Book Club // the (Mis)Adventures of AG Dolls Episode 2

Dahlia bounds into the living room, brimming with excitement. Izzy is done with ski practice for the day, so she’s working on the latest edition of the school paper. Jessi is taking the week off from skating, so scrolling through Pinterest for new cupcake recipes. And now is the perfect time to spring on them her new idea.

“Guys! I have the best idea!” She skids to a stop and beams.

“Fashion show! Fashion show with these cute cupcakes!” Jessi exclaims, holding up her phone.

Dahlia laughs. “Good guess, but no.”

Izzy looks up and nudges her laptop aside. “Okay…what is it?”

“We’ll start a book club!”

There’s a beat of awkward silence.

“No offense, Dahlia, but I’m not really a book person.” Jessi smiles apologetically. “Movie night instead? With popcorn with chocolate-peanut butter drizzle?” She scrolls and points to another picture on her phone.

“I just can’t really get into books nowadays,” Izzy says. “We’re all just so busy, you know? I feel like I don’t have time to sit down and read. I’m sorry, Dahlia.”

Dahlia deflates slightly, but shoots both of them a winning smile. “Please? I just really want to be able to talk about books to someone. If we can’t find one that you both like, then we don’t have to, but I’d like to try it out!”

“Deal!” Jessi says. She springs to her feet and trots into the kitchen. “As long as we can have snacks. And now I really want popcorn.”

***

After Jessi has her fill of snacks, the girls reconvene to pick a book.

“Okay. What books do you think you would enjoy the most?” Dahlia asked. “Fantasy? Nonfiction? Contemporary?”

“Romance!” Jessi declared brightly.

“Something a little educational, but still interesting,” Izzy said at the same time.

Dahlia takes a deep breath. “I—okay. I’ll find something!”

“What about The Inheritance Games? It has a really good romance, and kind of a mystery thing going on.”

“Sure!” Jessi says readily, but Izzy hesitates.

“I’d rather not have the romance be the entire plot.”

“The Book Thief!” Dahlia pointed at the screen enthusiastically. “It’s historical, I learned a lot, and there’s a tiny bit of romance! Sort of!”

Izzy nods happily.

“How much romance, exactly?” Jessi asks.

Dahlia sighs. “So, romance is kind of a stretch.”

“American Royals?”

“All the Light We Cannot See?”

“Instructions for Dancing?”

All of the books are good. Great, even. But none of them are perfect for book club.

“How about Lessons in Chemistry? It has romance. Oh, and there’s a lot about science and history. There’s a cute dog, too!” Dahlia looks at Izzy and Jessi hopefully.

Jessi nods. “Sure, sounds good to me.”

“Me too,” Izzy says.

“Perfect! I’ll buy it!” Dahlia clicks buy now before anyone else can hesitate, and with that, book club is officially started.

TINY spoiler for Lessons in Chemistry ahead so reader beware 🙂

A few weeks later, after they’d all read the book, book club met.

“I like the…decoration,” Izzy said, indicating the giant book.

“Thanks,” Dahlia said happily. “It was only 30 dollars! So, what did you think?” She bounced up and down, barely able to contain her excitement.

“It made me a little sad,” Jessi admits. “But it was really good. I didn’t think I’d like it so much!”

“It was so interesting!” Izzy exclaims. “All of the developing feminism, and the science-“

“Oh, and the food!” Jessi beams. “It made me hungry.”

“Is that why there’s forty different desserts in the fridge?” Dahlia asks. “Not that I’m complaining.”

Jessi considers for a moment. “Yeah, that could be correlated.”

Izzy rolls her eyes. “It was a great recommendation, Dahlia. Thanks.”

Dahlia basks in the pleasure of her success for a moment, but then gets down to business. “Of course! So, for our next book, what do you guys think about Lovely War? Ooh, or My Fine Fellow!”

There’s no backing down now. Book Club is definitely official.

***

I had so much fun with this one! It was also a bit of a way to slip in some book recs. I personally love all of these books mentioned, so don’t necessarily listen to Izzy and Jessi’s opinions.

This was Katie’s request for a post for her Adventures Awards prize, and I’m so glad she suggested it! Thanks, Katie! I always love an excuse to incorporate my love of books.

Are any of you guys in a book club? What would you recommend to the dolls?

Thanks for reading!