The Brainy Ballerina Book Club
For as long as I can remember, I have loved to read. I dreamed of growing up to be either a ballerina or a librarian. When I was young, I set up my own personal library, each book meticulously labeled by the Dewey Decimal System, and demanded kindly invited my family members to come check out books.
Even though I didn’t end up pursuing library science professionally, reading is still one of my greatest loves. A lifelong learner, I crave new challenges, ideas, and experiences. I am fascinated by other’s stories and am always applying the lessons I learn in books to my own life, both personally and professionally. I truly believe that an insatiable curiosity is one of the hallmark traits of a truly “brainy ballerina”.
Whether you are an avid reader or looking to get into the habit, The Brainy Ballerina® Book Club welcomes you with open arms! We are a community of dance lovers who are eager to expand our knowledge, feed our souls, and make meaningful connections.
There are two ways to get involved. Check out the options below, then choose one or the other or go all in and sign up for both! Either way, I’m happy you’re here!
💛 Caitlin, CEO & Founder of The Brainy Ballerina®
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September/October 2025 Book of the Month
City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim
On a White Night in 2019, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident stalled her career. Once the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she now turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past.
She is unmoored in her old city as the ghosts of her former life begin to resurface: her loving but difficult mother, her absentee father, and the two gifted dancers who led to her downfall.
One of those dancers, Alexander, is the love of her life, who transformed both Natalia and her art. The other is Dmitri, a dark and treacherous genius. When the latter offers her a chance to return to the stage in her signature role, Natalia must decide whether she can again face the people responsible for both her soaring highs and darkest hours.
Painting a vivid portrait of the Russian ballet world, where cutthroat ambition, ever-shifting politics, and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with both profound intimacy and breathtaking scope. Mysterious and alluring, passionate and virtuosic, Juhea Kim’s second novel is an affecting meditation on love, forgiveness, and the making of an artist in a turbulent world.
Past Book Club Picks
2025
2024
2023
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December 2022 Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
November 2022 Winter Season: A Dancer’s Journal by Toni Bentley
October 2022 Soar: A Life Freed by Dance by David McAllister
September 2022 More Than A Body: Your Body Is an Instrument, Not an Ornament by Lindsay Kite, PhD & Lexie Kite, PhD
August 2022 Raising the Barre: Big Dreams, False Starts & My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker by Lauren Kessler
July 2022 Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. & Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A.
June 2022 Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself by Chloe Angyal
May 2022 Final Bow For Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention & Impact by Phil Chan with Michele Chase
April 2022 The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
March 2022 The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp
February 2022 Life In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland
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