When counting things that count in life, books are important, but relationships are always on top of the list. I am so grateful to be part of this little knot of women (and now, one man has also joined us) who meet once a month to discuss books we've read. Perhaps being part of a book club has become a bit of a cliche -- but really, who cares? I love the Bookies! It is refreshing to read books (mostly good ones, but there have been a few not-so!) and then have meaningful conversations about the impact the stories had on our lives.
We've read many books in the years we've been together... classics, contemporary fiction, and yes, even some biographies. I am grateful that the Bookies taught me to appreciate biographies.
We have different tastes and are sometimes at different stages in our lives, but that simply adds to the interest of the group. A few members have come and gone, but basically we have the same core group and there is never a break in the conversation. Silence is not a problem for any of us.
Sometimes there have been challenges in organizing -- we all have different ideas about what to read. There have been years when it's been all spelled out in advance, months where each person takes a turn selecting, times when we examine the lists of other groups and periods where we float from month-to-month, searching for the next big idea. The group is not overly thematic, overly structured, overly serious -- but each person has ideas and all ideas seem to be welcome.
Who are the Bookies? Well, there is Dolores (a movie expert exactly my age!) brimming with life and vigor, there's Jean with her hilarious sense of humor (not to mention tennis player extraordinaire with good taste in greeting cards!), there's Ruth (world renown composer!) the most thoughtful of our group and able to argue all sides of a dilemma but end up right where she needs to be, there's St. Lyn (our best-dressed-glamour gal), who in spite of a hectic family schedule and caring for an aging parent, always has time to look up good context and tie in other themes. And then there is Carl (famous concert pianist), our token person of the male gender who was reading-all-of-the-books-anyway-and-sending-his-comments-via-his-dear-wife so really he was part of the group all along and we love him!
This is a small but mighty band of intellectual giants who make the first Thursday of each month something special. Surely, there is no topic this group could not conquer... with style! The Bookies are truly a gift -- and I'm grateful.
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