Book Yourself a Place at GesherEU’s New Reading Club

Put down your phone, close your laptop and turn off all your notifications. It’s time to bury your nose in a book instead. GesherEU has launched an exciting new club for our members: a book group, designed to stimulate minds and create lively discussion. 

The group, which currently has 14 members, held its first meeting online on the evening of 30th October, with sessions set to take place every six weeks via Zoom. Each meeting runs for 75 minutes. 

Rather than relying on a set reading list, GesherEU’s Book Club is entirely shaped by you. Members suggest titles, with the next book chosen democratically through a poll. The range of recommendations so far has been varied, spanning fiction and non-fiction, the classics and more contemporary works, Jewish and non-Jewish themes – reflecting the diverse interests of the group. 

Club coordinator, Mor Gartner said: “Questions are sent out in advance to guide the discussion, and we make sure everyone has a chance to share their thoughts and insights.”

For the current cycle, members selected Love’s Executioner by psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom. The book is a collection of true therapy stories showing the very human side of both therapist and client. 

Other suggestions included: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman; The Lion Women of Tehran- Marjan Kamali; Stone Butch Blues – Leslie Feinberg; 1984, the classic dystopia by George Orwell.

While most meetings will take place online, GesherEU is planning two in-person gatherings – one mid-series and another at the end – to give members the chance to connect face-to-face.

It turns out that GesherEU members are avid readers. Mor said: “We have some pretty advanced readers in the group – one person even finishes a book a day!”

For others, the club offers the motivation to pick up a book again after life’s distractions have pulled them away. One member, Chaim, confessed that he used to read “two books a week” before discovering movies and other media. “I haven’t been able to get back into reading since,” he said. “I am really hoping going this club will pull me back to it.” 

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 10 December, when members will come together to discuss Love’s Executioner and select a new title.