Why join a book club? 1 '09

 Last year I joined the Pawley’s Book Group.  About  30 women belong to the organization. We meet once a month in a members home to discuss a book that we have all read.  While I originally joined to help meet my 2008 resolution of becoming more socially established in South Carolina, it is definitely something I will continue to be involved in even once I am socially well established in my community.

For one thing a book club can be an excellent way to enjoy books more and challenge your mind,  They can also encourage you to read more, or to read books that you might not normally choose. In short, most people join a book club, or start their own, in order to have fun, make friends, stimulate the brain cells and meet like minded people! .  The books we read range from “who-done-it”s to biographies.  The group has a strong leaning towards books that open doors to other cultures and mores the enthusing discussions are always lively.  

So Far I’ve read:

·        Carol Smith’s Wild Swans which is a story of three generations of Chinese women whose lives span from the time of warlords, when women’s feet were still bound, through to the present. Their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution is particularly heart rending.

·        Ian Doig’s  The Whistling Season is a wistful tale of a time of  innocence and self reliance on the edge of the prairie. It generated a lively discussion about education as much of the novel revolved around a one room school house.

·        Harlan Coben’s Tell No One is a suspense thriller. With lots of twists and turns in the plot.  Not my favorite genre, but it was well written.

·        Kate Jacob’s The Friday night Knitting Club, is a tale of female friendship.  Think Steel Magnolias set in New York City, while the plot was predictable, the characters held up to scrutiny.

·        Greg Mortenson’s Three cups of Tea is a true story about a man on a mission to fund and build schools for girls in the remote regions of Pakistan. It gave us deep insights into the Muslim religion and a strong empathy for the daily hardship of life in Pakistan.  Of all of the books I have read this year, this one caused the most soul searching.

·        Debra Dean’s The Madonna’s of Leningrad is a historical novel set in the basement of Leningrad’s Art  Museum during Hitler’s siege the city in 1941.  The museum’s staff protects their National art treasure first by risking their lives in staying to ship the art to safety, then by building memory palaces in their minds to keep the art alive.  It was a haunting testimony to the human reverence of art.

·        I’ve just begun to read this months book , Morning’s on Horseback by David McCullough.  It is a biography of the youth of Teddy Roosevelt. 

·        Waiting to be read are Geraldine Brook’s March, Gail Tsukiyama’s Women of Silk, and Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.