Book Club Banter

When I turned 40, I made this list, in my head, of things I needed to accomplish. I actually did start to write the list down, with all sorts of dreams of a list of 40(of course) items but I could only come up with 22 so I ditched the idea of writing it down. I’m random like that. But, one thing I really wanted to participate in was a book club, for grown ups. (Sidebar: I have hosted book clubs for kiddos a few times, fodder for a future post.) So now I’m 41 and in a club and we’ve progressed from meeting at Panera to gathering for theme based meals in one another’s homes because we like to keep it simple like that. We read Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A Novel this month and based our theme dinner on the book setting which was(here’s your clue)…

Clearly, that is the Space Needle, in Seattle, but I’m betting y’all knew that! Amazing architecture courtesy of my son, the Duplo contractor. Our Seattle inspired menu included a pink penguin cocktail, a few yummy seafood dips with crusty bread and crunchy crackers, Chef Tom’s Tasty Tomato Soup with brown butter croutons, a brick oven pizza from a local restaurant, and tasty blackberry cupcakes, complete with an entire rainy day outside to set the mood.  We all enjoyed this quick, quirky read and the plot twists along the way.  The mark of a good book is being able to find yourself in characters that seem nothing like you on the surface and that is true of this novel.  Okay, my favorite part of being in this club is the people, not the books.  These women are smart and funny and just amazing.  I love that they see things I miss, I love that we all agreed to be honest and unafraid to share our thoughts and we do it.  I love that there’s no judging when someone makes blackberry puree from scratch and someone else picks up salmon dip from the grocery store. I love that we get lost on twisty rabbit trails of conversation and no one cares.  I love that they indulge my corny ideas, like taking pictures to mirror the book cover.  I love these girls!