Reading is one of the oldest and greatest pastimes. This is my interview with member Shelita Freeman.
What is the name of your book club and meaning behind the name?
Shelita:Ladies of Literacy North Edition- Dr. Price started this book club once she got situated moving up here from Atlanta. She was part of a book club down there (Ladies of Literacy South Edition) and decided to create one here in Ohio. Finding a group of women who loved to read and have great discussions about what was read was a process for her. But she had a vision and once the ball was rolling, she didn’t look back. Every year as a book club we have done different things. For example reading a certain genre for the year, or a particular author. In 2021 we decided to take it up a notch and podcast one of our book club meetings. From there our podcast #LITHAPPENSLOL was born.
Who are the founders of the book club?
Shelita:With everything pretty much on lock due to Covid19, we decided to come up with something different that we could do for our book club meetings. Stepping outside of the box if you will. Our first book of the year for 2021 was The Alchemist by Paulo Cohen. If you have not read it, please do. A great way to set the tone for the start of a new year! Our very first podcast was insightful and heartfelt, if you haven’t listened to it…it is on Anchor or Spotify!! After we did our first podcast, we decided we loved doing it and decided to branch into the world of Harry Potter as well.
How did the book club come to be?
Shelia:There were already die hard Harry Potter fans in our book club and a few who have never read it at all. We decided that as a group we would reread the entire series and podcast our thoughts, feelings and how those new to Harry Potter love and enjoy reading, while those who have read are falling in love all over again. We realized that our magic matters when it comes to minority representation with our love for all things Harry Potter!! In addition to anyone who never considered Harry Potter as a literary piece of work and just saw it as a children’s book about witches and wizards. We wanted to expand the message to say that is not it at all. Hear us out and listen to our real world connections behind the themes that are pivotal to the Harry Potter series. For those of you who have never read the Harry Potter book, hear us out as we make reference to friends, family and faith and most importantly life..
Thus the sketch outline for our entire podcast series began! A Harry Potter reread chapter by chapter, book by book. However, as we grew, learned and pivot, we decided to do a combination of both Harry Potter and some of our wonderful selections of book club readings, because we really do have great discussions about our book selections and connecting it to real world issues going on right now. We have done podcast episodes on The Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling (all 18 chapters), to FireFly Lane by Kristin Hannah (where we really talk about friends, family and growth, check us out.) We are currently working our way through The Chamber of Secrets and dropped a few episodes on the book The Vanishing Half (Part 1 and Part 2) by Brit Bennett and Apples Never Fall Part 1 and Part 2 will drop sometime at the start of the new year,) by Liane Moriarty. We read literally everything!
How old are the founders of the club, hometown, and occupation?
Shelita:The age range of the ladies in LOL, range from 38-53. We are educators, administrators, nurses to social workers, human resource and accounting to everything in between. We all live in the surrounding Cleveland area.
How long has the book club been going on?
Shelita:We have been together for almost TEN YEARS as a book club!!! (This is our 9th year together.) That is a long time. Come January 2022, we will have been creating content for our podcast for an entire year!!! We will be starting our third season in August of 2022 as well as analyzing and discussing The Prisoner of Azkaban and of course exciting other books that we chose to share!!!
What is the average meeting like?
Shelita: As a book club, we meet once a month during a normal season. We typically take the summer off. Ending in May and then starting up again in August or September. That typically does not stop us from meeting up over the summer. Especially on July 31st, as we turn up for Harry Potter’s birthday like it is our very own. Our meetings take place anywhere the host wants to have it. From personal homes to restaurants and everywhere in between, we have been all over. A typical book club meeting for us includes everyone arriving having a meal and then discussing the book!
As a podcast, we meet up every three months or so, if possible. When we meet up to record an episode for our season, it could be a book club meeting, if the person hosting that month wants to record on their book selected. Otherwise, we podcast about Harry Potter and in that case we take a day to record at least four or five episodes. It is literally a marathon of sorts! For our podcast, the outline/agenda for what is being recorded has been sent out prior and once the ladies arrive it is snack and drink at your leisure while we record our podcast.
What are your top 10 favorite book club reads?
Shelita:This is a very hard question to answer, because during our time as a book club we have read a lot of things. Plus based on who you ask, everyone may say something different.I think an answer I can give to say which book brought out the most liveliest discussion/debate?
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty.
The Butterfly Series
Harry Potter
There are almost 9 years of books that we have read and discussed! The list is definitely too long!
I definitely have to check with the notekeeper and get a list of all of the books we have read.
How did you join the club? When is the next date you join?
Shelita:At the end of every year, we vote to take new members. Each member has the opportunity to invite someone to join.
How are the books chosen?
Shelita:If as a group, we decide to do a specific theme, genre or author for the season, then everyone in the book club has the opportunity to select their own book for the month they are hosting. If that is not what we are doing for the year, then the person hosting can select whatever book they want.
Currently for season nine, we are reading the phenomenal author Mary HoneyB Morrison. Her series Soulmates Dissipates (8 books) has caused some soul stirring discussions on character development over the course of the series and of course the shocking plot. Let me not forget the different dynamics of relationships between men and women.
What future things do you have in mind for the book club?
We had the honor in September to join the MuggleNet family. It has definitely been a wild ride! As a podcast, we would love for our listenership for our podcast #LITHAPPENSLOL to grow. In addition to growing our listenership, we want to join panels to discuss our book club, popular books and definitely Harry Potter. We want to become a recognized force in the Harry Potter fandom community. As a book club, we want to continue our love for each other and our love for reading all types of books!
What do you want our readers to know about you and the book club?
Shelita:That whenever you have a vision or a goal…no matter how long it takes, go for it! We love to read! We read all day! We are LIT!!!! Our podcast shows our versatility as well as our diversity in thinking! We may not always agree on everything, but it is all love. Turn in on all platforms to find #LITHAPPENSLOL!! From Anchor, Google and Apple Podcast to Spotify, we are on them all!
What are your social media handles?
Shelita:We can be followed @lithappenslol on Twitter and Instagram. Our email is lithappenslol@ladiesofliteracylit.com
