Musing about Accretionary Wedge 44 got me thinking about the teacher that got my love of reading going, and the book clubs I've been in through the years. There is one club that I've stuck with for a long time. This book club has been around for 15 years and meets about once a month for about two hours at a time (usually on Sundays) - give or take depending on our schedules. I wasn't a charter member but I did seem to join shortly after it got going. Through the years, I kinda became the unofficial historian. I did this by keeping an ongoing list of all the books that I had read while being involve with the club. (I also keep a journal of books too - since I read so many and can't always keep track of the different books. I find writing a page summery after I read a book helps to jog my memory when it comes time to discuss a book. -- someday I'll post the list of books I've keep track of in my journal.)
The other day a friend from the club wanted to know if I still had the list and had I updated it. She also wanted to know if I remembered when it started, because she thought we had just had our 15th anniversary. She wanted to know if we missed it. I looked up what she wanted and found out we did miss our 15 anniversary. When we had our ten year one we did something special by going out to eat and then watching a movie about one of the books we had read. She wanted to do something special for our 15 years too. Now we're trying to think of what to do.
I also told her I had the list but it needed to be updated and I would do it shortly. Which I did and here it is:
2012
01-22-12 'Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins
02-26-12 'Close Your Eyes' by Amanda Eyre Ward
03-25-12 'Castaways' by Elin Hilderbraud
2011
01-23-11 'The Cookbook Collector' by Allegra Goodman
02-27-11 'Little Bee' by Chris Cleave
03-20-11 'Girl in Translation' by Jean Kwok
04-17-11 'Elegance of a Hedgehog' by Muriel Barberry
05-29-11 'Cutting For Stone' by Abraham Verghese
06-26-11 ' Unbroken' by Laura Hillenbrand
08-07-11 'The Flirt' by Kathleen Tessaro
09-18-11 'Room' by Emma Donaghue
10-30-11 'Before You Go To Sleep' by S. J. Watson
11-27-11 'Still Alice' by Lias Genova
12-18-11 ' Holicay on Ice' by David Sedaris
2010
01-31-10 ' High Season' by Jon Loomis
02-21-10 ' Whitethorn Woods' by Maeve Binchy
03-21-10 'One Second After' by William R. Forstchen
04-18-10 ' The Kitchen House' by Kathleen Grissom
06-06-10 'The Sound and the Fury' by William Faulkner
07-11-10 'Don’t Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs: She Thinks I’m a Piano Player in a
Whorehouse' By Paul Carter
08-15-10 no meeting, postponed
09-19-10 ' Assassination Vacation' by Sarah Vowell
10-17-10 'House Rules' by Jodi Picoult
11-14-10 'Ape House' by Sara Gruen
12-19-10 'Love Stories in This Town' by Amanda Ward
2009
1-25-09 "The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society" by May Ann Shaffer and
Annie Borrows
03-01-09 'The Shack' by William P. Young
04-05-09 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' by Truman Capote
05-03-09 'People of the Book' by Geraldine Brooks
06-14-09 'Bel Canto' by Ann Patchett
07-10-09 'March' by Geraldine Brooks
08- 09 'Run' by Ann Patchett
09- 09 'After River' by Donna Jonas Milner
10-18-09 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett
11-15-09 'South of Broad' by Pat Conroy
12-20-09 'The Christmas List' by Richard Paul Evans
2008
01-13-08 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini
02-17-08 'Same Kind of Different As Me' by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
03-16-08 'The Power of Three' by Laura Lippman
04-13-08 'The Not So Big Life - Making Room For What Really Matters' by Sarah Susunka
05-18-08 'The Tortilla Curtain' by T. C. Boyle
06-22-08 'The Penny Tree' by Holly Kennedy
07-20-08 'Audition - A Memoir' by Barbra Walters
09-14-08 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Piccoult
10-19-08 'Firefly Lane' by Kristine Hanna
11-16-08 'Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffeggar
12-14-08 'The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch
2007
01-21-07 'Bias' by Bernard Golberg
02-25-07 'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen
03-28-07 'I Feel Bad About My Neck' by Nora Ephron
04-22-07 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter' by Kim Edwards
05-20-07 'Saving Fish From Drowning' by Amy Tan
06-24-07 'A Day With a Perfect Stranger' by David Gregory
07-22-07 'The Bluest Eyes' by Toni Morrison
09-16-07 'The Glass Castle' by Jeannette Walls
10-21-07 'Mockingbird, A Portrait of Harper Lee' by Charles J. Shields
11-18-07 'Forgive Me' by Amanda Ward
12-09-07 'Thank You Power' by Deborah Norville
2006
02-12-06 'Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseiri
03-19-06 'Self Made Man' by Norah Vincent
04-30-06 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck
05-21-06 'Year of Wonders' by Geraldine Brooks
06-25-06 'Eat, Pray, Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert
08-13-06 'Marley & Me' by John Grogan
09-10-06 'A Lesson Before Dying' by Ernest J. Gaines
10-05-06 'Peruasion' by Jane Austen
11-02-06 'The Innocent Man' by John Grisham
12-06-06 'For One More Day' by Mitch Alum
2005
01-09-05 'The Tie That Binds' by Kent Haruf
02-13-05 'The Poydras Project' by Margaret Lawhorn
03-13-05 'Angels & Demons' by Dan Brown a
04-17-05 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' by Carsen McCullers
05-15-05 'Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons' by Lorna Landvik
06-12-05 'Honeymoon' by James Patterson
09-18-05 'The Mermaid Chair' by Sue Monk Kidd
10-16-05 'How to be Lost' by Amanda Ward
11-13-05 'The Church of Dead Girls' by Stephen Dobyns
12-18-05 'Dinner With a Perfect Stranger' by David Greogory
2004
01-11-04 'The Sun Also Rises' by Ernest Hemingway
02-29-04 'If Nights Could Talk' by Marsha Recknagel
03-21-04 'On the Road' by Jack Kerauac
04-18-04 'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel
05-23-04 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' by Sophie Kinsella
06-13-04 'Good in Bed' by Jennifer Weiner @
07-11-04 'The Grits - Girls Raised in the South Guide to Life' by Deborah Ford & Edie Hand
09-19-04 'A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth & Battle for the Good Life in Napa & Samsoma' by Alan Deuthehman
10-17-04 'The Dive From Clausen's Pier' by Ann Packer
11-14-04 'Peter Pan' by J. M. Barrie
12-12-04 'The Yearling' by Marjorie Kinman Rawling
2003
01-26-03 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee
02-09-03 'Dress Codes' by Noelle Howey
03-16-03 'Rose' by Martin Cruz Smith
04-13-03 'The Secret Life of Bee's' by Sue Monk Did
05-03-03 'The Ledgeds of Oakland Plantation' by Sandra Prud'Homme Haynie
06-08-03 'The Bunco Squad' by Julie Muphree (Not published yet read to help her out)
07-03-03 'Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind' by Ann B. Ross
09-03-03 'Empire Falls' by Richard Russo
10-19-03 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown
11-16-03 'Perfume' by Patrick Suskind
12-14-03 'Five People You Meet in Heaven' by Mitch Alrom
2002
01-??-02 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' by Tracy Chevalier
02-??-02 'The Red Tent' by Anita Diamont
03-??-02 'The Bonesetters Daughter' by Amy Tan
04-07-02 'The Last Time We Met' by Anita Shrive
05-??-02 'The God of Small Things' by Roy Time
06-02-02 'Cane River' by Lalita Tademy
07-??-02 'The Sweat Potato Queen Book of Love' by Jill Connor Browne
09-22-02 ??
10-06-02 'Prodigal Summer' by Barbara Kingsolver
12-08-02 Book Exchange/ Xmas Party
2001
01-01-01 'Texas Bad Girls' by J. Lee Butts (he actually came and discussed this with us)
02-??-01 'Ten Things I Wish I Knew Before I Went Out Into The Real World' by Maria Shriver
03-??-01 'Tara Road' by Maeve Binchy
04-08-01 'All Over But the Shouting' by Rick Bragg
05-??-01 'Its Not About the Bike' by Lance Armstrong
06 * ??
07 * ??
09 * ??
10 * ??
12-02-01 'The Prayer of Jabez' by Bruce Wilkinson
2000
01 * ??
02-??-00 'Yo!' by Julia Alverez
03-??-00 'How the Irish Saved Civilization' by Thomas Cahill
04 * ??
05 * ??
06 * ??
07-??-00 'All Too Human: A Political Education' by George Stephanopoulis
09 * ??
10 * ??
11 * ??
12-17-00 'The Christmas Box' by Richard Paul Evans
* These books were read during this time but we don't remember when and at who's house we had the club
* 'I Know Why The Cage Bird Sings' by Maya Angelo
* 'American Pastoral' by Philip Roth
* 'Midwives' by Chris Bohjalian
* 'Fat Tuesday' by Sandra Brown
* 'What Seems Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day' by Pearl Cleage
* 'Horse Whisper' by Nicholas Davidson
* 'Detective' by Aruther Hailey
* 'Unter the Tuscan Sun' by Fances Mayes
* 'Middlesex' by Jeffery Eugenides
1999
01-??-99 'Beachcombing For a Shipwrecked God' by Joe Comer
04-25-99 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakuer
05-??-99 'The General's Daughter' by Nelson DeMille
10-??-99 'Interview With A Vampire' by Anne Rice @
12-??-99 'Next Year Will Be Better' by Maeve Binchy
1998
01-??-98 Meeting @ new Barnes & Noble - There selection for the month
02-08-98 'The Hot Zone' by Richard Preston
03-15-98 'A Lesson Before Dying' by Earnest Gaines
04-??-98 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden
05-??-98 'Intimate Enemies' by Christina Vella
06-??-98 'Angela's Ashes' by Frank McCourt
07-26-98 'Snow Falling on Cedars' by Stephen Gutterson
08-16-98 'Little Alters Everywhere & Divine Secrets of YaYa Sisterhood' by Rebecca Wells
09-??-98 'My Antonia' by Willa Cather
10-??-98 'Cold Mountain' by Charles Frazier
12-??-98 Book Swap & Xmas Party (no book read)
1997
1st Book
02-16-97 'Dandelion Wine' by Ray Bradbury
03-16-97 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' by John Berent
04-20-97 'The Bean Trees' by Barbara Kingsolver
05-18-97 'Pigs In Heaven' by Barbara Kingsolver
06-??-97 'The Education of Little Tree' by Forrest Carter
07-??-97 'The Rapture of Cannan' by Sherry Reynolds
09-28-97 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks
10-??-97 'Neon Rain' by James Lee Burke
12-??-97 'Message in the Bottle' by Nicholas Sparks
Through the years we've read a wide variety of books. Some of the books I never would have picked up and read unless it was for the club. Some of these I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed them. Some of them I knew why I wouldn't have picked it up in the first place. Some of them lead to excellent discussions while others there really wasn't much to discuss. What would surprise me is often it's the book that seems so simple and straight forward that would lead to the better discussions.
Often we would pick books that other book clubs were reading or went through Oprah's book selections or on the best selling list. For awhile we tried to have at least one classic each year and also we would try to read one manuscript a year to help an aspiring author out. During the summer we wanted light and easy to read stuff so we could do that while we were watching our kids do their various summer activities. And frequently during the summer we would have to skip a meeting or two since too many of us just would not be able to attend. Also at Christmas time we would have a Christmas party with a pirate book exchange - the book could be new or a book you've already read and really liked - no cookbooks were allowed. Because of the party and all the other holiday activities going on we tried to have a book with just short stories or poems so if you didn't get the whole book read it was okay you could still discuss something that you read. We would always try to have a little discussion if nothing else when we met because that is the whole purpose for us getting together.
Now each month the person who is hosting it gets to pick the book but it hasn't always been that way. Sometimes we tried to have our books picked out 3-5 months in advance, but then we ran into problems of getting copies and quite frankly remembering the books after its been a couple of months since it was read. By having the host pick the book that gives incentive to be a hostess.
When we would meet the hostess would frequently have some goodies set out. We would nibble on these while we waited for everyone to show and visited with each other while we waited. Then once it seemed like everyone that was coming was there we would settle down with the hostess explaining why she selected the book she did. Frequently she would also give a short biography of the writer and anything the writer may have said about the book. Then each person would get a chance to say what they liked or did not like about the book. If we had more time then we would get into discussion questions. These questions were often obtained from the back of the book or off the internet. Sometimes when there weren't any questions the hostess would write some down of her own over topics covered in the book she thought worth talking about. A couple of times we actually contacted or had the author visit us and would get their input on things. One of the things we would love to find out is what motivated the author to write the book that they did. Also we would want to know what they were currently working on because it seemed like once a person started to write they never seem to stop.
Just like us having such an eclectic selection of books we also have an eclectic group of women. The problem with a group like this you always have people coming and going. The reasons they join is just as varied as the number of people we have as members. I know I joined because at the time I was basically a stay at home mom who was working out of the house doing my husbands books for his business. I felt so isolated and wanted some adult conversation every once in a while. It was so much fun to get around these women who came from all different walks in life. From what I could tell no one was ever asked not to come back and we would accept anyone who wanted to be with us. We had teachers and college professors, and people working on degrees. We had married, divorced and single women. Also we had mothers & grandmothers and women who never had children. We had business owners and managers to office support people and people who currently weren't working for a wide variety of reasons.
Through the years we've been through a lot together. We've laughed together and we've cried. We saw babies born, and children graduate and or get married. We've seen people come and we seen them go. The reasons they left are just as varied too. Two of our members dropped out due to cancer and eventually we had to bury them. We did miss them so very much. Sometimes the people just don't have time to read or their schedules don't let them come visit like they used to. But most of the times the reason they leave is for good reasons like getting a promotion and being transferred out of state or moving for a job in general. Or getting married and having to relocate to a new place. When they leave we always wish them the best in their new location.
I love the exchange of ideas and like knowing others who feel the same way I do about sharing ideas.
No matter what may happen these women have been there for each other through the years and I just feel like I've been so fortunate to have them as my friends and fellow book club members.
Muse Thought: The reason I like book clubs so much is the fact you can get together and have a good time regardless of what the person may believe. When you discuss the book - you don't have to worry about politic (unless its related to the book) or religion and you can just enjoy the other person company and have fun being with them.
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