Hey there! You're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Dachie and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't.

Today is episode 213, Create a Summer Reading Club. Obviously summer reading is a big thing for a lot of people and if you're new around here, reading is one of my favorite things on the planet. I love reading. I love books. I have always loved reading in books except for those few years after college.

I had to kind of detox from my English degree and I pivoted from reading to television. Coincidentally, that was right around the time that lost premiered. Those were like good days.

Around then is when I got into 24 as well. I watched every single season on DVD. This is not important. But sometimes I watched the seasons more than once. I used to be able to do a really good Jack Bauer impression.

Anyway, the point is other than that stretch after college, I've always been a big reader. It took me a few years after my book break to get some real momentum going.

I just wanted to tell you before we get into the summer reading club that changed when I started listening to Ann Bogels Podcast. What should I read next?

I was actually a guest on Ann's show in the early days of her show and then more recently last year, I guess. We'll put links to both episodes that I was on her show in the show notes. But in that first episode that I was in with her and then listening to all the other episodes of her show,

Ann has helped me learn what I like about reading and what I'm looking for in a book. It's not just about books and plot either. It's about the reading experience. If I need momentum or not, when I need to have a decide once principle in places in my reading where I need to quit.

I know this is when you quit a book. Over the years, I've just really lazy geniused my reading and it's made my life so much better. So if you are into that, we'll put some links to other kind of reading related episodes and stuff that I've done in the show notes.

And I also talk about reading like a ton in the newsletter latest lazy letter, which goes out once a month. So you can join that as well. That's where I do a lot of book talk. Last month, I talked about like the ways that I get out of a reading run. Lots of stuff. Again,

Kendra loves books, but today though, I want to talk about something more specific. I want us to create a summer reading club. You guys, we should all start a summer reading club. Okay. So here's the thing about summer reading. It is so fun, right? And it's, it's less solitary and feel than say fall or winter reading.

It has big time cozy fireplace vibes where you just like read in your own cocoon and you don't talk to anybody about it. Generally speaking, obviously everyone has different reading tendencies and preferences. But summer reading to me, it just feels more like a party. It's something you, it's something you do out in the open at the pool or the park or on the beach.

And summer reading online is way more chatty than other seasons, at least in my experience. Everybody likes to talk about their summer reading. So here's what I would love to offer up as an idea to you create a summer reading club.

It is not a book club because a book club generally has one group reading the same book. A reading club is a group of readers. And listen, if you read the book, you are a reader friend. Okay.

It is a group of readers talking about what they individually have been reading. It's the kind of conversation where you like definitely want to have a notebook or your phone open or whatever so you can add all the new titles to your, your good reads list or your trello board or your bullet journal or whatever.

There's like a lot of book energy. I love good book energy. I love talking with people who are excited about books and reading on purpose. But book clubs aren't for everyone in a sense that you like different books. You like different things, right?

Or maybe you're on a budget and you can't afford to buy the new release when it comes up in book club and the library hold list is like a mile long. A reading club lets you read whatever you want but still have a format in which to talk about it.

Even if no one else has read the book. So how might that work? Let's let's map out your summer reading club. Okay. First you need people, right? Now you have a couple of ways to go about this. And I would start with the priority of in person versus virtual. What matters most there?

We we've obviously lived a lot of virtual life this past year. So you might actually be super comfortable continuing some virtual things because you're like, all right, we're good at this. It's it's okay because my reading friends are actually spread across the country or whatever.

So you might be like, get me off this computer. So name that first. What matters about the format? Right? That will obviously impact the people involved if it's in person because if it's in person and these people who can, you know, gather in the same place.

Then once you know that just invite some people to join you. Now since it's a summer reading club, here's what I love. You could just get together like two or three times during the summer and that's it. It's so low commitment, right? This is not a forever thing.

But it could be a really fun way to connect with people on purpose, especially as we're coming out of the pandemic more and more at least in the US.

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