Ajijic Book Club History
John Stokdijk is the Initiating Member of the Ajijic Book Club. In 2012 he retired and moved to Lakeside from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As he became familiar with his newly chosen community he looked for opportunities for active participation.
Meetings in early 2017 continued to revolve around locally written books. Meeting announcements were published in the Guadalajara Reporter and the mailing list continued to grow. A small group of committed core members began to emerge. Planning for a special event had begun in 2016 and continued. A challenge for the club was finding an appropriate meeting room and various venues were utilized.
A book club was a new experience for John Stokdijk and he had pondered whether he would enjoy reading books selected by others. The selections of 2017 alleviated that concern and 2018 proved to be equally interesting. As the leader of the club, John read every book selected and wrote a report fpr the Ajijic Book Club website. Along with most members, he appreciated the wide variety of selections and the range of opinions that were expressed by members during discussions at meetings. Some books were truly extraordinary.
Reflecting on the success of the Ajijic Book Club, John Stokdijk now thought of it as a significant chapter in the story of his life. Each member and each book was a meaningful paragraph in that story. It did not matter that some of his initial objectives were not being realized.
The new year started with two excellent meetings in January and February... In March the world was hit with the coronavirus crisis.