Southern Maine Women’s Book Club 📚

This women’s reading group is dedicated to equality within our group and quality of the group. & We live by the rule 'no books are banned'.

💕 What We Believe

• This club is here for women who love books and want to show up to our meetings and be part of something.
• We are all very different people from varied and different backgrounds. We believe the more different kinds of people we have the more rich and interesting our discussions will be due to the many and varied view points. We welcome all life experiences. We love the enrichment you get from a book that you can understand through varied perspectives.
• The purpose of this club is to develop a sisterhood of book lovers that meet in person to discuss the book adventures we share and go on together. We prefer a cozy group of book buddies.
• Regular attendance to everyone's best abilities is highly valued. This club is for those who are not looking for something to do on a rare occasion when they have nothing better to do. It is something that you strongly prioritize, a connection to books and each other. Which is not to say it should be the top priority or your only priority. But it should be a strong priority in the mix with your other major priorities.

📖 How We Read

• Book suggestions are welcomed by everyone (one per person, per poll) and will be decided at random through an activity, game, randomizer, etc., but not by a single individual.
• When submitting and researching books for our group, please try to find books that are not part of a series. It's possible we may not continue the series together, but if everyone enjoys it enough.. we can poll to continue the series or you may continue on your own accord.
• Depending on the size of the reading, that will determine the length of each session.

e.g.: If there are 400 pages, we may spread this out over 4 weeks. If there are 30 chapters and 500 pages, we may spread that out over 5 weeks. This is all TBD and the reading may be longer than 4 weeks. Holidays are considered when making these decisions, to ensure full attendance for meetings.

• Admin will always provide a breakdown for readings & meetings with discussions questions prompted before meeting to reflect upon.
• We will meet at minimum once per month to discuss the book we're reading (typically at the end for a final review of the book and to determine our new book.) If our book is longer, we may split and meet at a half way point, as well.

RULES:

1. Please Read the Book (it's ok to jump out of sessions)
2. Turn on notifications for this App
3. Follow Southern Maine Women's Book Club on Instagram
4. Arrive on Time and always RSVP Yes or No (Notify Admin so the group is not waiting)
5. Always Be Respectful and Respect Diverse Opinions
6. Contribute Thoughtfully (This is a group for Everyone. Please contribute to book discussions, group ideas, meeting places, and anything else related to the group)
7. Be Mindful of Others
8. Be Inclusive
9. Invite Your Friends to Join Us
10. & Always Have FUN!

Additional Club Rules:

1. Don't be a Karen. We don't do pearl clutching and bigotry here. We don't do chronically offended. We don't do desperate efforts to find stuff to complain about. Profanity is fine. So is a glass of wine or a little weed. We are a laid back crowd looking for others not desperate to be uptight and complaining. If you would rather be a bigoted, offended, complainer, that's fine.. but we will wish you well.
2. Don't be an asshole. While profanity is accepted there is a difference between using it to discuss something, and directing it at someone in an abusive manner. Talk about other people's ideas the same way you would want yours discussed.. please! We won't all always agree about everything and that is totally cool, but we debate the merits politely. We do not attack or abuse the person we disagree with. When we disagree, we do it peacefully with the understanding books are works of art and there are an endless supply of correct interpretations of them and views on them. We don't judge, cuz judging is being a what??? Yep, exactly you guessed it.
3. Wear make up or don't, dress nice or show up in your jammies it's all good. No one here will ever tell you to smile or say that you would be prettier if you did. Not being an asshole, means supporting each other, and whatever expression any one of us chooses to wear. We don't judge!
4. We will not get into politics during discussions or read political books unless it is bound by HISTORY within our books.
5. We will not read books based around sexual abuse/violence out of respect for those in our group who may be effected by such tragedies. Please do your research before submitting your suggestions. (If there's anything you would like to add to the list - please DM me.)
6. Loving dogs is mandatory, especially large dogs that bark. Loving cats is optional and much appreciated for home visits.

We hope these are commitments you can make to the group and for the group!

With Love,

Kyleigh Boyle

Founder/Admin

Southern Maine Women's Book Club

*Subject to Revision 

because change is good and keeps us alive*