I have always been a reader but if you are surrounded by non-readers it can be a solitary affair. Luckily for me, my Mum always encouraged me to read when we were in the hospital, and she never denied me a trip to the bookshop. That is privilege. Now, we have merged our Kindle libraries and have so many books to share and read together. I love it. It's something special we both share.
I am also a part of a bookclub, where we meet once every six weeks or so, life permitting, to choose a new book, have a coffee and discuss what we have read. We are all educators in the group and I love to see how our different tastes in literature impact our discussions. One of us may love a book and the others hate it, sometimes we all think it was boring and only finished it out of politeness!
I 'met' a very dear friend of mine on Goodreads about 5 years ago. We connected over a mutual dislike of I am Pilgrim, that summer's blockbuster hit. He had left a scathing review and I messaged him to say I was relieved that someone else felt the same way. We have been messaging most days ever since. He has introduced me to so many authors and we discuss books and life and families and children - he has been there for me through so many transitions. He is without doubt one of my best friends, and yet, we have never even met in real life. I hope one day we can grab a coffee and hit the books shops together. Nothing would make me happier.
Since discovering BookTube, I have 'met' so many wonderful people. Perhaps I don't need the inverted commas there - today having online friends is just the same as having friends 'irl', (I had to Google what that meant). I am currently reading 2 books with friends one I met on BookTube and one with a very dear friend of mine with whom, when life has its quiet moments, we love to share books. We recently read I'll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle Mcnamara and were both horrified by what we read. This friend is one I met in real life, we used to work together and have shared many laughs and tears together over the years. Sharing books is another part of our well rounded friendship - I don't think we're particularly well rounded in many other areas of our lives!
I am reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara with my BookTube friend Natalie of myreadingdays fame. She is wonderful and we decided to read this together because we were so intimidated by its size but were desperate to read it. And no buddy read post would be complete without mentioning my incredible friend Sarah all the way over in Germany. She and I met on Litsy a couple of years ago and have so many similarities books and life related that we just clicked! She text often and buddy read and are in the process of planning the next one. She is such a kind, generous and thoughtful friend that I absolutely treasure her.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I have given up trying to be a social butterfly who wants to be surrounded by others, it's just not me. Instead I choose immersing myself in good books and reading and coffee and good friends, near or far. Reading has allowed me to meet incredible people and I can't imagine my little world any other way.