Bookmark the Blog: Spotlight Book Groups

August 2025 Spotlight: From San Diego!

Our August 2025 Spotlight Group has been meeting for 25 years!

Our group has been meeting for twenty five years now but only two of us are original members. We currently have ten members.  We meet monthly to discuss our books, mostly fiction, chosen from membership recommendations.  We alternate “leading” the group which means finding information about the author and reviews of the book.  The leader also brings snacks, often appropriate to the book.  When we discussed The Women, by Kristen Hannah,

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September 2024 Spotlight: The Mission Valley YMCA Book Club

Our September 2024 Spotlight have been meeting for over 2 years!

Our book club was created as an offering of the Y Active Adults (55+) program at the YMCA Mission Valley branch in San Diego. The club has been meeting for 2+ years and is open to all active adult members of the Y. We currently have 13 members who attend regularly and share a love of books and life! While we only met because of our Y connection, we now consider ourselves friends.

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August 2024 Spotlight: The Traveling Book Club

Our August 2024 Spotlight hold discussions in locations from their books!

We read so many books set in fascinating places. A group of friends decided it would be great fun to travel to those locations for our book discussions. Our Traveling Book Club was born! We read one book a year. The discussions are held at actual places mentioned in the story. Taking turns selecting the book and planning the trip is part of the fun. The goal is to immerse ourselves into the story by visiting as many sites as possible.

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July 2024 Spotlight: Savannah’s Friends

Our July 2024 Spotlight has been meeting monthly for 24 years!

Our book group, “ Savannah’s Friends”, was named for one of the original members of our group who passed away from cancer. Even to her final days, she was an avid reader and attended meetings. After her death, her grown daughter came to our meeting to tell us how important our group had been to her mother. The group has met monthly for 24 years, in person for 22 and on Zoom for 2.

The picture is of a celebratory luncheon,

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June 2024 Spotlight: #Bookclub

Our June 2024 Spotlight started this year!

The idea originated from informal conversations with parents and caregivers after library storytimes. It’s tough being a stay-at-home parent. At times there is nobody to talk with, feelings of isolation, and some serious TikTok scrolling. Those organic conversations were the start of a new kind of book club. One that combined trending titles on TikTok and caregivers!

#BookClub is unique because it encourages parents to bring their kiddos. While the adults discuss, the children are given toys and activities. And while this setup leads to interruptions,

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