*NEW*🔥 📚 A Non-Fiction Book Club For Curious Minds

💌 JOIN our NEW SUBSTACK to read ALL the book summaries 📕👇

https://rubyrossini.substack.com/

If you have not yet read the book, you are still very welcome to join us. However, in the case of reading a novel, reading it beforehand is strongly encouraged — both to deepen your own experience and to enrich the conversation for others.

Regardless of whether you have read the book, take the time to go through the summary ( it will be published on Substack a few days before our event ) - it will help to ground the conversation on an even level for everyone on Saturday. It is not AI-written - I write all summaries & think pieces myself, and I aim to make them as in-depth as I possibly can.

For Announcements

Join our WhatsApp Group. I will announce here any new events and share the summary for those who are not on Substack: https://chat.whatsapp.com/G011Ugv9bah08PYlcQFJ4m

( This is the announcement group only - ONLY once you have attended the event, you'll be able to join the other group, which is for the community)

⛔️ No Show

Don't be a 💩. Our waitlist is usually chunky. If you can’t make it, change your RSVP, it only takes a second. Two consecutive no-shows and you will be removed from future signups.

Book of the Month

During our last gathering, we became witnesses to Morrie’s testament as he approached the end of life — a philosophy that called into question what it truly means to live a life of one’s own. A life that resists social convention and its consumeristic skeleton; a life that honours community, tenderness, and love.

“Love is the only rational act.”

As we enter the so-called romantic month, rather than wading into shallow waters, we choose to descend — into one of the most agonising novels ever written on the evasion of self-acceptance, set in a time when not all loves were permitted the dignity of existence, and some were forced underground, repressed beneath the weight of social order.

We therefore turn to Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin — a literary masterpiece that examines the cost of self-denial, the architecture of shame, and the quiet devastation such repression inflicts on ourselves, on others, and on the world we help construct.

Our first-ever novel, set in the contemporary Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and quiet violence, follows a young man caught between desire and conventional morality.

Devastating and gut-wrenching, yet if there is one book I hope you will read from beginning to end, let it be this one.

If you have a problem getting yourself a copy of the book/s, get in touch!

Make a commitment 👏 📅

As the spots fill up pretty quickly, be quick to sign up - but do so ONLY if you make a real commitment to join.

We have an amazing, committed community that generously shows up, contributes, and gives its best. Sign up only if you are committed and eager to attend. Mark your calendar and make a commitment to yourself and your community.

Discussion

For the discussion, we’ll divide in smaller groups of around 4-6 as to have a more intimate environment to facilitate conversations where everyone can feel welcome to participate at their pace.

About Us

Welcome to "Curious Collective" – A Non-Fiction Book Club for Curious Minds.

If you find yourself here, chance is, you are curious. You are a wanderer, an explorer of ideas, seeking the 'whys' and 'hows' of our world, of what makes us human.

In a culture dominated by “hyper-connectivity”, we often lose sight of what truly matters; the treasure of ancient wisdom, the beauty of curiosity, and the profound meaning of community.

The Curious Collective is here to rekindle those flames. 🔥

We believe in the power of shared ideas, meaningful conversations, and sharing the journey.

As Joseph Addison wisely said, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Our collective mission is to exercise our minds, curiosity, and sense of belonging to a community of like-minded people.

We are not: Intellectual W*nkers or debate-club warriors here. We keep it real, there is no intellectual or self-righteous snobbery here.

We are: Ordinary humans who crave knowledge, connection—someone to chat with, share ideas, and journey alongside.

Tips:
I suggest having a notebook/ a place where you can take notes of the most interesting parts & thoughts you had - this is going to be very helpful for the discussion.

Stay Curious – for there's always more to discover.