Clubhouse!

How long has it been since you played in a clubhouse? Well, I did tonight!!

Clubhouse is a new app that is all about gathering people together to chat, share, inform, support, and just in general support one another. I have joined a room that was obviously not for me, lingered in rooms that were poorly run by the moderators, and finally, tonight, found one that I listened to, participated in, and followed all of the members.

The name of the "club" is "Diverse Reading", and it was moderated tonight by Latesha and Kelly. I was originally in the audience, but was invited to be a speaker. Because I loved the obvious excitement for reading, and the support of the different titles being talked about, I decided to jump in. When it was my turn, I talked about how I am trying to read more and more diverse books, talked about being from a little rural hamlet where the vast majority of residents are white Baptists, and named some books that are on my list.

What did I expect? Well, honestly, I don't know. My experience so far with the clubs has not been great. It felt a lot like a set group of friends and I remained on the outside. Not this one. I immediately felt like my voice was important, and others in the group commented, encouraged, and suggested other titles. There was one man during the hour, and another woman who called from Nigeria. It really was amazing. And I won't lie, part of the positive experience was how well the moderators ran the room. No one was rushed, no one monopolized the conversation, and no one talked over one another. A group of respectful bibliophiles. There are 4.7k members in this club alone, but there were probably a dozen or so participating.

And I feel as if I have a new reading tribe. Another rich source of wonderful authors and titles have just become available to me, through the reading experience of others. I really hit the jackpot with Clubhouse tonight, and I thank "Diverse Reading" for the experience. I will be there again next week.