Three days after lockdown began, we were meant to be Los Angeles-bound. 

Instead, with a week off and virtually everywhere shut down, I dove into my ever-growing to-be-read pile in search of a distraction. 

After escaping into a good book or two (or thirty – but that’s a whole different piece for a different day), I found that — more than ever — all I wanted to do was actually talk about these books. And find even more books to read — and people to talk about them with, too. 

Thankfully, I ended up coming across an Instagram Story from someone who was thinking about setting up their own virtual book club durning lockdown — and was after people to join. 

It was a bit daunting at first: it turns out that most of the group already knew each other in some capacity and I had that ‘new kid at school’ feeling. 

Turns out there was no need to worry — at all — because I couldn’t have imagined a more welcoming group to join for a book club. 

We’re now two books into our book club, with our first meeting about the third book — Delia Owens’ Where The Crawdads Sing — set to take place this week. 

The virtual book club meetings have been a glittering bright spot as the weeks of lockdown rolled on. 

After all, it’s the perfect way to (digitally) meet new people in a time of self-isolation — and to have something on the calendar to be super excited about in a time when it seems like everything is being cancelled or postponed. 

It quickly went from a nerve-racking prospect to feeling like having a catch-up with old friends every week — and the one time we didn’t have a meeting, it felt weird. Almost like there was a part of my week that was missing.

Each of the titles so far as been easily accessible: something which, in a lockdown scenario, proved to be a bit difficult at times. 

We’ve been careful not to stress over the book part of book club. It’s been more about connecting with the other members of the group; sharing stories, catching up on how everyone is doing and providing even more reading recommendations (I don’t think my TBR pile has ever been this big). 

As things to start to reopen, the meetings have been moved from weekly to twice a month — and the plans to bring the book club into the real world have begun. And while it may have been a love of books that brought the group together, I feel like I’ve made four new amazing friends.