All Books and Cheese club serves readers a taste of literature, community

Members from the All Books and Cheese club are pictured smiling for the camera on a white couch. The club blends cheese and feminist literature. (Courtesy of Emmy Quagliani)
By Chirag Tailor
Nov. 6, 2024 10:19 p.m.
This post was updated Nov. 7 at 9:13 p.m.
Books can pair well with not only a close-knit community but also a charcuterie board.
Led by three co-presidents – Kate Osmundson, a fourth-year biology student; Emmy Quagliani, a fourth-year psychobiology student; and Paige Paulsen, a fourth-year English student – the All Books and Cheese club serves as an inviting community for students to discuss books and eat cheese. The club chose to marry books, such as “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” and “Howl’s Moving Castle,” with cheese, Osmundson said.
“It’s such a fun, funky feature of the club, and people will bring cheese, and they tell a cheese story,” Osmundson said. “They tell the story of why they brought that cheese that day. Super, super silly, but it’s a great boost for morale, especially when school is getting super hectic.”
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As an Iberian, Osmundson said she likes to pair cheeses such as manchego with her identity and ancestry. Although the act of bringing cheese is not that serious – oftentimes done because it simply tastes good – it’s fun to come up with a deeper meaning, she added.
At the club’s biweekly meetings, members are welcomed with a potluck-style charcuterie board. They start by discussing their readings, ranging from feminist literature to seasonal stories such as their current read, “Coraline.” They also engage with different forms of media, such as movies, to diversify their catalog, and they spice up meetings by incorporating trivia nights or picnics, Osmundson said. After completing a book, the club collectively decides on the next one, stirring excitement for the next meeting, Paulsen said.

While some may be hesitant to join book clubs, whether it be because they aren’t bookworms or don’t have much time in their schedule to read, the All Books and Cheese club doesn’t hold members to this pressure, Paulsen said. One of the club’s characteristics is its informality with no homework and a mix of intellectual and fun conversations, she added. These conversations often prompt meaningful connections between members, creating a close-knit community, Osmundson said.
“A lot of stories involve relationships. I think that there’s something cool in seeing how other people react to the same sort of stories and relationships,” Osmundson said. “That helps you get closer to them because you understand more of their perspective on things, and … it reveals something about them.”
Additionally, Paulsen said the club is extremely accessible. With no application or interview process, the club offers a relaxed and easygoing vibe – no strings attached. Even as co-presidents, Paulsen said she, Osmundson and Quagliani have busy lives, so they encourage members to use audiobook apps such as Libby or Hoopla to play in the background of their everyday chores. Members don’t need to have read the entire reading in order to participate in discussions, lifting a weight off the typical UCLA student’s shoulders, Paulsen added.

“When we joined the club in our sophomore year, it was in the club founder’s apartment, and it created this really cozy, tight-knit vibe within the club because it really did feel like we were just hanging out with friends,” Quagliani said. “It almost felt like a birthday party or something, and every time it felt like a celebration. We wanted to preserve that energy.”
The club also offers fun leadership positions, Osmundson said. For example, Osmundson said her official title last year was the “czar of cheese,” which meant that she was the cheese coordinator, and Paulsen was the literature coordinator. With a three-branch presidency, the duties become more enjoyable, as one person isn’t telling everyone what to do, Osmundson added.
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Looking forward, Osmundson said the club is excited to start its own magazine, in which members will incorporate many more forms of media, such as drawings, comic strips, short stories, poems and film reviews. The zine will compile the club’s interests and commemorate the year in one physical print, like a yearbook, Osmundson added. Additionally, the club’s “Fall Bake and Read” at the Hitch Kitchen next week will feature seasonal treats such as pumpkin bread and apple pies – items that pair well with cheese, Quagliani said.
“We’re hoping to plan a lot of fun stuff in the future. … We’re hoping to go to the Academy Museum to maybe watch some movies there, and then we’re also hoping to maybe sometime in the next year or the next quarter to go to bookstores,” Paulsen said. “There’s a romance bookstore in Culver City that we want to go to as well. We’re trying to plan fun field trips. … Come join us. Bring a friend.”