WiiRED thru Books was born because the founders, sisters Cynthia and the late, Mary L. “Cree” both missed their book clubs. In 1999, Cynthia joined a club called “Read Sista Read” while living in Omaha, NE. It was the first time that she had ever joined a Book Club. The experience literally changed her life and her relationship with reading. Her kids even adopted a love for reading!!
Cynthia would share the book list selections with Cree and tell her about the awesome time she was having, not just reading books but the bonds she was developing with the ladies in her club. Cree eventually read “Kindred” by Octavia Butler in one day! She just couldn’t put the book down and was officially bitten by the Book Love-Bug!!
Several years passed and in 2004 Cynthia encouraged Cree to start a book club in Camden, SC. Cynthia was given the honor of selecting the book club name and she came up with “Reading Between The Lines”; which celebrated 15 years in 2019.
Things changed when Cynthia and Cree both moved to different states, leaving their book clubs behind. They both continued to read but not as often. To remedy the situation, Cynthia started a traditional book club, “Books, Bonds, and Beyond (BBB)” in 2006 in her new hometown. Sadly, BBB only lasted for about 6 months as the members were just too busy to read and no one wanted to host the traditional book club meetings.
Several more years passed; however, one thing remained constant; Cynthia and Cree missed their book clubs. In late 2009, they began discussing the concept of hosting a book club via the telephone. The concept was simple, the discussion would be done via a conference call. They both were skeptical; however, since no one was actually “hosting” the book club in terms of needing to have a physical location, prepare food, etc.; they agreed there was very little to lose if the concept didn’t work.
Cynthia and Cree crafted the invitation email and mailed it out in late December 2009. The first book club meeting was held on February 21, 2010 and they discussed “Casanegra” by Blair Underwood. The conference call book discussion was a success!
In March 2010, Cynthia proposed the book club name (W)omen (i)nterested (i)n (R)ewarding, (E)nlightening, (D)iscussions thru Books (a.k.a. WiiRED thru Books) to reflect who, what, why, and how the members of WiiRED were able to break the constraint of distance and still have a meaningful book discussion over the “wire” (a.k.a. telephone)! That same month, author Tracy Price-Thompson graciously accepted WiiRED’s invitation to dial into our conference call as we discussed her book “Gather Together in My Name”. She was the first of many authors that would join WiiRED thru Books discussions.