Welcome to the Über Moms Book Club!

“We read to know we are not alone” is a quote attributed to C.S. Lewis, the author who provided so many children with a land to escape to. Did you read The Chronicles of Narnia? Did you want to be Susan, Lucy, Peter, Edmund, Mr Tumnus the Fawn, or even Mrs Beaver, fussing over her sewing machine? I always thought of being Susan: she was the oldest daughter, and I am the eldest, and it made sense. But then I changed my mind with The Last Battle… But I digress. We have a new club, a book club, a reason to step away from the latest news report, stop mashing avocado, or working on the rota for next week, and to escape into whichever monthly book we have chosen, just like so many of us did when we were younger.

A little bit of background:

On a cold, but not freezing winter’s morning, Jordan and I snatched five minutes to meet for a quiet coffee. Between trying to solve world peace, musing on the vagaries of the world around us, and contemplating whether we should sign up for the Salzburg half marathon, I mentioned that perhaps it would be nice to have a book club. We agreed that I would look into it and contact Linda, who had also commented on having a book club. As I travelled back out of town, mind buzzing with how, where, and who, little did I know how soon we would need it nor how quickly it would become so rewarding.

Initially, Linda and I talked and drew up some plans. Linda, being an Über Mom, of course did this whilst traveling with small children, because, well, why wouldn’t you? We thought it would take a while to start; we would, after all, need somewhere to meet. Then Covid-19 decided to intervene. Not only did it take away the issue of where, as in lockdown it would have to be online, but also, in our minds, it suddenly seemed to make it all the more important.

“Empowering mothers to embrace a healthy lifestyle, mind, body and soul.” The book club may not give your body a workout, but it can certainly help with the mind and soul. We were facing being locked down for an indefinite period of time; it felt right to get this thing started. Also, selfishly, the ability to escape into a book, to forget that I am worrying about how many sheets of loo roll we have per trip left in the house, or whether my children are singing “Happy Birthday” all the way through whilst washing their hands, became more vital to me. But the icing on the cake would be to share that pleasure with others and to escape again to discuss the book I have just read. Were they biting their nails when I did, crying as I had, or did they feel it was shallow and a waste of good potential loo roll?

In March we announced our first book, selected by Facebook poll: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. And on 15th April we met on Zoom to discuss it. Yippee! People came, ready to talk, share, laugh, and do something a bit different. April’s book was, to our delight and luck, one written by a local author: local business woman Über Mom: Lovie by Lisa Yarger.

Our review of this book will follow in next month’s newsletter.

The book club moving forward

The plan for the Book Club is:

First Tuesday of Month- Deadline for Book Suggestion

First Wednesday of Month- Next Month’s Book Poll

Second Wednesday of Month- Book Club Meeting

Second Thursday of Month- Results from Poll Released

The book club is one of a number of benefits offered to paid members of Über Moms. We hope to maintain a base of people who regularly choose to read the month’s book and come to the meetings, but if you are unable to take part one month that does not preclude you from returning.

If you haven’t joined us yet and would like to, as an Über Moms member you are more than welcome to. To join a meeting, simply sign up on Team Up to access the Zoom meeting information, oh– and read the book. In the future we may well come to meet in person, but given the fluid nature of things at the moment it would take a wiser person than I to predict when this may be.

We will communicate to members via the Über Moms Facebook page, and also in the Newsletter. Work is underway for a Goodreads page, as well, so we can share recommendations for other books, over and above those we choose to read as our monthly read.

Next month’s book will be The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri.

If you have any questions or would like to join us please contact Über Moms or sign up on Team Up.

Kathy Bryan

Kathy Bryan is a stay at home mum with 15 years experience of raising three independent, loving, fun-filled, maddening children. Prior to moving to a village south of Munich, she lived with her family in the middle of England. Being a firm believer that being a stay at home mum does not mean you have to forget who you are, she was always busy in the village, both as a Governor at the school and helping organise village fetes amongst other things. Since arriving in Germany and getting settled here Kathy joined Über Moms and is an active member of the Runners Group and recently started Über Moms very own book club. When not chasing children to do homework or running the highways and byways around her village Kathy can be found sewing patchwork and working out ways to hide “another quilt” in the house.