They call themselves the Booked Babes. Tonight, the women are gathered in Anna Sokol's kitchen, surrounding an oven-roasted duck stuffed with apples. The dish is a Ukrainian delicacy from Sokol's home country, where she was once a fashion designer and influencer. He is now in Venice Beach. Sunlight streams in through the window where the sun sets over the canals of Venice. At the women's feet, a mini Bernedoodle, Zipper, paces nervously, barking at arriving guests. Screams echo from the rooms upstairs, where two husbands are in exile, watching a Green Bay Packers game with a newborn baby.
Tonight's book club has an Eastern European theme, which led to the women wearing red cardigans and dresses. The book under discussion is “The New Rules” by Russian-born TikTok influencer Margarita Nazarenko, who prescribes gender roles that Sokol recognizes as distinctly Eastern European. Nazarenko is a best-selling author with over 600,000 followers on Instagram, known for offering hard-hitting, practical dating advice to women. “Their methodology seems very Eastern European in the relationships and dynamics between men and women,” explains Sokol while his guests eat deviled eggs and brie cheese with manicured nails.
The Booked Babes guest list is small: just six women, one of whom is traveling remotely from Miami; this time, she joins via FaceTime. The Booked Babes was founded over two years ago at a Christmas party as a New Year's resolution to read more and forge new friendships. Since then, the women have become best friends and the book club meetings they host have taken on a life of their own, becoming more spectacular and competitive with each meeting.
The Booked Babes traveled to a Gothic mansion in La Jolla and dressed as Marie Antoinette in extravagant Rococo dresses.
(Anna Sokol)
“At first everything started very normally, very informally,” explains Cassandra Leisz, a member of the book club. “I really don't know when the change happened.”
With each passing month, the book club became more elaborate and more involved, including vacations to coastal towns, costumes, pickleball tournaments, and personalized monogrammed products.
Take for example the historical literary fiction novel “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind, set in the 18th century. The group traveled to a Gothic mansion in La Jolla and dressed as Marie Antoinette in extravagant Rococo dresses. 18th century activities included croquet and designing a personalized perfume, all accompanied by fashion photographs. Sokol chose the novel because of its cult status in Ukraine: “Everyone reads it, although it is a really strange book.”
For book club members, the show is part of the fun. “It gives us all a chance to be creative and come together. You can do it however you want. There's the element of: How do I want to express myself in this period of time?” Leisz says.
For Elsie Silver's “Flawless” book club selection, Ashley Goldsmith planned a cowboy picnic in Franklin Canyon, complete with her mother's vintage Chevy pickup.
(Anna Sokol)
For her turn as hostess, Leisz rented a boat (not exactly a yacht, she clarifies) in Marina del Rey, accompanied by lobster rolls and champagne. The novel was “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach, set in a hotel in Newport, R.I. Leisz leaned into the snobbish, blue-blooded aesthetic described in the book for her output.
“It's a financial commitment. We invest a lot of money between the decoration, the gifts and the activity,” says Leisz.
Opinions and literary tastes often vary among women. The book club likes to discuss polarizing books, but the point is always friendship. “There are a lot of times I don't like the book, but I love having the opportunity to spend time with my friends,” says Ashley Goldsmith.
Personalized products, such as personalized sweatshirts, elaborate gifts, and trips, have become a tradition for this book club.
(Anna Sokol)
For her book club on Elsie Silver's “Flawless,” Goldsmith planned a cowboy picnic in Franklin Canyon, complete with her mother's vintage Chevy pickup for photo opportunities. The meal was followed by a mechanical bull riding competition at Saddle Ranch. Goldsmith even hired a security guard to secure the public picnic bench starting at 7 a.m.
The Booked Babes have attracted attention on social media from members with eager requests to join. The book club always politely declines, given their specific chemistry. “The minute we started posting about it and talking about it, people were like, 'Oh my God, how can I join?'” Leisz says. Since the schedules are already difficult to manage, the club does not accept new members.
The Booked Babes raise their glasses.
(Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
When organizing a book club, members insist that diversity of opinion is key. “We are all very different from each other. We have very different backgrounds. Some of us come from different countries,” says Leisz. Illana O'Reiley, who joined via Facetime, emigrated from Dublin and currently lives in Miami.
At dinner, the book club sits down to enjoy Ukrainian food to discuss “The New Rules.” On the table are elaborate arrangements of roses and decorations covered with red ribbon. Amanda Ghaffari cleverly streams the Green Bay Packers game on her iPhone. O'Reiley jokes via Facetime that he's eating popcorn and watching the hit gay drama “Heated Rivalry.”
1. A flower arrangement is prepared for a themed book club. 2. A cheese plate. 3. The book club members wear red and pink dresses to their meeting. (Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
The conversation includes some light banter about each other's attachment styles—the inside jokes of close friends. Victoria Frenner, a therapist, expresses skepticism about the book's blunt tone. “When someone talks about something with a lot of conviction, there always has to be some kind of caveat,” Frenner says.
“That's why I wanted you to read it. It's very focused on Eastern Europe.” Sokol says. “American girls are a little more independent. She doesn't say 'don't be independent,' but she talks a lot about femininity.” Sokol tells the dizzying story of her meeting her husband at a wedding in Moscow, which begins with her husband attending a nightclub in Dubai.
Ashley Goldsmith reads her individualized star map.
(Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
For the planned activity, Sokol, who is eight months pregnant and wearing a stunning candy pink dress that matches the cover of her chosen book, presents members with her own personalized Slavic astrology reading, one she got from a Ukrainian astrologer she visited when she was 19. Divination and mysticism are common in Eastern Europe, he explains. The personalized readings are bound in booklets, each of which features a spirit animal, such as a panda, and suggested habits.
“Avoid fast cars and motorcycles. Avoid countries with active wars,” one of the flyers said.
Ghaffari explains that since she was 3 years old in Milwaukee, her mother has been in a book club for decades. “She comes back to get it and recommends books they just read,” Ghaffari says. Three weeks ago, Ghaffari had her first baby, who is present and, jokingly, the “heir to the book club.”
The Booked Babes sit silently as they flip through their astrology booklets, reading about destiny, transfixed by the tantalizing promise of inevitable destiny.
Connors is a writer living in Los Angeles. She is the host of the literary reading event. Unreliable narrators at Nico's Wines in Atwater Village every month.
