Malena Lott is a woman with a vision. Her goal? Bringing book clubs back with some sass. “Girlfriends don’t get together as much as we would like. A book club makes reading a priority and provides a nice structure for a girls’ night out,” Lott said.

As an author, Lott has written and published two novels, The Stork Reality in 2006 and Dating DaVinci in 2008. Encouraging literacy isn’t just job security, it’s a passion for this mother of two in Oklahoma. “Studies have shown that reading reduces stress levels in eight minutes,” Lott said. “Reading is another form of self-healing we can all practice.”

Inspiring women to Eat, Pray, Love, Lott has developed a web site called Book End Babes providing women with a step-by-step guide to starting their own book club or BE Babes Chapter in their town. In July, a new book club headed by local babe Dani Stone became the first chapter in Wichita and one of the first in the nation. Now, there are 17 chapters, and more than 400 women following the BE Babes strategy for getting together with girlfriends and good books.

“This club gives us an excuse to read for fun, then meet with smart, funny women to discuss while snacking and sipping wine,” Stone said. “It’s a perfect evening with some of my favorite ladies.”

The Book End Babes site provides ideas for what kind of organization your book club can have, book suggestions and reviews, contests and swag, even recipes and tips for entertaining. “I would love to see multiple chapters in each city,” Lott said.

To be a chapter, a “QueenB” must step up to organize at least six parties and of course, it helps to be passionate about books. Think you are ready to step up to lead another chapter in Wichita (sorry gals, Dani’s club is full)? Just fill out the form at Book End Babes and start recruiting your friends, co-workers, anyone with whom you like spending time.

One of the interesting ways Lott and Book End Babes are connecting readers to authors and babes to each other is through social media. Twitter is a big part of that strategy – Lott has created a Twitter directory of members and members are encouraged to tweet during their club meetings. Eventually, Lott would like to add a chat room to the web site to allow for even more exchange of ideas between members. But cyberspace isn’t where Lott wants the clubs to stay. “This movement is not just about reading books but going deeper than that and getting a connection with other women,” she said.

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