Book Club

Often times when I drop off the rent check, Peggy (my landlady) invites me to sit and chat for a while. On one of these occasions, a few months past, I noticed that she was reading Pride and Prejudice. I commented that it was one of my favorite books, hoping that we might get into a discussion about it. I'm an avid reader and love discussing the things I read with intelligent people. Retired, with a couple of college degrees under her belt and four grown kids, Peggy's no slacker. Imagine my delight when she invited me to attend her book club's meeting the following day!

We arrived at an impressively large house in a well-to-do neighborhood. At the door G, our host, greeted us warmly and invited us into her incredibly lovely home. G is a retired French teacher and hosts the book club meetings at her beautiful house every two months. She really does a nice job making everyone feel welcome.

The gathering turned out to be a wonderful time! In keeping with the British theme of the book, G had prepared a delicious array of English offerings including fresh brewed teas in beautiful porcelain cups, hot out of the oven scones and homemade lemon curd! There were lots of other finger foods and desserts brought in by the other ladies, too. There was even a nice bottle of wine!

There were probably 10 ladies there, altogether and everyone was very pleasant. We sat around and ate and then discussed the book. I felt almost like the special guest speaker, and Peggy introduced me as "an expert"( I guessed because I had read the book several times and visited "the Motherland"). She told me later that she hadn't finished the book, and my being there took the pressure off of her to offer up an opinion of the piece. Very clever, that Peggy.

The discussion was thoroughly enjoyable. Many thought-provoking opinions and ideas were bandied about. It's amazing how the emotions and humor of the piece still ring true today
(I guess that's what really make it a classic, eh?) And yet, it was so interesting to hear the different things that people take way from reading the same text.

At the end of the evening, I was invited to join the club. I was just tickled pink.

The next book to be read was All the King's Men. I had read this one many years before and hadn't really dug it. But, I was up for another go.

It's interesting to read a book for a second time, a decade later. Your perspective changes so much. I certainly took more away from it, the second go 'round. But I still can't say that I really liked it. We had our meeting and I think most of the women felt the way that I did. It was still fun to sit around and chat about it, though, and pick each other's brains!

We are supposed to be scheduling a viewing of the recently released "All the King's Men" movie (on DVD) and everyone will bring a Louisiana-themed covered dish. I'm really looking forward to that!

Last month's book was Water for Elephants, and I just didn't get around to it (ahem, okay, well, I could've probably gotten around to it if I'd REALLY wanted to). The book we're reading now is The Bookseller of Kabul, a non-fiction piece. I finished reading it last week and would highly recommend it!! The writing is simple, but the story holds your interest. It's a fascinating and eye-opening documentary about the life of a modern Afghan family. God bless America and the fact that I was born an American woman!!!

I'm not a giant fan of a good portion of modern novels (hence my non-readage of the Elephant-Water book-thingy). That's not to say their aren't great contemporary novels out there, it just seems like I have to wade thorugh so much junk to find them! And I read pretty much every day. Having my nose stuck in a book so often, I have found that it's best to stick with the more time-tested material, for my leisure reading. It's less likely to waste my time or try my nerves. Something with at least a decade or two of dust on the cover, is usually a good bet. For that reason, I've decided to try and sway the direction of our book club reading selections more towards the classics.

Therefore, at the next meeting, I will be prepared. By that time, I won't feel so much like a newbie and can candidly (but sweetly, of course!) express my thoughts on the subject of the classics and why it's good to read them. Hopefully, the majority of ladies will back me up and a new book club era will begin!! :0)

I may have to endure skimming through the occasional piece of crap, just to keep everyone happy. That's okay. I have an open mind. Don't people sometimes find bits of treasure while sifting through garbage at the dump??! :0)

Happy reading, hee-hee!!