Book Club Update, Monthly Genres, Successful

Last night was the monthly meeting of our Book Club, which we also turned into a Surprise Belated Birthday Party for the member who started this wonderful group.

I'm not quite sure how long we've been following this program. After a very rocky start, we added a potluck dinner to the evening, which seems to be the magic ingredient, at least for us. In the beginning we got together around 8:30pm, which meant that some members hadn't quite had dinner and were hungry, while others were tired and ready for bed.  As a creative solution we decided to meet earlier and eat dinner together before getting to the business of books. Potluck dinner in different homes made everyone happy, except for the hostess's husband, but later on we found a solution to that, too.

Another problem was the logistics of getting enough copies of the chosen book...

After the forced COVID break, which we unsuccessfully tried to compensate for via zoom, we changed the program even further. Instead of everyone reading the same book, we choose a genre/author and give each other the freedom for what we'll call individuality. One of the members told me that she had been a member of conventional book clubs and found it boring, listening to repetitive opinions from members at each meeting.

Last week the genre was "animals," which, when suggested, elicited a groan from me. I don't like animals; reading about animal lovers/stories isn't my thing. The only "animal book" I've ever enjoyed was Seabiscuit, because it's more about the people, but I couldn't find my copy.  Instead I saw the movie on DVD, but then I realized that the title of the book I had just read is At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf which does mention two animals. The title is a metaphor, and the book is fantastic. It belongs in the genre of Holocaust (which we have done) and coming of age. So, I decided to present it and recommend it highly. I still have to review it, but I'll say right here that it's definitely a book that can be the subject for a conventional book club that chooses one book to discuss. It's a novel by Tara Ison, and if you're looking for a great book, it has my vote. I hope to get the review done before Passover, if not...