What we’re about
Welcome to 805 Reads Book Club!
We look forward to meeting you and seeing you soon at a book club meeting! We are a friendly group that warmly welcomes new members. There are many different groups covering several genres. We hope you find one or more that intrigue you:
1st Tuesday – Award nominees or winners, available in paperback and under 450 pages.
Leader: Beverlee Abell,
Location: In and about the 805 Zip code
2nd Monday – Varies - recommendations from the group - usually current fiction.
Leaders: Monthly hosts vary, Beverlee Abell
Location: Varies
3rd Thursday – It’s a Mystery! Mysteries, fiction and non-fiction.
Leader: Jennifer Gross
Location: Varies
Varied Thursdays – Salon Group
Leader: Jennifer Gross
Location: Varies
Saturdays: Mystery and Fiction
Leaders: Cindy
Occasional Sunday mornings – Page to Screen. We’ll read the book, watch the movie, and discuss both afterwards. Meets whenever a great opportunity arises.
Leader: Ellen Rodriguez
Location: Movie theaters and eating establishments in/near Camarillo
All of the group leaders can be reached through the Meetup app, through a “Comment” or “Messages” link. Beverlee Abell is the Lead Organizer of the group.
What to know about the MEETINGS:
If you’re on the Wait List, still read the book. The Wait List often clears, especially in the last few days before the meeting.
If you can’t attend, please change your RSVP. It helps clear the Wait List. We meet at local restaurants and some have ordering minimums for use of the space.
No Shows and people who cancel with 24 hours of the meeting will be marked on the meeting attendance. After three No Shows and/or late cancellations, you’ll be blocked from signing up for more meetings.
Dues are $15.00 per year, to offset the cost of Meetup membership. You may pay on the Meetup app or pay cash to Beverlee Abell. Your profile will show if your dues are paid. Meetup will remind you when the fee is due the following year.
We are looking forward to seeing you soon at 805 Reads!
Beverlee, Ellen, Jennifer and Cindy
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Tuesday night Let's Read: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa SeeNeeds location
Let's meet before Lisa See comes to the Camarillo Library to talk about her book (see separate note for that event!)
Sherry is going to host at her home. It is going to be a "Takeout Potluck". Everyone brings their favorite takeout food to share. Use the meetup conversation below to say what you are going to bring so we don't duplicate Bring enough food to share with 10 people.
Sherry will be providing pizza and beverages.
Directions to Sherry's house will be emailed to the attendees the day before the event. As this is at private home - we are asking that you only sign up if you have already met Beverlee or Sherry!
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction (2023)
An immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China.According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom.
But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
