| Thanks again for checking out the KC Girlfriends Book Club website. My name is TaNisha Webb and I'm the representative for the KC Girlfriends Book Club. Over the past few years I have been amazed how quick our book club has grown. The book club was originally began with a group of friends wanting to spend time together discussing all the books that they had been reading on their own. You know how it is when you read a book and you tell a friend...and then they tell yet another friend about the book! This is generally how most book clubs begin. As those original members moved on to other interests or just simply moved on, Tiffany and myself were really faced with not knowing if a book club could really exist with new members with the love of reading being the only commonality. I look back on that thought now and feel that it's only been a true blessing that the book club did evolve exactly so. Through the love of books our group has definitely grown in more than one way: Our group's age ranges from mid 20's through late 40's which allows us to be able to see an entirely different view than would a book club with members that are around the same age range. I think that's really one the most major keys to having a great book club. Our members come from all walks of life. Most of our book club members do have college degrees, which has never been a requirement to be in our book club. It's a great accomplishment to be able to achieve an education but when we sit down at a meeting we are able to sit down simply as women first. It's truly a beautiful thing! Because we didn't start out as friends we're able to display our difference in opinions freely which allows us to be more candid with each other. I think that for the most part women tend to not freely befriend other women as easily but we have found that having the love of books in common has made it so much easier. Also, being around diverse women can be great for networking. There's nothing like being able to reach out to one of your sisters as a resource. Above everything else I think my most favorite part of dealing with my members is the strong sisterhood that we share. They truly are my friends and I'm proud to know each one of them. Who knew that reading could carry such an unexpected reward!!! |
| Just a little personal background about myself: |
| I'm a 30-something single parent. I have a teenage daughter.(I'm not ashamed of my age...just not willing to get on here every year to change the number! lol) I moved to the KC area in June 2003. I am a Respiratory Therapist. I found out about the Girlfriends Book Club on a local website and decided that I wanted to get involved with women outside of my job. It had already been in existence for at least 1 year. If you would have told me that I would be the representative of any book club I would have thought you were crazy! lol But I have to admit that I absolutely love it! I was involved in a AA book club with men and women in my hometown of Wichita, KS. If you think having women that start out not knowing anything about each other in a book club altogether is something...try being in a book club with men involved!! Whoa! It can change the whole dynamic of a book club. My favorite book is Friends and Lovers by Eric Jerome Dickey. My most favorite authors are: (Which means I have almost every book they have written and will not let them out my door without a contract and a blood sample! lol) Eric Jerome Dickey, E. Lynn Harris, and Kimberla Lawson-Roby. Some of my favorite new authors are: Michelle Buckley, E. Lemont Goode Jr., Millenia Black, and Delores Phillips. You should definitely pick up their books. The last thing I would like to leave everyone with is this: Be sure to support not only the more familiar authors but also the new ones. We are very proud that we host at least four new authors each year. They would love the support and truly love the feed back from book clubs and readers alike. |
