. Okay. I do remember that now. No, I also, something that's been fun is every once in a while Carrie and I will just kind of look at each other and be like, we created this baby. I know. Where's like your baby? Like, look who we did. Yeah, it is. It's our baby. It's your baby. I know. We were gonna move last year. My family was gonna move last year and one of the, that was depressing. Oh my gosh. It was the worst. But one of the stipulations was, I am coming back. Quarterly to do book club. Like that's, it's too bad. Yeah. Like we are going to make this happen. It is that important to me. And I am very glad we did not move. Yeah. None of you are allowed to move me. Never. Y'all stuck here. Stuck growing old together. I hope and we can end up having a, be like our cute old lady book club. Great. I love it. I can't wait. Okay. What are some of your favorite books that you've done? For book club? Tell us about. Those events. There have been so many. And F Grand Gables was really fun. I was just thinking about that one the other day. That was really cute. It was really cute. That was really cute. Oh, the deck. Oh, that was a last minute coming together because somebody. Left the book club. We had a little bit of drama. There was some drama there, and I just gathered to get every decoration from my house and brought it. Yeah. We're making it sound like there's a lot of drama in book club. I swear there's not, there. There is. There's no drama for the most part. It just coming up as we talk about these questions. Yeah. For the most part it's very smooth. Mm-hmm. But yeah, there were. That was a really fun one with busy, sourdough bread. Mm-hmm. And the raspberry cordial and yeah, the chicken pot pies that Meredith made and just the decoration that, that was really fun. Oh, the Talented Mr. Ripley. Oh yeah. That one surprised me. I loved that book. I did not think I was going to like that. I think a lot of people were unsure about that one. And it's been one of my favorite books. It's been one of my favorites too. You know what, um, okay, so speaking of books that. I would've never read was The Hound of Baskerville. Yeah, right. That was fun. Sherlock Holmes. Holmes. Like I would never pick up a Sherlock's home book and be like, oh, let's read this. I forgot. And we did an escape room for that. Yeah, we did. That's right. And it was she the Sherlock Holmes escape room. Yeah. Yeah. It was so fun. That was really fun. So that was surprising to me. And then also, the Crooked House one,'cause I don't think I've ever read an Agatha Agatha Christie book. Yeah. And then I read like two more Agatha Christie books after that.'cause I was like, they're fun. Oh, these were fun. They're really fun. They were surprising. The moonstone was fun. Yeah. Mystery col. We did a mystery dinner be fine before my time. Yeah. Mystery. You did a murder mystery dinner or something? We did, yeah. Murder mystery for that. That, and we did a murder mystery when we did Dracula as well. That's right. Yeah. Oh, I, I was there for that one. That was fun. Yeah. I liked Dracula. That was a good, um, good book. Good discussion. Good. Dracula surprised me. It wasn't what I thought I was gonna be. Yeah, same. Same. It creeps me out still. You know, it's the visual. It's the visual of Dracula, like climbing on the wall. It is what freaks me out. Did you get see the new, uh, the new movie? There's a new movie coming out. I've, yeah, it's in theaters. Yeah. I wonder if it's, I wanna see it though. I think I'd be too scared. Have any of your classic selections made? You want to travel to places that inspired these books? And we kind of already talked about, you know, like we went to Monterey for Yeah. Steinbeck. And that was seriously so well one of my dreams come true was going on the book club tour. Yes. That question's coming next. This my leading question. So I, I guess I could say Jane Eyre and all of those books based in Europe always have made me wanna travel there. Yeah. So you guys actually got to go on my book club tour. So that was really fun for you. I still remember it was my, it was like I had just put it out there. I was in England and I had like, had the inspiration for this tour. And I was like, oh my gosh, this would be so fun to like just take a group of women. And I like put it on the internet. And I remember, I, I don't know if I turned my phone off, it was at Christmas time, I turned my phone off or I didn't have service. I went to dinner and then I like went to the bathroom and checked my phone and I had like, had like missed calls from Liz and like 25 checks. And I was like, what's happening? Well, Liz was text, it was like on a Sunday during church I remember. And I was sitting there and I kept getting all these text messages about this. Told my husband, I'm like talking to him. I'm like, can I go on this? I'm going, trying to figure out right now during church. I know I saw that on Facebook and I jumped on that so fast and started messaging anybody who I thought would be interested from our book club. And people were like claiming those spots super fast. And yeah, we had one. I was like, I can't, I can't take it. I extra person. And I think that was Meredith, right? Yeah. I think somebody ended up dropping out.'cause it was, we had COVID. Yeah. So it was 2019, you guys signed up for the book club tour and then, um, COVID happened and then we had to wait like an extra year. Year. Yeah. Yeah. So I think we, did we go in 2021? Is that two? I think it was 2022. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so we were supposed to go I think in 2020 and so we had to wait'cause the UK was closed. Yeah. So finally made it. But it was so neat because U2 were the only ones that I had known from living here before. On the tour and we've known each other and everybody else I didn't know, so Yeah. And we knew each other just kind of briefly for the most part. Yeah. Our boys were in Cub Scouts together. Right. And that's how we knew each other. But it wasn't until this, that it was like we started to get to know each other more and turned into the book club tour. Yeah. And then you moving back here before we went on tour. Yeah, before the tour. Yeah. All was fun. Yeah. Well, I have to say, when I was a kid, I loved. The Beatrix Potter books. Oh yeah. And my favorite story is the naughty mice or whatever it is. And I actually didn't even know how to read. I just loved the, pictures and it so much. And it gave me just like all the feels. And I actually have this book, Of all her stories that I found at a thrift store or something. And it has an old article in it that somebody had saved, all about her life. And so this whole newspaper that's in this book and going there and seeing it in real life for me was amazing. Mm-hmm. That's so cool. Yeah, I just, I loved this actually, the whole thing. I, I got back from that trip and I was like, well, if I die tomorrow, I think I'd be okay. I think it was going on the, like reading about the moors and everything like that, and then we went there and we did, it wasn't the moors that we hiked on. It was the Yeah, it was, yeah. Was it the Moores? I thought it was called something else. The Moors and the Dales. The Dales like meandered through both. Yeah. Okay. But yeah, doing that was really, really awesome. Yeah, I loved that. Just you can like, I don't know, going to the Bronte parsonage and then hiking there. Especially after just seeing the Weathering Heights movies. Mm-hmm. Like, I don't know, you just like. Feel that it's stunning. Yeah. Well, and I always loved like the Secret Garden. Yeah. That was my favorite look as a kid. Kind of see like those actual big mansions in the middle of nowhere on the horse. The one that surprised me was Rudy Kipling's home. Oh yeah. I love that so much. Gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. My favorite. I, I think I, because I hadn't really read, I'd never read Jungle Book. Yeah. I'd never, never read anything like that. That's another one we did for Book Club Jungle Book. Yeah. But I just ended up. I don't know, just learning a little bit more about him. I really respected. Yeah. But I did learn about him and his home was just so stunningly beautiful. Beautiful. Yeah. It was probably my favorite, maybe my favorite place that we went to. Mm-hmm. Um, I just remember there's like an orchard of like fruit trees there. Remember some grabbing an apple and like be like, I'm eating an apple at Rudyard. Kathleen's. I don't know if you were allowed to, but we did. Oh. Yeah, they told, they told us we could, so Oh, did they? I loved walking through Bath.'cause you know you Oh yeah, you read all those, like they're always like talking about Bath. Yes. Taking the watchers. I'm going to bath for this. Having a Mr. Nightly tour guide. It was amazing. Gosh, I still use him like five years later. I still use him. He's incredible. So, yeah. And you guys, we took a bath. In bath. Yeah. Like we went to the Roman bath and it was amazing. It was so fun. I think another, I do not really have a bucket list. I'm not a bucket list type of person. But, the one thing that I can think of that was always on there was seeing Shakespeare in the Globe Theater. Mm-hmm. And seeing that was dream come true. Yeah, it was. Do you remember what we saw? I've seen so many, I can't remember. It was the water one. Oh, the Tempest? Yes, yes, yes. That's right. The water. Water. Was it the one, was it the one with with the yellow Speedo? Yes. Yes. Yellow Speedo. Oh my gosh. I still tell people about that today. That was so funny. It was the Tempest and the, that was amazing. I forget the main guy's, the main character's name, but he, um, Speedo was like probably 75 years old wearing this yellow Speedo. And like on the edge of the audience, it was the best thing ever. Remember thinking, oh, I'm glad I'm not sitting up there. It was really close. Really close. That's so funny. It was so good. It was so good. Every show I've seen there has been just incredible. I'm always like, oh, I don't know. I saw like Beth and I was like, Ugh, this is gonna be kind of depressing. Like, but they just do such a good job there. Yeah. Every time. I don't know how they do it. It's hard for me to pick one. I could just say every single thing we did was my favorite. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It really is. It is such a good tour. I mean like, I know I can say that'cause I run the tour and it's my, it's my baby. It's your baby. Got it. I mean, everybody that goes really does have that experience. It is, honestly, out of all the trips I've ever been on, anywhere with my family, with anything, this is. Easily. Not to offend my myself, don't tell your family that, but I've told him. But like it's easily the best trip I've ever been on. Well, it's just like something that you're not probably not going to do with your whole family or even your husband. And I think just also having like our own book club and our community there on that tour, having that, seeing some of the stuff come to life, but also you are so good at planning everything and it was just. Instead of just kind slowly meandering around. It was like there was a plan, we had a schedule and we, it was just go, go, go. Stuff I never would've been able to do on my own. Yeah, and it's not just sites, it's also like activities, like you were saying, like hiking on the mos or doing like an afternoon tea and bath and Oh yeah. All the teas we did having tour guides. So many teas. It was so amazing. Yeah. The tea parties and everything. It was so much fun. And I would see, I would go on every tour with you. Yeah, every tour I could take. You guys got to, you guys got to go to Guernsey too, which is like extra. Extra. I just love Sey so much. I haven't done Sey in a few years. But I'm like, I've been thinking I need to, I need to add that again'cause it's been a while and I just absolutely love it there. And there's so much history and mm-hmm. The war history and Victor Hugo's house and, yeah. That's right. Victor Hugo's house was amazing. It was wild. It was wild. It was crazy. That was really fun. I've been there several times now, and every time I go I'm like, this guy is nuts. Yeah. Like, wow. Yeah, it's fascinating. I'm, I'm actually doing a French book club tour in 2027, and so we're going to his apartment in Paris, so, and it's Oh, from my, oh, you'd have to tell us. It was decorated. I think it's, it's crazy's, it's gonna be similar. He was just really into interior decorating, eccentric. He should have just like quit riding and just done that full time. I think I brought him a lot of joy that I'm being naked. I don't know. This is a weird dude. Okay. We kinda talked about this, but how did experiencing the actual places, the landscapes, the homes, the villages, change the way you read or think about the books? Did anything surprise you about seeing it in person versus imagining through the page? What was your favorite destination? That we visited, we kind of talked about that. Mm-hmm. But, and, and also, um, you know, for listeners that don't know on my book club tour, we spend like a year in advance reading these books and discuss discussing them. We have a private Facebook group and discuss questions about the books and the places that we go. And not just reading classics, but also reading books about the authors or mm-hmm. You know, uh, books that are adjacent to, to the authors, if that makes sense. So, I guess, did anything surprise you about seeing it in person and did it change the way that you read or think about the books? Mm-hmm. I don't know if anything surprised me. Surprised me. Mm-hmm. It was just more of. Oh my gosh, I'm here and immersing myself in this experience. Like, I can't believe I'm at the Bronte's house. I can't believe like I'm in the same place where Jane Austen wrote or experienced all these things. I can't believe I'm walking through Winnie the poo's actual forest, right? I can't believe I'm in Bath. Like, I just think, being able to be there in person, seeing it, knowing what it's like. It's surreal. I don't know. Yeah, that's the word. I was just thinking. It was surreal. It wasn't that anything was a surprise, it was just, I was so, I just loved it so much. It was like being immersed in these books that we'd already read. And I think it's fun too, to go, and not necessarily reading, but like, you know, watching. Watching, you know, any kind of like Jane Austen movie or show, and you're like, you know, they, they always have bath right? Or even Bridgeton. You're like, I've been there, I've been, I know my kids, my family gets sick of you or anyone. I'm like, oh, I went there. I saw that. I think we were watching the Disney, the weird Disney version with Jim Carrey of um. Christmas Carol. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the beginning scene is animated is like above the whole actual town. Right. And I recognized it like St. Paul there. Yeah. And I was like, oh my gosh, it's an actual town. That's so funny. And I watched, um, was it, I think it's called My Oxford Year on Netflix. Oh. It's like cheesy romance, you know? Sad. But anyways, the whole thing was filmed in Oxford and I was like, hold on. I know exactly where that corner is. I know. You know, Oxford was really fun. Okay. If you could take your entire book, club of 12 on another literary tour, where would you go? Oh, we were talking about this. We just talked about this. Right? Yeah, we were kind of planning it, so what did we talk about? Going to doing like little women and um, from Edward Island. Yeah. And Green Gables. Yeah. I think that would be the dream trip for us, like the East Coast and then heading up to Canada. Yeah. We haven't read little women in our book club. That would be really. A really fun field trip for us. Fun field trip. It's like gonna be more than$300. That would be so much fun to do something like that. So fun. I mean, I would love, I would love to do England again, just because you have so many authors. Oh yeah. And it's such a, I mean, you go, you try to travel places in the United States and the US it's, everything is so far away. Yes. It takes forever. But England, I mean, for the most part it's fairly close. Yeah. And um, so I do love that you can get more out of. I think, but I do think doing an east coast doing, I think so too. Doing Canada got a planet would be really neat. It would be. Yeah. I'd love to do that with you guys. Okay. What would you say to fellow book clubs who are on the fence about doing a literary tour? Is it worth it? Oh, yes. Hundred percent. Amazing. Do it, do it. Do it. You will never regret it to start a classic book club from scratch. Do it. You'll never regret it. Do it. Yeah. You just have to jump in and go for it. Put yourself out there. I mean, if you want something like this, you have to make it happen. You can't just wait for someone else to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think don't be afraid too, to find, I feel like people are like, oh, I don't know if I'd be able to find four people that wanna do it. I think they're out there, find other people, probably think the same thing, you know? Yeah. And if you can't find that many, do what eight people? Yeah. Do six or something. Six people, because they have to be 12, right? Yeah. Start with two. Yeah, I agree. Start where you can and you can make the rules how you want it. You like. It doesn't have to be. The same. So it can fit whatever everyone's lifestyle is and what you think the rules are. But I do have to say, having people have skin in the game with pain. Yes. Um, and knowing that there's rules for missing. Yeah. And knowing that in advance before they join it makes a difference. Yeah, totally. Okay. What's your next read for book club? An enchanted April. I don't remember who wrote it. Excited. Do you remember? I dunno. I can't remember. A woman, a woman. I forgot her name. Yeah, I'm excited for this one actually. It's like set on the Italian Riviera. I think we should do a field trip for that too. I know. Can't. All right. Well thank you guys. Thanks for coming on my podcast. I appreciate it. And it was so fun to talk book clubs with you and this is such a big part of my life and you guys are such a big part of my life and I'm grateful for you. So thank you. I love you, Vanessa. Thank you. Bye.