{This is what my current reading list looks like}

I’m hopelessly behind on my one-woman internet book club. So, this month I’m taking a page out of one of my favorite writer’s book (blog) and declaring this month an Articles Club! I first read about the idea on A Cup of Jo. Her manifesto: “An articles club would be just like a book club, but we’ll read articles. We’d all read the same story–from, say, The New Yorker or Elle–and chat over wine and snacks. It would be fascinating, timely and a much easier commitment than a book club (because, honestly, who ever finishes the book on time?)” I know I certainly don’t. (You can read the picks from her club here.)

So join me for some virtual booze, treats and intellectual discussion! For my pick this month, I’m reading No Kids For Me, Thanks. Kids are a topic on the tip of everyone’s tongue in my life these days; some of my friends are having them, other friends don’t want them, other friends are worried they won’t be able to have them by the time they get married, other friends want them but are afraid of what will happen to their career if they have them. Everyone is sick of talking about my upcoming wedding; all people want to know now is when Tony and I are going to have kids. My mom has told me enough times she’s giving me Clomid as a wedding gift that I’m starting to think she’s not joking.

The reason I picked this article is twofold; it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately, as more and more people ask me when I’m planning to pro-create. But it’s also a bigger issue I’m interested in; the expectation that all people (women, especially) should have kids. It’s taboo to say you don’t want them – a book (mentioned in the article) recently came out with the title “Selfish, Shallow & Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers On The Decision Not To Have Kids,” because those are the labels put on men and women who choose not to have children. What’s most interesting to me is the ownership people take over other people’s decisions; there is so much judgement in our society, especially when it comes to parenting.

What do you think about the article? And since this is a club, what articles are you reading this month? Here are a few other titles that caught my interest:

How Weird Stand-Up Became A Woman’s Game

Tinder While I Taper

The One Simple Trick To Making A Good Impression

These Coloring Books For Adults Are More Addictive Than Smartphones

Should Grown Men Use Emoji? (My dad does. He loves emoji. From what I can tell, so do all his friends.)

What’s That? You Want To Be Buried How?