• Reading is Communal

                  Conversations and knowledges around books flourish when we get a chance to read in community, together. There’s a history in this country, and others, of starving people of knowledge (and robbing them of access to books) when those with disproportionate power want to control a community of people. Reading together is a radical act of community, of love, and of joy.

• Be Curious

                  It’s always great to share what we dwell on, question, and think about when we read together. We can inform each other, grow each other’s knowledge and thoughts, and help each other connect to and get more from what we read when we dive into the books we read with unabashed curiosity.

• Listen as a Practice

                  We can thrive from a wide variety of perspectives in a book gathering. It’s often productive to seek out a swath of views, from a broad group of people around us, when we are in community. It also offers us much when we attune ourselves to the texts, and authors, we read. Listening to others, and to texts, as we read together and process what we read, is a practice. It is a practice from which we can learn and grow our own exercises of self/communal care, connection, practices of justice, and learning.

• Be Real

                  We should not degrade gatherings and discussions with spam or personal links (without permission). We should always ask permission before sharing the comments or experiences of fellow interlocutors on other platforms. Finally, we should strive to bring our full selves, presence, and attention to each two hour gathering, once a month, and to the books and works we read and discuss.