Book Summary

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata was technically our very first book—but at the time, we weren’t even a book club yet. Not the BOM Squad (that name comes later with The Girls from Ames). This was just me, early pandemic, deciding I should probably do something productive—like reading a book I’d had sitting around for a while.

I casually mentioned it at one of my “COVID parties” (which, let’s be honest, were mostly just excuses to gather at my house), and somehow a small group of my friends—Jessica, Lisa, Katrina, and Tracy—said they’d read it too. Then I looped in my family in Chicago via Zoom, and boom—Angela and my mom were in.

We decided to read a couple chapters each week and meet—part in person, part on Zoom—and just like that, something started forming.

Because Michael is family (shoutout Melanie, my sister-in-law! Michael Zappata is her brother), we even got to watch a couple of his virtual author talks, which made it feel extra special. And yes, there was drinking involved… and snacks… and probably a little chaos. But the book itself? Not exactly a light beach read. It was layered—a book within a book, jumping timelines—and honestly, that made it better. The discussions were deeper, more interesting, and way more fun than any of us expected.

By the time we finished, it was June 2020, and the world was barely cracking back open. We decided we had to meet in person. So, naturally, we picked Rochelle as our halfway point and made a whole event out of it.

Jacob drove my mom, I rode with Angela, and we rolled in from Palatine to meet the Iowa crew—who, of course, had already started “pub crawling” on the way (a tradition that has absolutely stuck). We met at the Country School Restaurant, hung out in the outdoor beer garden, took a ridiculous number of pictures around town—library, landmarks, all of it—and it was a blast.

And somewhere in all of that—between the slightly confusing plotlines, the wine, the Zoom calls, and the Rochelle meetup—our book club was born.

Looking back, I can honestly say deciding to read that book changed my life in the best way. It brought together this incredible group of women, gave us something to look forward to every week, and created something way bigger than just reading.

Not bad for a random pandemic decision.