fbpx
Grown Ups

Book Club Comrades – Revisiting Virtual Book Discussions with Added Adventures – “Welcoming Summer” Series

June 19, 2021 | Community

With longer days and warmer weather, we’ve started diving into summertime reads…

Even though more places are opening up in Chicago, we decided to have all four book discussions and events virtually, so we could embark on the fun in the comfort of our own homes.

In the spirit of summer, we soaked up 28 Summers, by Elin Hilderbrand, to kick off our reading adventures.

This story “explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love“, so our Book Club discussed riveting topics, including relationships, politics, and various decades…

Before we knew it, the hour-long discussion was coming to a close. No wonder Elin is a New York Times bestselling author!


We were lucky enough to have Adam, the owner of Hickory Creek Winery, lead us in another virtual wine tasting for our summery “Beach Wines” batch that paired well with our stories. He took us on a journey of his Patio Flight and, boy, was it refreshing and delicious!

Jarran, the owner of In Fine Spirits in Andersonville (Chicago, IL), taught us about Irish whiskey during an additional virtual tasting to compliment our second read. We learned oodles about the history and production processes of his favorite brands and thoroughly enjoyed all four whiskeys!

To continue the JOY, Jessica guided us along another virtual cooking class adventure and Shelby shook things up by teaching us how to make a few more sweet and spicy cocktails in a virtual mixology class… both experiences paralleling our other two books, of course!


For our upcoming batch, we are having a destination Book Tastings event. In July, we will be hosting a pop-up Book Club at Hickory Creek Winery (no surprise there!) in Michigan and we are so excited! Keep your eyes peeled on social media for the upcoming event; and if you are in the area, please join us!



BOOK PAIRING PACKAGE

If you missed our Mother’s Day Giveaway this Spring, we featured 28 Summers in one of our Pairing Packages too! One lucky winner chose from one of four curated collections of prizes that featured items from a few of our favorite small businesses / local Chicago brands.

To get a glimpse of what our Book Tastings / Pairings are all about without the full commitment, put together your own package with these items:

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

Paired with…

TeaLula Endless Summer Looseleaf Tea

Noir de Bene Dark Chocolate Hearts

MAJAMAS EARTH Polsino Pant in Tulum

Edgewater Candles Wood Sage Sea Salt Candle


Mandy G, New Book Joy Founder



NEW BOOK JOY is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Every order you place through NBJ supports our site and their pool of independent bookstores!

MORE BOOK CLUB TASTINGS






Don’t miss out on NEW BOOK JOY!