A Book Club- The Fireside Chats
Author, artist, and admin of Houston Women's Hiking Facebook Group, Bridgette Mongeon, has long loved sitting around a fire and chatting with women, watching flames flicker, as the wood coals glow. When women recline while chatting, having intimate conversations, hearing the tales of others, and learning about each other it offers social and emotional attachment. Sometimes, they laugh and learn, other times they may get a bit choked up, but they grow from those experiences while identifying with a life event and always developing a community bond. Fires and storytelling are ancient rituals long known by tribes and cultures.
In 2023/2024, while writing the book, Bridgette offered her home and art studio up for fireside chats. She wanted to take on the role of storyteller, sharing her own memoirs while also recounting the beginnings and growth of the group she started—Houston Women's Hiking. A memoir was being born, as women came to sit and listen to the author read the heart of a life lived and a journey taken
Will the book be available in audio?
Bridgette once enjoyed a short, fun adventure as a voice-over actor for commercials, where she loved the chance to read aloud. Today, she faces some challenges. As we learn in the memoir, breathing, moving, and talking became significant hurdles for her in hiking, working, and reading due to an interstitial lung disease that she developed just after starting Houston Women's Hiking. She shares, "In 2018, the doctor flippantly said I had two years to live, and back then, I couldn't even read a children's book out loud to my granddaughter without coughing."
Spoiler alert: she is still here. She believes that Houston Women's Hiking has played a crucial role in her journey to stay alive, which she shares in her memoir. Durring those final days of writing, a group of ladies from Houston Women’s Hiking would meet regularly for weeks, gathering around a cozy gas fire pit on her studio porch or sometimes a wood-burning fire, always enjoying each other's company and support. The group's reactions—those little gasps and sighs—helped her to know when she hit the mark in her writing. The memoir recounts how Houston Women's Hiking helped her on the trail, camping, and even in the water while kayaking. The group supported her in her quest to live a full life, like it does for many other women, but this small group at the fireside chats enabled her to keep her motivated to write.
Part Memoir, Part Self-help
"A journey that is part memoir, and part self-help. With questions in the back for book clubs and personal growth."
The book, One Foot in Front of The Other: Art, Hiking, and Healing, published in 2025, is part memoir and part self- help, and is now available on Amazon as a paperback and a digital book— Kindle. If her breathing holds out, she hopes to have it as an audiobook in her voice by the beginning of 2026.
She longs to hear other readers' comments and how the book prompts individuals to grow and learn from the stories she tells. So, she is bringing the fireside chats back. Some might call it a book club, but she still calls it a fireside chat, even though in Houston, Texas, people rarely light fires outdoors between May through September because of the scorching temperatures.
This is a Hybrid Event
A hybrid event means that it is both in peson and virtual at the same time.
Houston Area Attendees
For those lucky enough to be in Houston, Texas, she will hold the book club in the artist's secret garden and art studio. Yes, you can tour the studio, see what she is working on, and take pictures.
Virtual Virtual Attendees
For others busy or participating from other locations, you can join via Zoom and hang out with us virtually.
She hopes to celebrate the last fireside chat of the season for Houston at her Alice in Wonderland Sculpture.
The schedule for the first gathering is the last Thursday of May 2025. This date offers individuals time to get their books and read the first three chapters. Then, they will meet monthly thereafter. Bridgette will read some excerpts and use the prompts in the back of the book for discussion. Don't worry if you have missed any of the sessions. Become a member of this book club at any time. If all goes well, the author hopes to repeat them.
How do I find the details?
There are two events on the author's Facebook page for her book.
A Virtual Event
Respond "going" in the facebook page event of the Author's facebook page for the book, and perhaps comment on the book. The author will send you the Zoom link and a reminder. The author will require an RSVP through the facebook group to know how many people to expect for the virtual event.
The In-person Event
Respond "going" in the facebook page event of the Author's facebook page for the book, and perhaps comment on the book. The artist may limit participation of the in-person event and will require an RSVP through the Facebook event for each session.
Though the book club will meet monthly, she highly recommends checking back on this blog post or the book's Facebook page for any changes or alterations in this schedule.
Prepare the s'mores and set up your fire pit if you visit virtually. Turn on your TV's fake fire, or get your comfy chair and hang. If you are in person, bring your campfire chair to the artist's studio, with your favorite drink and maybe some snacks to share.
See you at the fire!
Links To Events
May 29nd
Chapter 1 The Rings Tell the Story
Chapter 2 Magic
Chapter 3 Into The Woods
June 27th
Chapter 4 Playing in the Mud
Chapter 5 Sculpting the Legends
Chapter 6 Perpetual Learner
[…] This blog posts talks about the hybrid book club events every last thursday of the month. Bridgette would love to hear what you think about the book! She supports book clubs that want to use it in their groups and even leads her own in person and on Zoom. Discussions from the prompts at the back of the book lead some on their own personal journey. And offers her own online book club in person and on Zoom. […]