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...

Annoying, Inaccurate Idiotic Linguistic Oxymorons

We all have our pet peeves, and there are various genres for sure. Maybe genre is the wrong word. Maybe I should have written categories. I'd hate to start a rant like this with a glaring linguistic faux pas mistake, but thanks to Professor Google I've just discovered that the actual definition of genre  is category. Honestly, I never knew that before. Spanish was my Foreign Language in high school, not French.

Before I share two glaring ones, at least they're glaring to me, I'd like to invite you to share yours in the comments, please.

Linguistic Oxymorons

1. "close acquaintances" which is a contradiction in terms. An acquaintance by definition isn't someone you're close with. If you were close with the person, it would mean that the person is a friend. acquaintance: a person whom you know but do not know well and who is therefore not exactly a friend. Synonyms: contact, associate, connection, ally, colleague. Actually using these synonyms would be a more correct way of describing someone you know, or work/ed with, but don't consider to be a friend. There's more distance in an "acquaintance."
2. "knitted" sic kippot (yarmulkes)" Kippot are those small round head-coverings worn by some Jewish men and the Roman Catholic hierarchy, though they call them "skullcaps." Actually they can be of any material/fabric at all. In certain Jewish circles, especially here in Israel, a crocheted kippah is also a "political badge" signifying "national religious," those believing in Jewish Rights to the Land of Israel. In Hebrew the little "cap" is called kippah srugah. The problem comes from translating srugah into English. The Hebrew word can mean either knitted or crocheted, which are two similar though different crafts using string or yarn. Knitting uses two sticks and is best for square or rectangular shapes. Crocheting uses one hooked "stick" and is best for circles and ovals. A kippah is circular, so it's easily crocheted. It's pretty obvious that some man needed to translate "srugah" and looked up the word in a dictionary. Not having the vaguest idea of the difference between knitting and crocheting, he figured that they were the same, one more Anglo and the other French. This oxymoron has taken off. I've even seen it in books and articles where the author should have known better, but the world of Jewish publishing is dominated by men....

What's your linguistic pet peeve? Please add it to the comments, thanks.

Genre Focused Book Club

 A few months ago, as I've already posted, our Book Club came  back to life in a new format. Each monthly meeting is a different genre or author instead of struggling with the logistics of everyone reading, and first finding in one form or another, the same book. 

We all read something by Herman Wouk, then children/youth classics, inspiring books, inspiring people/biographies/memoirs and most recently detective books.

Genre focused meetings are lots of fun and allow us book-lovers to really enjoy and share our love of literature. Another change is that we're taking turns as facilitators. Quite often the facilitator is the member who suggested the genre.

Our detective mysteries ranged from Agatha Christie to Michael Connelly, which really are very different. It's always interesting to see which books have been chosen. I spoke about Michael Connelly, and I was rather shocked to discover that not all of my friends were familiar with any of his many, many series of books and characters.

A few years ago we added a potluck dinner to the meeting's festivities, and now that we're vaccinated it has fully resumed. The only change is NO FINGER FOOD or DOUBLE-DIPPING. 

If you're part of a book club, please tell me about it in the comments, thanks. And if you'd like more information on how we run our club, please fell free to ask.