Shelby Anderson has just moved to Waverly Lane, which is located at the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina. There, she starts The Book Club On Waverly Lane – a club where everybody doesn’t only share the latest books that they’ve read. Instead, Shelby’s intention for The Book Club On Waverly Lane is to get to know her neighbors more and make new friends from the club.
Shelby reaches her goal as we read through the story of The Book Club On Waverly Lane. She meets so many different types of people: From the wife whose husband’s presence is always contrasting her claims, a noisy and crazy old woman who happens to be Shelby’s neighbor, to the person who seems to be living a lie, and more.
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Each character of The Book Club On Waverly Lane has a unique background. Rachel Hanna as the author of The Book Club On Waverly Lane has successfully pictured each character’s flaws in ways that make the characters close to people in real life.
Plus, Rachel Hanna herself is a Southern woman, which means, this YA novel is one of the closest novels to reality in terms of the settings.
- Part 1: Meet The Characters Of The Book Club On Waverly Lane
- Part 2: Story Of The Book Club On Waverly Lane
- Part 3: The Author Of The Book Club On Waverly Lane
- Part 4: Alternative To The Book Club On Waverly Lane
Part 1: Meet The Characters Of The Book Club On Waverly Lane
Shelby Anderson
Shelby Anderson is the founder of The Book Club On Waverly Lane. As we read through the novel’s chapters, we’ll learn that The Book Club On Waverly Lane that Shelby forms as soon as she moves to the Southern area of the US doesn’t only become a book club.
Instead, it becomes a safe space where each member shares their vulnerability and flaws without fears of getting judged.
I see so many parts of myself in Shelby – her willingness to take a risk in another town, that’s one of the examples. Making friends by starting a club in a town is one of the ways that I’ve thought of if I were Shelby.
Other Characters
Most supporting characters in The Book Club On Waverly Lane are the club’s members. Each member has their story, and each story is believable and relatable. The novel has a woman with pretty manicures, delicious cookies, and messed-up life, a crazy old neighbor who always annoys Shelby, a wife who seems to always fight her husband, and so on.
Like any other light-hearted book, The Book Club On Waverly Lane also has the town’s most eligible bachelor as everyone’s love interest. Still, he hides a dark secret that only Shelby and the members know.
Part 2: Story Of The Book Club On Waverly Lane
The story of The Book Club On Waverly Lane starts by telling us that Shelby Anderson, the MC, has just moved to Waverly Lane, which belongs to Southern Carolina’s territory.
It seems that Shelby hasn’t been familiar with Waverly Lane before. So, she decides to form a local book club to make new friends there. After all, Shelby is someone who loves to read in her past time.
Soon, The Book Club On Waverly Lane is getting more popular. The membership bases are higher, and the activities are also becoming merrier. At some points in the novel, it doesn’t only become a book club.
Instead, it becomes a supportive space where the members share their stories and become more vulnerable to each other. It also becomes a place where members learn from fellow members.
The more Shelby and other members of The Book Club On Waverly Lane spend their time, the closer their relationships are. Soon, they share their stories of messed up lives, becoming tired of living a lie, having a reason to scream around the neighbors, and so on.
I love the ways Rachel Hanna illustrates each character’s personality and background stories in The Book Club On Waverly Lane. Since I’m also a book lover, I think to myself, why don’t I try becoming Shelby, at least for one day?
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Part 3: The Author Of The Book Club On Waverly Lane
‘Fixin’ to,’ ‘Bless her heart,’ and so on – these phrases may be cliché among Southern people, yet, it becomes a phrase that differentiates Rachel Hanna, the author of The Book Club On Waverly Lane, from other Northern authors and authors outside the US.
Rachel Hanna herself has lived in North Georgia, which belongs in the Southern part of the US, for a long time. So, we’ll see so many Southern classic elements in Rachel Hanna’s writings.
Just read the dialogues and other story elements in The Book Club On Waverly Lane novel, for example, and ask our Southern friends: Most likely, they would say that The Book Club On Waverly Lane is a highly Southern novel.
Talking about the storyline, I would say that this novel is one of the most interesting books to read. The authentic Southern element isn’t the only attractive point that I find, instead, I also feel that Rachel explores and develops each character thoroughly. It is almost as if the characters in this novel are real-life individuals with unique background stories.
Part 4: Alternative To The Book Club On Waverly Lane
A club isn’t only a place where members gather according to the club’s theme, and a book club is not an exception. When the member bases are getting bigger and each member gets closer to one another, it is also the time when we expect something bigger to happen.
We can find the same theme in Dreame’s The Fine Art Of Reading Riley. The MC of The Fine Art Of Reading Riley is also a book club president, just like the MC in The Book Club On Waverly Lane.
The book club seems to be established for a long time and the MC has learned to schedule gatherings and books to read. Stone Daye as the MC himself even has his favorite author, in which the book is currently on his reading list. Somehow, he gets immersed into the book’s stories and his feelings for his former lover, Cameron Phillips, begin to bloom once again.
Summary of The Fine Art Of Reading Riley:
Stone Daye, the book club president in The Fine Art Of Reading Riley novel, has learned to plan member gatherings since the first time his book club has been established. He even has scheduled to share his current booklist, which involves Robert Riley, one of his favorite authors.
The book club that Stone initiates started a long time and Stone also has given some thoughts about ‘small things around the clubs’, such as the grocery shops. Even though Stone’s book club has members who know where to shop for groceries, Stone has learned to rely on himself in shopping for the club’s groceries.
When Stone arrives at one of the usual grocery shops, he meets Cameron Phillips, his old friend, and former lover. Now, Cameron works as a local college administrator. Things start to get even more complicated as Cameron suddenly appears at Stone’s book club, and Stone’s feelings for Cameron begin to bloom once again.
Are you looking for something similar to The Book Club On Waverly Lane, but, with more intensified romantic scenarios?