The first book club I have ever joined was the Vaginal Fantasy book club founded by Felicia Day (and co-hosted by Veronica Belmont, Bonnie Burton and Kiala Kazebee - you can check it out here: http://vaginalfantasy.com/). During that time I don't think I even knew that book clubs in general exist. And I definitely didn't know that I'd be interested in reading romances. Like HELL NO keep them away from me. Please.
But it was founded by Felicia Day! And since the day they started broadcasting their monthly hangouts I haven't missed a single one of them. Well... technicaly I watched their livestream only twice or three times, but that's because they start in 4 am in the morning here. So I usually watch them couple hours later while I'm eating my breakfast. And I do not even care that I haven't actually read the book(s) they are talking about, I'm just enjoying the debate. I intend to catch up eventually and read everything, but come on, I don't have the time nor the money currently, to buy all of the books especially when some even haven't come out in the Czech Republic yet. But... some day.
Some day. Like it's with every goal that I have.
So yeah. Vaginal Fantasy was my first ever book club and I love it even though I don't actually contribute to the discussion in the comments or in the Goodreads group in any way. Because I'm shy. And didn't read everything. However, the book club itself and the books that were read had a tremendously good effect on me. Despite the fact that I started to watch it only because Felicia is there.
It made me more comfortable talking and reading about sex and feminist issues way better than anything... well ever. It made me question the role of women and men and sexuality in our society and all the stuff like that. It made me curious about a topic I've been bored or repulsed by basicaly all of my life. And I think that's hella important. (Yes, I did just use that word.) Especially when sex education in the Czech Republic is so poor. And the whole topic of sex is still kinda embarassing for everyone and kinda a taboo to speak about even though it's 2016. But with things like Vaginal Fantasy (Gods that name) it's suddenly become easier because... you are talking about books. You are talking about stories and fictional worlds with fairies and stuff.
The main idea behind this book club is to read fantasy or sci-fi romance and erotica books, explore the sub-genres and kinda prove that there is more to those books than it seems. That even romances and eroticas can have and amazing plot, exciting characters and detailed setting and well developed worlds and magic systems and technology and everything other "better" books have. And of course, some good sex. Well written and realistic (or at least well thought out when you're fucking an alien or something). That they are not some "low" and "cheap" genres and that people who read them are not stupid etc. All these common prejudices people tend to have towards this kind of a literature (because to be honest the majority of it is bad. Really bad. But that's how all the entertainment work guys).
And I certainly - and for a very long time - thought the same. I hated chick lit. I hated to read even young adult books because the romances were just so bad, so boring, so insta-lovey, so unreal and fake and idealized. I hated the fact that this is how the world sees girls and young women like me and that this is the way I should feel, I should behave - or I am expected to do so in my age. And with my gender. And I know that the point of fantasy is to not be real, but good stories need to have some logic in order to be good and feel real, so that they can have a big impact on our soul and make us want this world to be real. So even though the characters end up together and everything is happy and amazing, I always felt cheated and I knew, I knew that their relationship wouldn't work in real life. It just wouldn't. And I knew that there are far more exciting things in the world than finding "the one" while you're still 15. It just all felt so unrealistic to me. The only YA book that I actually loved while I was still a teenager was the first Twilight book - because VAMPIRES and I was EXACTLY the blunt, boring and clumsy girl Bella was - right to the last two chapters, because COME ON, THE END WAS SO STUPID and AGAIN not realistic AT ALL. And I never finished the series, I just couldn't, I was so mad. I still am. And I am still kinda avoiding these genres... with the exceptions of the Vaginal Fantasy monthly picks, so I have a chance to discover something good.
But. Why am I talking about all this. Today I discovered another kinda smutty book club with a fitting name: Slutty Book Club. It is made as a series of short videos and sketches and so far it seems that the book picks are kinda random. There's not much so far, I've watched it all today, but I am not really sure how to feel about it, because some of the jokes and segments of the show seem forced and not really well tought out and kinda offensive...? But it still might prove interesting. So I am willing to give it a shot for while.
I am also participating in other book clubs, my favourite is the Sword & Laser partially hosted by Veronica Belmont (and the second co-host is Tom Merritt) who is also one of the hosts of Vaginal Fantasy and she is just amazingly clever and I love her like all of the ladies in VF. This book club is obviously focused on fantasy and sci-fi books in general and I am slowly getting through it in a similar manner like I do with Vaginal Fantasy. They also do a LOT of discussions with famous authors so if you like these genres it's definitely worth checking out their youtube channel or their podcast webpage with all the info you might desire - http://swordandlaser.com/. It's so worth it.
Then I am interested in the Around the World in 80 Books which is a Goodreads group focused on books set all over the planet, which might be really cool to explore, and the The Feminist Orchestra Bookclub, which name is again pretty self explanatory. But sadly I haven't had the time to get around to them yet.
So many books to read, so little time. Feels like heaven anyway.
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