Reading

📚 Do you love reading, but wish you had a structure and a community to share your insights with? Join our small circle of curious minds (just 4 members per gathering) as we come together for an hour of focused reading—in the calm setting of a library or the cozy atmosphere of a café. Here’s how it works: First part: Quiet reading on your own—bring a book you’re exploring, whether it’s philosophy, history, psychology, literature, or anything meaningful to you. Second part: We regroup and each person shares key takeaways, insights, or questions sparked by their reading. This sparks a structured yet free-flowing conversation around ideas, perspectives, and personal reflections. Why join? Add structure to your reading habit. Discover new books, authors, and ideas through others’ choices. Build real connections by sharing and listening deeply. Socialize around something meaningful instead of small talk.

**Description:** Join us for trivia at Lost Dog Cafe in McLean, Virginia located at 1690 Anderson Rd every Tuesday evening in October. Trivia begins at 7pm, but please consider joining earlier, around 6:30, since seating’s first-come-first-served. Speaking of seating, per Lost Dog’s regulations, a team needs to have at least five members in order to participate in trivia. So please make sure you RSVP so we can secure a spot to play in trivia. The nearest metro is McLean. **Donation:** Neurodivergent District strives to compensate Neurodivergent District members that volunteer to host our events. Please consider a donation to @katewoodwardcm for hosting. Please specify "donation to trivia host" in the description of your payment. Questions? Text 202-930-2881.

Join us for our **Weekly Poetry Circle**, where we’ll dive into all things poetry! Basic Agenda: * kick off with creative prompt to get our writing flowing * reading and discussing inspiring poems * workshopping each other’s work in a supportive setting This series is perfect for anyone looking to explore, improve, and connect with fellow poetry enthusiasts in Annapolis! We meet at Seoul Blues at Annapolis Mall.

**A drop-in game every Tuesday at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Central Library, located at the corner of 9th and G Streets NW.** The Gallery Place Metro station (9th Street entrance) is located across the street. Street parking is available. We play in the Great Hall -- as you enter the library, we are on the right of the room. **All skill levels are encouraged to participate.** Lessons for new players (as needed) at 6:00pm. Please arrive on time. Games for all skill levels begin at 6:00. Games wrap up at 8:00. **If you own a mah jongg set, we encourage you to bring.** More resources (especially for new players) are available at http://linktr.ee/davidmahj

Who's available on Tuesday morning for another walk in Rock Creek Park? We'll meet at 9:30 at the Rock Creek Park Nature Center and Planetarium, 5200 Glover Road Northwest Washington, DC. According to the park website, "if the parking there is full you can park at either Picnic Grove #13 (located at the split for Ridge and Glover roads near Military Rd) or in the parking area for the Maintenance Yard located at 5000 Glover Road NW." Metrobus C81 also goes there. We'll follow the Boulder Bridge Trail loop, which is described online as 3, 3.2 or 4 miles long depending on the source. Here's a description: [https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/boulder-bridge-hike.htm](https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/boulder-bridge-hike.htm) The hike is classified as easy, and it should take us 60-90 minutes to complete. I need to get back afterward for a meeting but some might want to have lunch together, TBD. Please include your cell number so we can be sure to meet up. Hope to see you! Please also join us for FFF>50 on the Mighty Networks platform, for even more in-person events (every member can easily create them), a walled playground for just us, and no pressure to pay or upgrade. [Join the national network (5000 women) here](https://community.fff50.org/share/dbWb9iJu5XwSN2TR?utm_source=manual) and then join our Washington DC area chapter, looking forward to seeing you there!

NEW MEETING PLACE!! We will start at the bathroom temple on 15th st- Due east (towards capital) from Washington monument. WASHINGTON LODGE. We will visit some of the lesser known spots as well as the usual highlights. This is an easy, though fast, walk around the mall. Route varies, but walk may include Washington monument, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, MLK memorial, tidal basin, Signers memorial, and my favorite, the Roosevelt memorial. Many people feel that the mall is at its most beautiful at night with the monuments lit. We walk fast, this is not a stroll. This is a walk- not a sightseeing tour. We stop very briefly, if at all, at the monuments, then move on. Where to Meet: bathroom temple on 15th st- Due east (towards capital) from Washington monument. We leave 6:15 sharp. Please be a few minutes early. Difficulty: Easy, although we do walk fast. If you can’t stay with the group I assume you can find your way back on your own. Distance: 5-6 miles Duration: 1.5 hr Scenery: National monuments, tourists, geese, pigeons. Trail surface: Some gravel, paving, some mud. Facilities: There are rest room facilities at various spots, we will stop as needed. Park Fees: none Elevation Gain: 4 feet Dogs: No Metro: Smithsonian stop. Blue, Silver, Orange lines. There tends to be metered parking on Jefferson drive that opens up right at 6. Bringing a flashlight can be helpful. National Guard and other visitors to our capital are welcome.

Join us for a (belated) **Holiday Nonfiction Book Lovers Meetup** where we'll be organizing a **nonfiction book exchange**! Here's how it'll work (and many thanks to Alexis W. for this fun idea!): * Everyone wraps a book (or books) in brown paper (or any leftover wrapping paper!) and writes a brief description of the book (without giving it all away). * Everyone will have a few minutes to look over the books at the beginning. * Then we'll draw numbers and take turns selecting books, white-elephant style (with stealing allowed). Join us for a blind date with a book / white elephant-style non-fiction book exchange. Used books (in good condition) are encouraged. **The only rule is that the book(s) you bring must be nonfiction!** Happy New Years!

This meeting will be dedicated to talking about the entirety of "Hunger" by Knut Hamsun We will be meeting in the National Portrait Gallery Atrium. To stay up to date with events and discuss meetings or books, you can join our Whatsapp group. Please message me to get added.

Please join me as we finish Words of Radiance and Edgedancer! This will be the last month we’re using this app for book club. If you’d like to continue with us after this meeting, please reach out and I’ll DM you with more information.

Spend your Sunday at the the Silver Spring library. Whether you and your little one(s) are exploring the many activities or reading a book on the kids floor. You can sign up for the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten @ https://montgomerycountymd.beanstack.org/reader365 Join us at the Silver Spring Library branch to read together. Bring your library card or get one there.

We will meet outside as long as the weather is nice. If not, we will move inside. Look out for a comment the morning of each meeting with our exact location. As we are meeting in person, please remember to bring something to read as we usually spend some time sharing our current reads and/or reading when meeting in person. As a reminder, there is no assigned reading; please bring whatever you are currently working on. This group is super casual, sometimes we read and sometimes we talk the whole time. **** NO SHOW POLICY: Due to the high number of members on the waitlist recently we are having to reinstate our no-show policy. If you sign up and no-show to 2 events you will be removed from the group. Reminders are provided weekly to change your RSVP to allow those on the waitlist a chance to come to the meet-up, no 3rd chances with be given. Please be considerate to your fellow members. Thank you! I look forward to reading you!

* We meet inside Compass Coffee. * Details on parking below. * Bring something to read, as we often take some time at the beginning telling each other about what we're currently reading. * I have a favor to ask of you. To offset the cost of Meetup fees (\~$200 a year), I kindly request that you consider a small donation to my my [Pledge account](https://www.meetup.com/a-different-type-of-book-club-arlington/#pledge). 😊 **NOTE: NO DISCUSSION OF POLITICS: 12/31/21 UPDATE** For the sake of polite company, moving forward, we will avoid the discussion of politics at meetings of the book club. Please let me know if you have any questions. **PARKING** On Saturdays and Sundays, parking is free on 16th Street N. (near Hillside Park, 1601 N. Pierce Street, Arlington, Va.), and also on the adjacent N. Pierce Street (between Clarendon Blvd. and Fairfax Dr.). Likewise, on weekends, parking on N. Queen Street (between Clarendon Blvd. and Fairfax Dr.) is free. **NON-ATTENDANCE / NO-SHOW POLICY** If you have said that you will attend this event, but no longer are able to attend, please kindly update your status to "Not Attending" so that someone on the waitlist is able to RSVP. **Because this Meetup group is popular, and typically has a waitlist, effective immediately, I'm instituting a two-event no-show policy. If you RSVP as "Attending" but do not show at two events, you will be removed from this Meetup group.** We look forward to seeing you! Best, Jay

Welcome, readers! ❄️ Our December read is **_A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella._** A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella is a tender, character-driven novel that follows three people in a small Pennsylvania town as they each cope with loss and seek connection. Chuck, a widower, struggles to find meaning after his wife’s death; Ella, a young woman, faces the heartbreak of her missing daughter; and Kirsten, a veterinary technician, grieves her father while contemplating her future. Their stories intertwine gently, revealing how grief and hope coexist—and how even small acts of kindness can help people rediscover purpose and peace in the aftermath of tragedy. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! At this meeting, our third annual White Elephant book exchange will take place! If you'd like to participate, bring a gift-wrapped book that you already own. On the gift wrap, write the genre of the book. We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

I don't usually pick romance but I really wanted to do a Hanukkah book. It's a bit on the longer side but hopefully a quick read. The library only has 5 audiobooks so please try to remember to "release it" when you're done. Columbus libraries: [https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3503238](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3503238) Location: The Goat Riversouth [219 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215](https://www.google.com/maps?q=219%20South%20High%20Street%2C%20Columbus%2C%20Ohio%2043215%2C%20United%20States) [Menu](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/686d3ed16745133042482c5f/t/68ff654dbb03b96875430bde/1761568077220/all_brunch-20250311.pdf) Book summary: Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach. But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not *Christmas*. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg. Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.

Join us to discuss our January read: Midnight in Everwood Marietta Stelle longs to be a ballerina but, as Christmas draws nearer, her dancing days are numbered – she must marry and take up her place in society in the New Year. But, when a mysterious toymaker, Dr Drosselmeier, purchases a neighbouring townhouse, it heralds the arrival of magic and wonder in Marietta’s life. After Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate theatrical set for her final ballet performance on Christmas Eve, Marietta discovers it carries a magic all of its own – a magic darker than anyone could imagine. As the clock chimes midnight, Marietta finds herself transported from her family’s ballroom to a frozen sugar palace, silent with secrets, in a forest of snow-topped fir trees. She must find a way to return home before she’s trapped in Everwood’s enchanting grip forever. In the darkness of night, magic awaits and you will never forget what you find here…

**Our February novel is: Julia by Sandra Newman** **This month is a classic, dystopian, fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction, and science fiction novel. The book is 394 pages in print and 14 hours and 20 minutes on audiobook.** **An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.** Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It’s 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in Orwell’s 1984. All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia. Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell’s now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.

We’ll be reading Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldtree this month! We recommend readingading “Bookshops and Bonedust” and “Legends and Lattes” before reading Brigands and Breadknives.