Virtual Book Club

USO Colorado’s Virtual Book Club connects service members and military spouses with their community and culture through friendly group reads and discussions based on four books each year.

Participation is open to any currently serving military service members as well as their spouses and partners – active duty, national guard, reservists, and coalition/allied forces are all welcome.

“I’ve had such a great time getting to know so many new people through the USO this year, especially the virtual book club. I’m grateful for new friendships and the fun you’ve brought to our family this year.” - Air Force Spouse

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Why a USO Book Club? Connection. Stress Relief. Entertainment.

Reading is often viewed as a solitary activity, especially for adults, but reading has the potential to bring complete strangers together. Each of the four book club sessions we hold throughout the year welcome service members and military spouses joining for the first time and those returning after participating in a previous session.

Each book club meeting is a safe place. This is the chance for participants to talk about the book - what they loved, what confused them, what plot device they thought ruined the story, and much more. Our discussions open up pathways for new friendships as members find they have things in common—whether that be hating a certain character or absolutely adoring another.

Did you know reading also relieves stress? Even just six minutes of reading has been shown to reduce stress levels by more than 68 percent! Participants in our book club sessions are able to step out of their day-to-day routines, relaxing as they focus on a good book. In fact, we break each book into manageable sections, reading one at a time between meetings so we can discuss the stories and learn about each other’s views as we’re reading. This gives us an opportunity to reduce the stress of being required to read a whole book all at once, and the ability to gain insight into what our fellow club members are like and how they think.

Book selections are driven by participants’ interests and requests. Previous sessions have read and discussed:

• “The Girl They Left Behind: A Novel” by Roxanne Veletzos
• “In Farleigh Field” by Rhys Bowen
• “The Secrets of Saffron Hall” by Clare Marchant
• “The Indigo Girl” by Natasha Boyd

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How to Participate:

Visit our Event List for details about the next session.

• Complete the Registration for the session you’re interested in.
  
  
• Meetings: Each session is 4-5 weeks long depending on the length of the book. Please plan to attend all of the meetings for that session.
  
  
• Upon registration each participant will receive login details for our first meeting. Join us as we get to know one another and set the stage for this session.
  
  
• After attending the first meeting, participants will receive their link to redeem on Kindle, and/or physical copies of the the book depending on their choice in the registration process.
  

Get Your Book: The USO will provide a Kindle version of the book or a physical copy of the book to everyone who attends our first meeting. If you would prefer to obtain your own copy, that is an option as well.

• All ebooks will be sent via email with a unique, free single-use link to download onto any device, including a phone, ipad/table, computer or Kindle. Instructions will be included with the link.
  
  
• All physical books will be ordered and shipped directly to the address you provide in your registration.

Join in Our Discussions

Additional details for the session’s reading will be provided after the first meeting. Understanding that shipping physical copies may cut into reading time, the first section of reading will intentionally be shorter than the others.