Afternoon Books Interest Group (ABIG)
We are a small, articulate, and spirited group of AAUW members with a shared love for reading, reflection, and analysis. Male and female authors, non-fiction, fiction, dense tomes or light and frothy novels, there is so much to learn from every book and member’s viewpoint. Deliberating over a book that enthralled is a joy, but discovering unexpected appreciation from a differing perspective, especially from a book that didn’t quite ‘speak’ to you before, is pure serendipity.
Our Meetings
A group member presenter leads the discussion each month. Marked-up books, pages of notes, and extra research and analysis enriching our understanding are just par for the course at meetings. Riveting, open-ended, and honest discussions are our hallmark. We never shy from respectful, difficult, and thought-provoking discussions that arise naturally from the books we examine.
We make time to catch up and socialize too. We take turns providing light refreshments each month and have a fun holiday party with a book exchange and potluck too in December.
Interest Group membership and monthly attendance, traditionally small making it easy for everyone to contribute and delve into the depths during discussions, have now increased in leaps and bounds. We are so excited to have increased our numbers but have regretfully had to close our group for now purely due to logistical reasons. Please don’t be disappointed, we have another fabulous new ‘Read the World’ book group held on 2nd Wednesday afternoons that you will love. Our monthly selections are available at BookSmart bookstore to purchase. If you mention this group, you will get a 10% discount.
When and How Books Are Selected
We constantly refine and burnish how we operate to meet the needs of our book group. At our June meeting, members present their recommendations of up to 2 books (maximum 500 pages each – exceptions for exceptional books). We vote for our favorite one from each member’s suggestions and pick the top 11. The following year’s selections feature the recommendations from members not selected the previous year, to keep it fair and fun. Our yearly cycle runs July-June, with June being the month for selecting books for the following year.
When and Where We Meet
We meet generally on fourth Monday afternoons (except May and December when we meet a week earlier) at Kathy Hansell’s home. The alternative venue is Suman Ganapathy’s home. We use the branch’s Google Drive to RSVP. Book selections for the year can be found there.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wH1FrsPUa3-T4VPcsp0m0dwvEk03Rgyq?lfhs=2