Reflecting on One Year of Chapters & Chai Book Club

Reflecting on One Year of Chapters & Chai Book Club

My book club just turned one, and these last twelve months have truly changed my life.

I joined a book club back in October 2024 hoping to make new friends and continue ‘getting back into reading’, and if you’d have told me back then that in less than a year I’d be starting a book club of my own, I would have laughed. ‘Seriously? I couldn’t even go to that book club without taking my friend along, and you’re telling me I’ll be creating, promoting, and hosting one? You’re funny!’ And yet, here we are - one whole year in.

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting during my preparations for our birthday celebration, but truthfully I still can’t quite comprehend all of this. More than one hundred different people have attended one or more Chapters & Chai meet ups, over one thousand people follow our Instagram, I have a couple handfuls of people who attend our meet ups frequently, and a few who have attended all of them so far! Chapters & Chai was born out of a craving for community, and wow - I really found one.

Chapters & Chai is truly the first place I have ever felt like myself, like I belonged somewhere. It is the only community I have ever felt wholly a part of. I’ve made friends, and for the first time in my life it has felt easy.
     Many people have confessed to me over the last year that they feel the same. They say they’re shy, and yet they come along to our meet ups on their own - they engage in conversation with everyone, they exchange numbers with the people they sit next to, and they meet up outside of our book club meets. Not only has Chapters & Chai given me a community, but you’ve found one too. I couldn’t ask for more than that.

Book Club has become such a passion of mine - the one constant thing I can turn my attention to no matter how I am feeling. No matter how much work I give myself, how much planning there is to do, how little time I have spare, I’m never overwhelmed or burdened by it. Chapters & Chai very quickly became the highlight of every month, and it really continues to be that for me; I hope it’s the same for you.

So, with our first year complete and our celebrations over, I just want to express how grateful I am that you have been a part of this journey with me. Whether you attended once and never made it back, attended for the first time this month, have been to four meet-ups, eight meet-ups, or somehow all of them - thank you.
      You have shown so much enthusiasm, support, interest, and love for this book club. You have pushed yourself out of your comfort zone - whether socially or in terms of your reading tastes, you’ve been brave even when it doesn’t feel easy. You’ve given me the community I’ve always longed for, helped me bring to life my love of books, and helped me prove to myself that I can do things even if they’re scary, even if I never thought I could.

I am so excited to see what the next year of book club has to offer, and I hope to have you there with me.

Thank you again, always.
Keeley