We’ve Been Reading Together Since 2019
Sometimes you don’t realize you’ve built something until you see it all at once.
Yesterday morning I filmed a video reacting to something that genuinely caught me off guard.
One of our Cozy Escape Book Club members, Renee, created a full archive of every book we’ve read together since August 2019.
Every month.
Every title.
Every livestream link.
And when I opened it, I didn’t just see a list.
I saw time.
I saw versions of myself sitting in different houses, different lighting, different seasons of life, talking about fictional murders while my boys were babies, toddlers, loud, chaotic, growing.
I saw lockdown reads.
Holiday specials.
Lisa collaborations.
Zoom club meetings.
The months where we were tired.
The months where we were thriving.
The months where cozy mysteries were the only consistent thing in a very inconsistent world.
When you’re inside something, it doesn’t always feel monumental. It feels like “okay, what are we reading next month?”
But laid out like that, it hit me.
We’ve built something.
Not big in a flashy, viral way.
But steady.
Warm.
Consistent.
Ours.
Renee didn’t just organize a document. She preserved the history of a little reading community that has quietly existed for years.
That kind of care matters to me more than algorithms ever will.
If you’ve ever wondered whether small creative communities matter, here’s your answer: they do.
They hold seasons of your life.
They become markers of time.
They grow alongside you.
If you want to see the full archive, I linked it above. And if you want to watch me scroll through it and get unexpectedly emotional, that video is live too.
But mostly, I just wanted to say this:
Thank you for reading with me.
Whether you joined in 2019 or last month.
Whether you’ve read one book or fifty or the SEVENTY-TWO.
Whether you comment every time or just quietly listen in.
This little corner of the internet now has roots.
And that feels really special.
✨ If you’ve been part of a book club before, I’d love to know:
What was your first book club book?
What story reminds you of a specific season of your life?
Let’s talk about it
XOXO,
Courtny