Find Fellow Literary Lovers at These Local Book Clubs

Books with a side of booze, snacks and crafts await.

6 hours ago

Tess Lyons, Kaitlyn Murray, Dana Rae Laverty,

Reilly O’Hearn, the creative force behind the Boozy Book Club, flips through one of the club’s recent reads — The Wedding People by Alison Espach — at CHOP in Providence.

Our first literary issue ran in January 2024. We devoted a dozen pages to all things bookish in Rhode Island and could have filled many more. So we’re back with a second chapter, so to speak. We start with looking at three book clubs: all different, but with members who gather on a regular basis to chat about literature. But gone are the days of gathering in a living room with wine and dryly discussing the finer points of a character’s arc or the author’s use of metaphors. People today want to gather, chit chat and socialize, yes, over drinks and noshes, but also with arts and crafts, author panels, a bit of shopping and maybe some trivia. These aren’t your mother’s book clubs!

So sit back and enjoy our dive into Rhode Island’s literary scene. Perhaps you’ll find a new author to explore, a new title to put on your TBR, or a book club that’s just right for you (bonus if it offers glittery crafts, specialty cocktails and the special kind of communion only found in the pages of a good book and alongside like-minded readers).

Books, Booze and Besties

Members of the Boozy Book Club gather monthly for cocktails, book chats and girl power vibes. By Tess lyons

Boozy Book Club’s founder Reilly O’Hearn, pictured at CHOP in Providence, and her guests bond over plot structure, swag bags and specialty cocktails. Styling for Reilly O’Hearn: Dress from Feminine Fancies/Hair by In Chel We Trust at Artistic Design/Makeup by @beautybybej. Photo by Wolf Matthewson

Four years ago, Reilly O’HeaRN started Boozy Bitches, an Instagram account specializing in local nightlife and bar scene content. What started as a simple idea turned into a career that gave her the chance to connect with those in the community. In 2023, in hopes of finding more literature lovers, O’Hearn started a book club.

“I love reading and wanted to create a community with that as the center,” says O’Hearn. “What it’s become completely exceeded my wildest dreams.”

Every month, the Boozy Book Club meets at a different location around the state, with past locations including Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth, Warwick’s Jefferson Speakeasy and the XO Bar in Providence. Holding it at a new spot each month was an intentional choice, says O’Hearn, who wanted attendees to explore new locations across the state.

While all are welcome, book club members are primarily female and O’Hearn tailors the environment to that demographic. There’s a safety and comfortability to the gatherings along with a strong sense of girlhood, with many members coming alone but leaving having made a new friend or two.

O’Hearn leads the discussion but invites attendees to take the reins and contribute as much (or as little) as they’d like and share their feelings about the chosen material.

“It feels absolutely amazing to have created this incredible community of women — though men are welcome, too — who are so kind, welcoming and supportive,” she says. “It’s been beautiful to see all the different friendships that have formed through the book club.”

To stay on brand, specialty cocktails and mocktails are a huge part of the meetups.

In December, the drinks represented that month’s books, which were Ninety-Nine White Horses and Little Eden by J.B. Wadsworth. On the menu, the Newport Cottages cocktail featured triple sec, elderflower, tequila and sparkling rose while the Little Eden sparkled with edible glitter.

Joining the book club is easy: It costs $50 and can be done by messaging O’Hearn via Instagram (@boozybitchez_ri). Each month she sends out a member email with details on the next meeting’s location and book. New members are welcome to drop in, but it’s best to RSVP to ensure you get a goodie bag and drink ticket. Bags include little gifts like face masks, notepads, stickers, candy and, keeping with the boozy theme, nips.

“Our goodie bags each month are a fun little addition and are very important to me,” says O’Hearn. “I want the members who come to a meeting to always feel special and appreciated.”

Each event usually sees between forty to sixty attendees with local vendors on-site as well. O’Hearn feels confident that as time goes on, the book club will only grow larger.

“I just hope that attendees leave the meetings feeling like they’ve joined a group with people that make them feel comfortable,” she says. “If they read and enjoy the book that would be great, too, but it’s really about creating a fulfilling community.” @boozybitchez_ri

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Filling Their Cups

Come to Books + Bites for stories and snacks, leave with lasting friendships. By Kaitlyn Murray

Irvin and Julia Dominguez, at Cora’s Coffee in Warren, started Books + Bites as a way to meet new friends. Photo by Wolf Matthewson

IT’S A UNIVERSAL TRUTH THAT MAKING FRIENDS as an adult is hard. Without the nudge of classroom-induced proximity or the inherent trauma bond formed at a terrible first job, just how is a twentysomething-plus meant to meet new people?

It was a question Julia and Irvin Dominguez faced when they moved to Rhode Island in 2021. She a Vermont native and he a Georgia boy, the two met as camp counselors before attending the same Tennessee university and falling in love. They weren’t familiar with the Ocean State when Julia got a job offer after graduation, but they took the leap anyway. They put down roots in Warren, but by the winter of 2023, their social life — or lack thereof — was starting to wear thin.

“We obviously love each other so much, but we were like, ‘We need to make some friends,’” Julia says. “We had tried to put ourselves out there and it just wasn’t really sticking.”

Instead, they decided the people could come to them. All it took was the promise of a homecooked meal.

Thus TikTok and Instagram accounts for The Dinner Club RI were born, and the couple found themselves hosting their first dinner just four months later. Then, following its resounding success, Books + Bites came along that August. “I’ve always been a big reader. There’s not a lot to do in northern Vermont,” Julia says.

As the name suggests, Books + Bites marries the two interests. Julia and Irvin welcome book club guests into their home with a snack and a bevvy — usually something seasonal, like a recipe using veggies from their garden in the summer, or fresh-baked snickerdoodle cookies and creamy hot chocolate in December.

Julia usually opens the meeting with introductions and a question related to that month’s read. “I’ll also tell everyone that it’s OK if they didn’t like the book — I didn’t write it. In fact, it makes for a livelier discussion if they didn’t,” she says with a laugh. “We do a lot of literary fiction. I like to choose different POVs, different genres, different ethnicities — we might read an African-American author in February or a Hispanic author in October. I also try not to do super-popular books because people are reading them anyway.”

Each member can contribute as much or as little as they like with no pressure. Once the book discussion wraps up and veers into chit-chat territory, the group migrates to another room to do a craft and continue their conversations.

“It’s really cool because you’ll see people exchange numbers or exchange Instagrams. This is why we started it: to find and build a community,” Julia says. “Everyone is welcome to join because everyone needs friends.”

Books + Bites has now upped its meetings to twice a month. The first meeting each month will be held at Shop Bloom PVD in Providence from 5:30–7 p.m., while the second will take place at their Warren home from 6:30–8 p.m.

“It’s been really special,” Julia says. “We feel very fulfilled with both our careers, but this is something that fills our cup a lot. We get to have conversations with adults and make good friends.” @booksandbitesri

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A New Chapter

Two friends trade in corporate life to host Book a Break Reading Retreats throughout New England. By Dana Laverty

MUCH LIKE THE CHARMED PROTAGONISTS in a feel-good romance or a cozy fantasy, two book lovers are living their absolute best lives.

Longtime friends Kristen Waidalowski and Jenna Reilly have spent the last year hosting reading retreats via their new venture, Book A Break, where guests enjoy a literary weekend filled with books, crafts, meals, author chats and excursions. And, of course, plenty of down time for reading.

It’s an endeavor with roots in the ennui of the daily grind: Waidalowski and Reilly, who both worked for Tiffany & Co., dreamed of quitting their jobs and tapping into their shared passions of reading and travel. The spark for Book A Break was formed when Reilly stumbled upon an adult summer camp held in a French chateau and a West Coast-based reading retreat.

On Book A Break getaways hosted by Jenna Reilly, left, and Kristen Waidalowski, guests can indulge in as many (or as little) group activities as they wish. Below right, Elizabeth Cooper, left, and Colleen Bunnewith work on a craft during a “daytreat” at Pour Richard’s Wine & Provisions in Franklin, Massachusetts. Photo by Wolf Matthewson

“Our conversations started to morph into, ‘Well, what about us? We could do that. We could do that better,’” says Waidalowski, who lives in Cumberland. “We could put those two together and come up with a great concept.”

They spent the greater part of 2024 planning and researching and founded Book A Break that August. They held their first retreat, a weekend getaway devoted to Onyx Storm, the third book in the uber-popular Fourth Wing romantasy series, in January 2025 at a cozy inn in the Berkshires.

The seventeen guests — most of whom came as solo readers — took part in Onyx Storm trivia, painted vellum page overlays, made bookmarks, sipped on lavender-hued specialty cocktails and dished on unhinged plot theories. Knowing that many readers tend to be introverted and leery of group activities, Reilly knew the weekend was a success when she rounded a corner to see a handful of guests reading together in the living room.

“They were quietly, communally, just enjoying the book as opposed to hiding in their rooms,” says Reilly, a Franklin, Massachusetts, resident. “It was such a beautiful moment. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we are doing the thing. It’s happening!’ ”

Since then, they’ve held several other retreats, including an adult summer camp in Maine, a “creepy and cozy” getaway in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and a winter wonderland holiday weekend in Vermont with gingerbread books, a Zoom interview with author Layne Fargo (The Favorites) and a tour of the area’s covered bridges, complete with a dusting of snow for that authentic New England vibe. Of that weekend’s eleven guests, four of them had been on previous trips.

If anything has surprised Reilly and Waidalowski, it’s been the sheer diversity of guests. They thought most participants would be moms needing a weekend away, but that hasn’t been the case: Guests have ranged in age from twenty-five to seventy-five, some are outrageously social Bookstagram influencers and others are introverted solo travelers. Some are local, while others have traveled from Texas, Arizona and Las Vegas.

The main thread that binds them together? Books, and the healing power of community.

“Many attendees look at the weekend as a wellness retreat,” Waidalowski says. “Some people relax and recharge with yoga or hiking. For our guests, reading is their wellness. This is what they do for their mental well-being.”

Reilly concurs.

“We have so many people leave and say, ‘I had no idea how much I needed this.’”

Book A Break is planning several retreats for 2026, including a March retreat in the Berkshires and a haunted Provincetown weekend. Visit bookabreak.org for more information.

Short Stories

No time to get away? Take a local “daytreat,” a miniature version of Book A Break’s weekend excursions devoted to all things literary — and glittery, of course. They’re local, easy to get to and a great way to relax and enjoy some “me” time. During January’s daytreat, guests watched the film adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation with wine, nibbles and crafts at Pour Richard’s Wine & Provisions in Franklin.

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FIND YOUR BOOK CLUB

With so many book clubs in Rhode Island, how is a booklover to choose? We’ve created this handy guide to help you find your literary people. By Dana Laverty