A few friends and I started a book club in May. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of time porch sitting, catching up on each other’s lives, eating snacks, and scheduling our next meeting. We’ve also read two books.

I don’t consider our club a failure. We did read two books, and our wide-ranging discussions whetted my appetite to read other titles that my friends mentioned in comparison. Reading books in community also held me accountable to read—and read carefully. I might have whiled away my two international flights this summer with movies and magazines (or scrolling and skimming) had I not been on the hook to intelligently discuss our chosen books when I returned.

Recently, TGC published a story from Brazil where one woman’s book club is encouraging a generation of Christian women to read. “Clube Fp4.8” (Phillipians 4:8 Book Club), which Nana Castillo started online during the pandemic, now has over 700 active participants. They’ve read 20 books on Zoom and are forming spiritual reading habits that are spilling over into their in-person churches and communities.

Reading Nana’s story made me want to revive my own book club. Whether you read 20 books or just two, whether you meet on Zoom or in person (or, like my coworker Sharonda Cooper’s book club, via voice messaging app), the Lord shapes the members one page at a time.

I’ve got snacks if you want to come over.