how to start a book club

plus, my thoughts on the state of the world, NYC hosting recs, and book club talk with Emma Benshoff

when I launched the sunday series a little over three years ago, I did so out of a deep desire to create a safe space to spark conversation beyond the restraints of Instagram. in moments like this one—with last saturday marking the deadliest day for the Jewish community since the Holocaust—condemning the acts of terrorism we have seen splashed across our screens feels not just necessary, but urgent. like many, I’ve struggled to adequately vocalize my horror and grief, instead choosing to read, listen, and prioritize one-to-one discussions with those I know who have incredibly personal ties to Israel.

in doing so, conversations with my Jewish friends have helped me understand how alone they feel and how scared they are that so many refuse to denounce Hamas’ attacks. and while I know that social media is not everyone’s preferred method of personal expression, the divisive online rhetoric we’re seeing translates to what’s happening outside our doorsteps. I’m terrified by the rise in antisemitism in our country, and while I may not know “the right thing” to say in an IG story, I do know that it’s my responsibility to make sure my nearest and dearest know that I support and stand with them.

in the words of NYC Mayor Eric Adams, “we are not alright. everything is not fine. your fight is our fight, right here in New York. we have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel—this is the place that our voices must raise and cascade throughout the entire country.” and so to that, I’ll add that I’m sending love and holding space for you. I’ll echo

Grace’s Substack

by sharing that Bloomberg is matching donations to the American Friends of Magen David Adom which helps ensure paramedics, EMTS, first responders, and first-aid providers have the training, equipment, and medical supplies they need to treat all injured and ill people in Israel.

and while the rest of what I’m sharing in today’s sunday series may feel trivial in comparison to the suffering of so many, please know that it is most certainly not meant to diminish what’s happening. it is simply my way of showing up and connecting to what’s good in the world. with that said, please look after one another, and do what you can to spread light in these very dark times.

xKD

weekend recs

it’s sort of impossible to transition after that heavy start, but embracing the privilege to simply exist in safety is something many of us can be extra thankful for this weekend. I was incredibly lucky to be hosting my sister from friday morning until this afternoon (miss you already, Cookie!!) and despite yeterday’s washout, we had the most fabulous time.

here were some of our fave spots from this past weekend…

savory: Popup Bagels, curry from Thai Villa, Sogno Toscano for brunch the OG burger from JG Melon (honestly was not my FAVE but a NY institution nonetheless, plus the pecan pie was oddly superb), and 12 Chairs takeout

sweet: Magnolia Bakery (duh) and Caffè Panna for the pumpkin affogato sundae

workouts and walks: The Class in tribeca and West Side Highway walks met by seeing all the stoops decorated for Halloween (can we talk about how I had a stoop TT go viral with 1.6M views and counting??)

provisions: croissants from Barachou, flowers (including the cutie pumpkin trees!!) and ALL.THE.PRODUCE. from the union square farmers market

culture and such: The Strand for a signed copy of

Becca Freeman

’s debut, The MET date night hours for a 8:30p viewing of Manet/Degas (LOVED!!), Three Lives & Co to order our october BC pick (Everyone Here is Lying), and the NYC Ballet for the chicest saturday night out!

book club beginnings

earlier this year, one of our book club TikToks gained some traction and in turn, attracted dozens of comments from fellow New Yorkers requesting to join. beyond the TT comment section, I even began receiving emails and Instagram DMs from strangers asking if we had space to welcome new members; and while we would have loved to expand to include new friends, five of our six members live in studio apartments—there was just no way we could physically host a larger group! but, it got me thinking…forming a book club has provided me with such a deep sense of community, and maybe it’s my job simply to encourage others to do the same, starting with pulling back the curtain on how our works.

so, here’s the breakdown on how we started and how we keep the momentum going!

FORMING A CREW: WVBC (West Village Book Club) started by merging two groups who didn’t know one another! I invited my two neighbors—Chelsea and Francheska—and then two other West Village friends—Jenna and Nicole—over to my place wehere we had a get-to-know-you hang. I introduced everyone, and we talked about what kinds of books we like to read, how we thought we could structure our monthly meetings, and strategized on how we’d determine hosting duties.

FINDING YOUR PERFECT NUMBER: from there, we expanded by one! Jenna wanted her friend Laura to join, but I was admittedly unsure about it getting too big. then Jenna showed up to the second WVBC meeting with Laura’s NOTES (!!) on the book we read, I was like, okay, I love her style—we have to include this woman. fast forward and WVBC would not be the same without Laura’s lightening fast reading and whip-smart humor!!!! not to mention, she facilitated a casting call for the fake film adaptation of Pineapple Street last time she hosted.

GET IT ON THE CAL: we choose dates on a quarterly basis for the following four months, because our girlies are BUSY BUSY BEES 🐝 so, by summer, we had all of our monthly dates mapped out until the end of the year. it’s our aim to pick days when everyone plans to be in town, but if we can get five out of six of us, that’s a win. six out of six in attendance is rare, but makes it all the more special when it does happen!

CHOOSING OUR READ: our book selection process is fairly democratic. anyone can suggest a book, but we all need to agree on that book. so, you could suggest something and have it vetoed! so far, we’ve done mostly fiction, but a few of non-fiction books (Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Eat, Pray, Love and The Shift) mixed in, too. we consider length as well; over 500 pages is generally a no-go, though we did make an exception for The Nightingale and are SO glad we did as it was our most beloved so far.

HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESS: we alternate hosting duties. when we select a date, we also note in advance who will host, and it rotates. that person is responsible for putting a spread together and most often, it is themed to the book! in the beginning, we did snacks, but it has evolved to a full-out dinner spread. but then, of course, everyone contributes a little something whether it’s wine, flowers, dessert, etc. but for special occasions, we’ve also opted to do WVBC out on the town: once for the tree lighting at Rosemary’s and the other time for one of our members last nights in NYC—the latter of which ended at a drag bar!!

DO YOUR HOMEWORK: you have to read the book. this might sound obvious, but I’m kind of a stickler (Virgo, much?) on it. every now and again, life happens, and someone can’t finish the book, but generally, everyone does because it’s way more fun that way!! naturally, we spend a fair bit of time gabbing and gossing, but we do always dedicate a portion of our sesh to going through Q&As (often in the back of the book) and delving into what resonated or what didn’t.

FOUNDING MEMBER PERKS: our group continues to evolve—we just welcomed our newest member, Hilary, when our dear Francheska left NY to return to Mexico. it’s so fun to see this new iteration of our crew but once a member, always a member! Francheska is planning to move to Paris in the new year, and we are quite serious about the girlies packing up to have a WVBC meeting in Paris once she’s settled!!

meet Emma Benshoff

one of my earliest inspirations for starting the West Village Book Club last October (we’re celebrating our one-year WVBC birthday in ten days!!) was following Emma Benshoff. Emma and her friends’ epic BC spreads long ago burrowed their way into my brain, and I knew I wanted to start my own. so when I began brainstorming about who I wanted to feature in my revived sunday series Q&As, I knew I had to reach out to Emma to talk about how she’s approached both forming and maintaining her book club.

Kayla Douglas: Emma, what did your journey to moving to the city look like and what makes New York feel like home to you now?

Emma Benshoff: I grew up in Connecticut and loved visiting the city—in high school, I would come up on my own on the weekends to meet up with friends and go to concerts. When I was in college, I first moved to New York for an internship with Seventeen and Cosmopolitan, and knew I had to come back after I graduated, which I did, and I haven’t left since! New York feels like home because of the community of friends that have become like family to me. I love that no matter what I’m doing, whether it’s a themed SoulCycle class, book event, or night at a karaoke bar, I have friends who jump at the opportunity. I think that’s a huge part of what makes New York so special – since lots of us have moved away from family, you find your chosen family within our friends and community.

“New York feels like home because of the community of friends that have become like family to me…I think that’s a huge part of what makes New York so special—since lots of us have moved away from family, you find your chosen family within our friends and community.”

KD: Community is such a crucial part of feeling at home in a city this chaotic. How did you form your book club and what would your advice be for those who want to start their own?

EB: I’ve always loved to read, but once I started working in publishing, I gained so many friends who were reading and talking about those books. I’ve also always loved hosting and planning events, so it was the natural thing for me to do! In the first iteration of my New York book club, my roommate Emily and I hosted in our Brooklyn apartment, and we took turns picking the book. We both invited some friends, who invited their friends, and the group grew from there.

Obviously, during COVID, our book club got put on hold, and in that time Emily ended up moving to Los Angeles, and I moved in with another friend, Ashleigh, who I met through our book club. Ashleigh and I have hosted our Upper East Side book club for the past two years, which has been so fun and a good way to make sure I see all of my friends on at least a monthly basis. I think that if you want to start a book club, start by inviting your friends, and then tell them to invite their friends—a book club is most fun when there’s a mix of people in the room, and you get to know new people!

KD: Book clubs are most effective with structure–how far in advance does your group choose the dates you'll meet? How do you select what you'll be reading? Any other rules we should know?

EB: We meet monthly, so we typically choose the book the week after the last book club so that people have a month to read. Our book club is less of a democracy, so Ashleigh and I usually pick the books, but we usually ask if there’s anything anyone is dying to read. Otherwise, we look for books with fun themes, and that will be good conversation starters.

KD: Okay, we have to talk about your fun, themed book club menus! Tell us about a few of your favorite book and food pairings that you've done so far.

EB: I LOVE a good theme, so this is one of my favorite parts of planning book club! My all-time favorite theme we’ve done would probably be when we read Permanent Record by Mary HK Choi, where one of the protagonists works in a bodega and runs a snack Instagram account. Everyone brought their go-to bodega snack, and it was so fun to see what everyone picked! I also love holiday book clubs—two years ago we did mini gingerbread house decorating, and we always do a gift exchange.

KD: Previously, you worked at Penguin Random House in marketing. What do you think would surprise readers about the BTS of marketing a book?

EB: Probably how long the publishing process can take and how far out you’re working on the marketing for a title. Marketing plans are often a part of the conversation when a book is being acquired, and that can be years before a book gets into the hands of readers.   

KD: Tell us about the most recent work of fiction that left you with a book hangover.

EB: I really enjoyed Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess—it was quite thought-provoking while also being a fast read, and I’m currently reading The Rachel Incident, which I can already tell is going to invoke a book hangover – it’s very reminiscent of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, & Tomorrow, a book I loved.

KD: What book is on your TBR that you're most excited to pick up this fall?

This doesn’t come out in the US until next year, but I’m dying to read Dolly Alderton’s new novel Good Material. I loved Ghosts —I rarely read books that so accurately describe what dating is like in 2023, so I’m really looking forward to this book too!

KD: The sunday series was conceptualized as a love letter to my favorite day of the week. If we were with you on sunday, where would you take us to spend the morning?

EB: Sundays are my “get my life together” days, so all plans occur in the morning—I usually start out with a themed (usually Taylor Swift) SoulCycle class, and then we’d get a bagel (for me, everything with plain cream cheese, NOT toasted) and eat it in Central Park while we talk about all the drama and gossip from the week, whether our own or in pop culture. If we didn’t get bagels, my other go-to is EJ’s Luncheonette for the french toast sticks.