Wired has documented an interesting trend they’ve noticed online. It’s one in which the adult children of conservative parents try to bridge divides in political views by getting them to read books. One woman in Denver made a deal with her parents to read three books of her choosing on topics like the destruction of Palestine; and one person on Reddit made a post looking for suggestions for fantasy books that would nudge their father “back towards reality and morality.”
The piece also explores how one of the adult children had her belief system changed by reading a book by Richard Dawkins on evolution when she was in her 20s.
Knowing the life-altering power of books, I think this strategy could potentially be effective…if the books are actually read.
Imagine the book club you started lasts 100 years.
That’s what has happened with Book of the Month, though it has undergone some major changes.
It started as a mail-order company in the mid-’20s and served a male clientele who couldn’t get access to books as easily as we can today. It grew and enjoyed success for decades but was essentially hollowed out by the time then-recent Harvard Business School grad Blake Orlandi learned about it in the early 2010s. Of course, by then, readers had Amazon and bookstores, and didn’t need the mail-order company to get new books.
Orlandi and his business partner, John Lippman, ended up buying what remained of the company and revamped it as a subscription service that targets millennial women. The company’s member count has since swelled to 400,000 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
A group of women who met online for a book club expanded that book club into a summer camp—titled the Bad Bitch Book Club, naturally—in The Forks, Maine. Camp activities included everything from s’mores crafting to movie night and yoga. The camp even had a “book bar,” which was comprised of 1,500 thrillers, memoirs, and novels that camp goers could pick up, courtesy of publishers.
The club was started by Mackenzie Newcomb in 2018 and has since blossomed to 38,000 members and a $200,000 a year value as a result of the $7/month Patreon fee for members.
When I tell you others are living out my dreams…
More To Read
Also, “Author Cancels National Book Festival Appearance “due to current events in Washington, D.C.’”
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