The Western Springs Book Club (January 2, 2011) |
One thing to know about our club: The Sometimers book club began in 2003 with a discussion of "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand. The club's original 11 members all had children who attended St. John of the Cross Parish School in Western Springs. Those children are adults now, so when we aren't talking about books our conversation often shifts to weddings or grandchildren. Now, we have 12 regular members and four "social" members who only join us for outings such as our annual January dinner at a local restaurant. The club usually meets on the first Wednesday evening of the month and members take turns hosting discussions. Club members have also gathered at the St. John of the Cross women's club spring fashion show and had sleepover meetings at members' lake houses in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Authors we'd most like to meet: A few of our members met Mary Pat Kelly, author of "Galway Bay," when she spoke at the Darien Public Library last spring. We would also like to meet Jeannette Walls, Kathryn Stockett, Pat Conroy, Philippa Gregory and Tom Wolfe.
Worst reason anyone has given for not reading an assigned book: "I'm too cheap to buy it at the bookstore." There's also the unfortunate member who read the wrong book.
Average time spent talking about a book before the conversation swerves off into politics and family issues: We average about 30 minutes of discussion, although we often go off on tangents. Our leader, Pat Siffermann, keeps us on track in her own playful way. Our longest discussion was about "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski because most of us hated the book.
Five books we loved: "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay, "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Gregory and "The Glass Castle" by Walls.
Our next book: "South of Broad" by Conroy.
Authors we'd most like to meet: A few of our members met Mary Pat Kelly, author of "Galway Bay," when she spoke at the Darien Public Library last spring. We would also like to meet Jeannette Walls, Kathryn Stockett, Pat Conroy, Philippa Gregory and Tom Wolfe.
Worst reason anyone has given for not reading an assigned book: "I'm too cheap to buy it at the bookstore." There's also the unfortunate member who read the wrong book.
Average time spent talking about a book before the conversation swerves off into politics and family issues: We average about 30 minutes of discussion, although we often go off on tangents. Our leader, Pat Siffermann, keeps us on track in her own playful way. Our longest discussion was about "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski because most of us hated the book.
Five books we loved: "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay, "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Gregory and "The Glass Castle" by Walls.
Our next book: "South of Broad" by Conroy.
