From Cozy Couches to Author Encounters: The KPMG ITS Book Club Journey

2025-01-10

Tuesday is usually the day between Monday and Wednesday except once a month, when it’s also the time for the KPMG ITS Book Club to gather.

You know it’s coming when Ivan and Lina drop their ‘we’re waiting for you’ message, complete with a photo of cozy couches, tables loaded with snacks and drinks, and the book of the month taking center stage.

But wait, there’s more! Expect a quiz, engaging questions, and lively discussions about the book, plus a prize up for grabs – 2 votes for next month’s book genre of choice. And you know things are getting seriously heated when Lina announces in the chat that cheat sheets are banned for next time.

Just three months into the club, and we’ve leveled up with an exciting guest speaker – Milena Tasheva, an editor at Ciela and a passionate co-founder of ‘I read / Аз чета,’ the largest Bulgarian online media for books and reading, boasting over 53,000 followers. She delved into the journey of how each book finds its way to us, the selection process for titles and authors, and the intricate details of book publishing.

Shortly after, we step out of the office walls and head out to watch a play of ‘The Master and Margarita,’ the book we just finished reading. It’s at this moment you realize – it doesn’t get any more full circle than this.

And yet, apparently it does. It’s May 2024, and the book of the month is ‘Rana’ by Zachari Karabashliev. Ivan and Lina drop a bombshell of a message: ‘You know how we love our get-togethers? Well, we reached out to the author, and he actually agreed to come and talk to us about the book!'”.

Zachari Karabashliev was incredibly generous, spending hours with us and answering every question we had. At the end, our discussion went beyond ‘Rana,’ as we brought up his other books too. It felt like a mini celebration for us each time he recognized we were holding first editions of his older works.

Since then, it’s been an incredible journey – we’re now on our 15th book! Plus, we’ve got a mini physical library where you can share a book you loved and borrow one that someone else has enjoyed. The club is thriving, with 20 people joining each live meeting and many more participating in chat discussions and reading from home. November marked our first birthday, celebrated with a big office party organized by Ivan and Lina.

You know, this is the age where we start walking, so it’s thrilling to see where we’ll go next.

Thank you, Ivan and Lina, for the amazing experience so far – we can’t wait to see what’s next!

P.S. The Book Club is part of the ITS Social Clubs initiative, bringing our interests and personalities together. Founded in November 2023 by Lina Chalakova and Ivan Tsonkov, it grows every day and hasn’t missed a single monthly gathering. To join the club’s Teams channel, just reach out to them.