There Is Just Something About A Book Club.....

I love to read....I think I always have. As a child I remember churning through the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Little House on the Prairie series, all the books I could find about dogs, Lassie, Brighty of Grand Canyon. Graduating to "older" selections it was Gone With the Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird, Sherlock Holmes....and on and on. As a teenager, while babysitting my younger sister, I'd "sneak read" my dad's copy of Peyton Place! Wild stuff back in the day.

I read to my kids all the time, Charlotte's Web, Winnie-the-Pooh, Stuart Little....Alice in Wonderland. We "fooled" our kids into thinking they were staying up late by saying "As long as you stay in bed you can READ for 30 minutes!" It worked.....they read.....and I stopped having to actively "mother" for the evening and could pick my own book up again.

I remember being engrossed in a Stephen King book when Megan was about eleven....it had to be 5:30 p.m or later when she wandered into the room to ask "Mom, what's for dinner?" I had no idea....too busy reading all afternoon. And I probably responded with some non-so-sympathetic answer about how I'd figure that out when I finished the chapter.

Reading opened my world, filled a void, made me think and wonder, stimulated my imagination, taught me new things. And it still does.

Once a month, for at least 30 years I've gone to my Book Club Meeting. I belonged to book clubs in Oconomowoc and Nashotah, WI, Freeport, IL, Tabernacle, NJ, New Castle, DE and now Milwaukee.  Whenever we moved to a new location, I'd unpack boxes and find a vook club. I simply can't imagine a month without my book club...and oh how I hate to miss a meeting!

My book club friends mean a lot to me.....they always have. They challenge me to move out of my comfort zone and read selections I would never choose to read on my own. They bring amazing insights and interpretations to what we read.....they see things differently than I do....that's what makes the discussions so much fun!

I'd ramble on a bit more.....but I just bought a new book....and it's calling to me.
:-)