Fifty Shades of Ladies (FSL), GS’ inaugural women’s book club, aims to provide a female-empowering environment where girls can get together and discuss the books they have read.

The main purpose of the organization is to bring together women from all different shades and walks of life based on their literary interests, according to the club’s MyInvolvement page.

The club was started by Taylor Brown, a junior here at Georgia Southern.

“I hope to make Fifty Shades of Ladies a very well-known club on campus for its uniqueness and I hope to drive other students on campus to read more than just their textbooks,” Brown, junior health education and promotion major and president of Fifty Shades of Ladies, said.

Being a part of a book club allows members the opportunity to actually enjoy reading, instead of being forced to read books for class.

“The idea came about when I was looking to join and book club on campus and found that there wasn’t one,” Brown said.

The club is open to all women who hold at least a 2.0 GPA.

According to the National Literacy Trust, reading can also increase an individual’s understanding of other cultures, their general knowledge, community participation and a greater overall understanding of human nature.

In addition to the obvious benefits of reading like increasing vocabulary, pleasure reading also provides an opportunity to escape the real world and relieve the stress of day-to-day life.

“[Reading] is super relaxing and a different experience from a movie, it makes me forget about things I have going on in my life,” Dana Beckman, freshman political science major, said.

Many students burn out on reading after being forced to read in various English classes, but choosing to read is a completely different thing.

Participating in a book club like Fifty Shades of Ladies can provide members many opportunities.

Information for participating in the club is available on MyInvolvement and potential members must fill out the application on the website to be accepted in.

According to their page, the main purpose of the organization “is to bring together women from all different shades and walks of life based on their literary interests”.

This is FSL’s first semester and there are already plans in the works for how to strengthen the club for the future.

“Next semester we will begin having what we call Open Discussion. It will provide a chance for students who aren’t a part of the organization to participate in the conversation about our current book,” Brown said.

Next semester will be filled with opportunities for students not involved to be involved and learn more about membership, with a FSL Week in the works.