Clubbing with bibliophiles

Abraham Verghese discusses his book with Oprah Winfrey. Pic Courtesy/abe_verghese on x

Nine women sit across each other at the dining table, dressed in soft whites and golds, colours of a typical kasavu saree from Kerala. Their meal is spread out on delicate banana leaves. They've spent the last few weeks reading Abraham Verghese's latest title, The Covenant of Water, set in south India of the 1900s. This was the 70th pick of their book club, Not Just a Book Club. "We had seen everyone raving about it. But we were a little hesitant at the beginning because of its size," laughs Soneera Singhvi, one of the members. "After a couple of the members read it and loved it though, we decided to go ahead with it."

The book of the month

The session drew the author's attention, who, delighted to learn what his book meant to them, shared their photographs on his social media channels. To Reshma Barshikar, the host of the sadya-style meal, Verghese's book was a reminder of her childhood. Tarun Durga, an artist and another member, Shagun Luthra's husband, created two ink sketches for their session, inspired by the book.

The women indulge in a sadya-style meal

Six years ago, in 2018, these nine women were strangers to each other. When Deeksha Khanna, the founder of the club, posted on the Mommy Network, about wanting to start a small intimate reading club, each of them responded. They were connected by their locality, and their love of reading. Today, they've become the closest friends, and hold regular sessions at each other's homes, picking a new title every month. "We have a very democratic process of selecting books to read. We take turns and go alphabetically, or by birthdays. We've done different variations of these over the years. Everyone gets a turn in each round to recommend a book," shares Singhvi.

Verghese tweeted this photo on his timeline while appreciating the club

Not only do the members actively engage with the books, they also reach out to the authors for a possible Q&A session with them. "It's really nice to have author interactions in any small way; it adds to our enthusiasm. There was a period when we went through a reading slump. We had picked books that were standard, nothing that made us go ‘wow'. So, last year we decided to pick genres. It helped us push our boundaries," Singhvi admits. "We started doing presentations as well, inspired by another club. [The recommender] prepares a list of questions, which adds a new layer and direction to the discussions." This is how the club has continued to keep the sessions exciting and alive all these years. In September, they plan a small reading trip to celebrate their sixth birthday as a club.

New book clubs in the city

>> The White Crow Book Club
(@thewhitecrowbooksandcoffee)

>> The Reading Realm Book Club
(@thereadingrealmbookclub)

>> SwapBook!
(@swapbookofficial)

>> The Book Lovers Club, Navi Mumbai
(@thebookloversclub_navimumbai)

Virtual book clubs to check out

>> The Earth Book Club (virtual - @theearthbookclub)
>> Susegad Book Club (virtual - @susegadbookclub)
>> Rachna Ink's Book Club (virtual - @rachnaink)
>> The Indian Book Club (@indiareadwithus)