The problem: Your carefully curated book club has devolved into a casual wine tasting gathering. OK, so you don’t really have a problem with your wine nights, but you are craving some stimulating conversation that’s not anchored in office politics, your kids or neighborhood gossip (like we said, you already have a designated night for that).
The solution: ‘A Little Bit of Everything’ Club.
A Little Bit of Everything Club came to my attention from a friend who’d recently 1) moved to a new city and 2) had her first baby. A monthly book club, where she’d either rush to read the book so quickly she could hardly enjoy it or—more likely— simply join the ranks of everyone else who didn’t read the book and just enjoy the wine, became less appealing as her free time dwindled. Still, she wanted to be social and make her brain work a little bit. And that’s when a new friend invited her to partake in their Little Bit of Everything Club.
What exactly is a LBOEC? Well, it’s similar to a book club, but it’s also decidedly not *just* a book club. Instead, the monthly host picks from a variety of things for the members to do, whether that’s reading a great long-form article (or even just a regular one!), cooking an interesting recipe together, listening to an illuminating podcast episode, playing a new video game, etc. Expanding the ease and the type of experiences means that your crew will be more likely to actually complete the “assignments” (especially if they can do it in real time, together), which in turn will lead to more robust, interesting conversations. (As opposed to that time you read The Goldfinch back to front in 24 hours and had no one to talk to about it!)
