EDG - SPECIAL EVENT: Guild Woodworking Book Club Inaugural gathering

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Book Club Gathering

Here’s something new for the Guild: We’re trying out an in-person Woodworking Book Club!

Some of you may have heard of the online book club, The Woodworkers Book Club (TWBC), that selects a book each month and hosts an online discussion of the book. It’s a great program, but many of us would much rather meet in person to discuss a book rather than listen to 400 people talk about the book online. 

The books covered could be anything from a collection of humorous shop stories (Good Clean Fun by Nick Offerman) to a discussion on the hand tools necessary to simplify your life (The Anarchist Tool Chest by Christopher Schwarz) to the woodworking philosophy by a famous woodworker (A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook by James Krenov). To put a good book into practice, we could even pick a book on joinery and try to duplicate the joints for a show and tell discussion. The limits are our own creativity and willingness to pick up a good book when we aren’t working in the shop.

The format is simple:

1. Members suggest books
2. Members vote and the selected title will be announced along with a meeting date.
3. We’ll then meet at the Guild for about an hour to discuss the book, with additional time before and after to talk shop and connect.
4. Meetings will be held every other month to give everyone enough time to find and read the book without feeling rushed. 

The Guild already gives us a place to build. This is a chance to build better conversations around it.

If that sounds worthwhile, help us choose the first book: Click here to submit your suggestion

Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, August 5 from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Guild Studio.

To get you thinking, here are a few possibilities:

• “The Why and How of Woodworking” - Mike Pekovich (Philosophy, Design)
• “Good Clean Fun” - Nick Offerman (Memoir, Humor)
• “Making Things Work: Tales from a Cabinetmaker’s Life” – Nancy R. Hillar (Memoir, Philosophy)
• “With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood” - Christian Becksvoort (Reference, Design)

The Guild promotes and encourages all members to act responsibly in matters of health and safety by adhering to the following measures:  

• Staying Home When Sick: Members are urged to prioritize their health and the health of others by refraining from attending guild events, workshops, or gatherings when experiencing symptoms of a contagious illness, especially those associated with COVID-19, flu or RSV.

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