A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Book Club...Short and Sweets

I recently heard about a book club at a nearby library. We in Bryon, have access to two libraries. A large on in Byron and a smaller one in Stillman Valley.I've always gone to the one here in town, but when I heard about this interesting book club at the smaller one...I thought I'd give it a try. I've always shied away from book clubs...not wanting to have to read a book that might not interest me, not having enough time to finish a book in the time allotted, or being shy about going the first time to something that I hadn't tried before.A few years ago, I belonged to Oprah's book club and read so many books that I wouldn't have chosen for myself. So, when I found out more about this one...I knew that this was the one for me.It was advertised....

For patrons "Too busy to read a novel!" the second group, Short & Sweets, features one short story a month. Participants meet the third Wednesday of each month at 10:00 AM in our Cafe area for a fun and engaging discussion over homemade desserts.

I visited the library with my friend and picked up my story sheets last week. The first short story was THE FLIGHT OF BETSEY LANE by SARAH ORNE JEWETT.. I read it quickly and then went back and reread it. It's such a delightful story about three women who live in a poorhouse in Maine and their daily lives and adventures. I found a site online where I could listen to the story told by actors speaking with the dialect of the women.I was so anxious to go to the book club and discuss this with other women. When I arrived, there were 10  women there. One of the librarians was the moderator and led us through such an interesting discussion. We stayed on topic pretty well, but occasionally veered off subject to tell stories of our own lives that related to the tale. We shared a dessert of  Peaches and Cream, brought by my friend. Each month someone brings a dessert to share and we eat this while we are discussing the story. I'm so glad that I decided to go and join these women. We are mostly the same age with a few younger gals attending. This mix of ages will give some different views in coming discussions. Our next reading will be THE DEACON by MARY GORDON. I'm anxious to start reading the selection for this month. These short stories will lead to learning about what books the others are reading and their opinions about them. When I joined, the librarians said, "We are so jealous of you in that group. We hear laughter and good fun coming out of that room and wish that we could join in with you." 
Balisha

2 comments:

Margie's Musings said...

That sounds wonderful, Balisha! I envy you the book club.

acorn hollow said...

That sounds like my type of book club. I have always wanted to be in a book club but being a working girl it is impossible.
I did read a few of oprah's books I don't care for most of her picks.
Cathy