2024 Reflections, vol. 2
Stevie's musings on 2024 spent in community with bookish women...and lions
One of the many benefits of having a Partner in Pages to co-run your book club with1 is the separate directions in which you’ll each take the same writing prompt.2 It was only after I read Cass’ beautiful articulation of what she found in all we read this year, that it occurred to me I might ought to talk about the books on our 2024 syllabus in this reflection. I literally hadn’t considered that—yet another reason I’m grateful for her.
The thing is though, when I think about Dear Readers, my eyes well pretty immediately, and it’s not because of the books (though Shark Heart did make me ugly cry like I’d just been through an extremely painful breakup). It’s because of the women—and the immense sense of pride I feel in this community.
I also think about lions, or lionesses rather. That’s the image that comes to mind.
Did you know that a pride is actually comprised of mainly female lions? The Lion Recovery Fund says that lionesses “are the heartbeats of their prides and the species.”3 This is because while the male lion’s duty is to protect the pride, female lions are basically responsible for everything else, including hunting for food, raising the cubs (communally), and creating (and leading) the social structure in which all of this occurs.
Cass & I have wholeheartedly, full-bodily, and fiercely poured ourselves—our time, talent, & treasure—into this book club, but we are merely co-creators now, just two other cats in this badass community of women. Women who boldly model asking for help and for what they need. Women who maintain their boundaries while still being vulnerable and giving of themselves to others. Women who show up exactly as they are: fully feeling themselves while dressed ethereally in black sheer or unshowered and puffy from crying; unread and ready to sing about it or nearly bursting with their take on the weirdest book they’ve ever laid eyes on.
At our first meeting in 2024, us lionesses shared our hopes & dreams for the pride—a safe space to come as you are was at the top of the list (CHECK!). Also included in our imagining of Dear Readers were the following:
Respect
Active listening
Seeking to understand
Community!
Deep conversations
Intimacy
Cultivating a brave space where we can get curious and a nourishing space where we can learn
Challenging each other to think critically
Curiosity & open-mindedness
Personal and collective growth
A safe space to call each other in and give feedback
Investment in narratives that are different from our own
As I read through this list, I feel that sense of pride welling up again. Cass & I set out to start a book club in 2023, but by the end of that year, I think we both knew we wanted to do more. And in 2024, though we talked a hell of a lot about books and what Dear Readers should read, the majority of the conversations we had about book club were about these bullets. Because we’re not just leading a book club anymore—we’re building a community, and we’re part of a pride.
We will be enumerating the other benefits in our upcoming series, How to Build a Book Club (coming soon!!).