I LOVE Book Club

In the fall of 2005 some friends and I started a book club up at Hurstbourne Country Club.  Throughout the summers, several of us would notice each other reading at the pool, and after much talk, we finally put a date on the calendar to meet.  Our first selection was "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd.  Five years later we are still going strong.  We meet once a month (except in December) for drinks and dinner in the ladies "tee" room at Hurstbourne.  The group ebbs and flows...some members love "chick lit", others love classics, some epic dramas, some mysteries. We try to pick varying selections to accomodate the different tastes.  There are two things I really love about book club.  One is that I've been exposed to a lot of different books that I would never have otherwise been exposed to.  Two, is that I've gotten to know so many interesting women from the club, who I also otherwise probably wouldn't have crossed paths with.  It's so refreshing and fun to talk about something other than our husbands and children.  I confess there are many women in the club who I never thought were very "deep", because we tended to have shallow, surface conversations while standing around a swim meet or pool party (they probably thought the same thing about me!).  But in book club, you are exposed to an entirely different side of people...their opinions, insights, ideas...you learn about each other, and I always come home enriched.  Whenever I think about paring down my calendar, taking book club off is just not an option.  Reading and discussing the books is something I really love.