Let the Book Club Madness Begin!
*Book maven, Book Club co-founder and friend Carolyn (that's her in the pic on the left) is going to explain how this book club is going to go down. Enjoy her words! -EB
Full disclosure: I'm kind of obsessed with Google's "define: thing" function (to use it, simply replace "thing" with whatever it is you're looking to have defined). Just now, for shits and giggles (and perhaps the smidgiest smidge of blatant procrastionation from work!), I typed in define: "book club" and here's what I got...
Book club: An organization that sells selected books to members or subscribers, often through the mail.
Um...no. That's not what our book club is. Not one bit. For one, that definition implies that we are organized (which, I assure you we are not). It also conspicously leaves out things like "alchohol" and "contraception" and "laughyourassoffness" (it's a word), which are, or have been at one time or another, central to what makes our book club "Book Club". Basically, for us, Book Club's a monthly (or every-six-or-seven-weeks-ly) girly gabfest with lots of yummy food and drinks and friends and (spoiler alert...) books. I know...crazy, right?
It's true. We read books, and lots of 'em. I mean, we've been at this thing since late--2001, so it kind of makes sense we've read a ton - fiction and non-fiction, good and bad. Back when we started, we set it up so whoever was hosting the next meeting also got to be the picker of that meeting's book (can you say "drunk with power?"). But then, in 2010, that all changed. Enter the annual pock-a-thon, during which we pick all of the books/hosts/dates for the entire year to come. Anyway, we just had this year's throw-down (oh, yeah, it gets ugly - we gals have some strong opinions when it comes to what we want to read), and personally, I think our 2012 list rocks!
First up is A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. As of now, we're scheduled to meet on February 25th (although that date could change), and after we do, I'll fill you guys in on what we discussed about the book and how that discussion inevitably morphed into whatever it is we'll actually end up talking about. By the end of each meeting, it's usually been sort of 30% book, 70% life stuff, but it's always a stupid amount of fun. Yay!
Ok, anybody who's already read this one - help us have a kick-ass book club by commenting below and sharing some of the questions it raised for you while you were reading!
By Carolyn Ingber
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4 comments
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I enjoyed Goon Squad. It is written in a unique way and tells a good story. But then the end freaked me out. Maybe because it hit too close to home with what was happening with technology. Babies texting or using communication devices. But it stayed with me for days particularly how "time" seemed to be a character in the book. -
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Caroyln - your book club sounds exactly like our therapy, um book club group here in CT. We have a lovely array of interesting personalities, but the friend who organized it two years ago was very deliberate on who comprised the group, but it made all the difference. We're fiercely loyal to each other, but equally lax about times/dates/actually book reading.
That said, our last book was The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer - a funny, wry observer of motherhood, wife-dom, parenting and modern suburban life.
The best part? We Skyped Meg into to gathering for 40+ minutes and had a fantastic time. We arranged it through my company (happy to connect you) but the larger point being that bringing in the author or subject matter experts, even for 15min, can really add to the experience.
Oh, and of course there was wine. There's always wine!
Yay for book clubbin' - the only kind of clubbing were you're home and in pjs before the "real" clubs open!
