By: Lily Rey Rose
The year 2020 isn't the year we anticipated. It’s a year we, in some ways, returned to simpler times. Just like in the olden days, we spend more time with our families making forts, having lightsaber battles, building puzzles together, and reading. Reading is one of my favorite ways to distract myself from the crazy whirling world around us. I long to open up a book and visit another galaxy and imagine myself climbing into the cockpit of an X-Wing fighter or the Millennium Falcon.
As a Star Wars bookworm and extrovert, it's important for me to socialize. Associating with others is especially strenuous when being driven into isolation due to a worldwide pandemic. One of the successful ways I’ve maintained connection has been through my online Star Wars book club, Twin Suns Outpost Book Club, aka "TSO".
Let me back up. In April, 2019, I joined the TSO Book Club, after just discovering Star Wars books while touring a friend’s extensive Star Wars collection. YES, you read that right! How could I have reached adulthood and not known there were books published about my favorite galaxy far, far, away? I have no idea! But as a bookworm and a Star Wars fan, this discovery changed my life!
During the first few months of reading with the TSO Book Club, I learned more about my favorite characters and their background stories, discovered new characters, and zoomed through the galaxy in a new way that I had not done before. I was meeting new people who enjoyed Star Wars, exchanging views and sharing questions. It was uplifting!
Then August came, and my life suddenly was in a clamor. I was moving to help my grandparents, which meant moving away from friends, favorite places, and what I had become accustomed to. I found myself dearly missing friends, feeling blue, and at times, depressed. This new life situation left me feeling alone, although I was still surrounded by others.
One big thing that helped me through the transition, and continues to help pull me through, is the TSO Star Wars Book Club. I'm able to socialize with my current Star Wars friends through our book club and also have had the opportunity to make new friends. The books transported me all around the Star Wars galaxy. I began feeling even deeper connections with characters, especially Ahsoka. Ahsoka taught me the valuable lesson to be still, to mediate, and find the Force within me.
March, 2020 whisked us into a frenzy of being quarantined at home and then thrust us into continued months of sheltering inside and away from people. I am beyond grateful for the TSO Book Club. It offers me a way to escape it all, while in the comfort of my pajamas or in my backyard, as I sip tea while still being able to socialize with others.
My encouragement to you is this: If you find yourself lonely, blue, or just maybe wanting a way to socialize please let me suggest joining an online book club. You could begin one of your own or join us at the TSO Book Club (available on Facebook and Twitter). Fall is coming! It’s a brilliant time to fall in love with a new book or share a new read with your family. This is a wonderful opportunity to socialize and meet new friends - new friends both in books and ones living all around the galaxy.
The future is blazing hot for Star Wars bookworms with many new titles on the horizon. In September, the TSO Book Club will be reading Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn. In the coming months, there will be many interesting new releases for the TSO Book Club to choose from. We will be seeing Star Wars comics, Star Wars books covering all age groups, and art books. Some titles include: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (a short story collection), The Jedi Mind by Amy Ratcliffe, The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule, The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland, and The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray.
The future is bright for Twin Suns Outpost and for us Star Wars Bookworms. I'm excited to see what the Galaxy has in store for us.