book club sans book

Eight of us meet. Betsy is hosting. 

Tonight has been planned more as a get-together than a book discussion. Unlike most meetings, Betsy goes all out and makes a four-course meal: appetizers, salad, main course, and dessert.  Well, actually, Betsy's husband makes the meal. He artfully makes some kind of baked dish of cauliflower and parmesan, couscous, and meatballs. Everything is delicious. Dessert is cut up fruit and an amazing upside down apple tart, prepared in a cast iron pan.

Tonight's book club is more like a dinner party.  Our animated conversations cover a wide range of topics. From:

Je suis Charlie, and freedom of speech

to

The economics of working women.

to

Summer camp.  One in the group attended a liberal summer camp, where all campers were required to write letters to LBJ in protest of the Vietnam War.  She was 7 at the time.

to

Our kids, who are all in college, about to start, or freshly out.

to

The job market.

to

Losing a parent.

to

Our children's boyfriends and girlfriends, even the ones we don't like.

to

The flu, picking swatches for a slipcover, and much in between.

This is a smart, strong and likable group of women.  The common bond is parenting; we all met through either elementary or middle school.  We all do different things professionally.  Among us is a lawyer, a programmer, a college professor at an Ivy League school, an artist and performer, a world traveler, a banker, a therapist, and a manager of a rock band (featuring her three sons).  Six of us are Jewish; four are not (although one is married to a Jewish man).  Three have lived abroad, including one who grew up in Holland.  Most of us grew up on the east coast, though one of us is from Nebraska. Four of us are single; the rest are married.  When we started the book club, only two of us were single. We've shared our thoughts on books, but also on politics, social changes, and most importantly, our personal life challenges.

I joined this book club in September 2004.  We even had a rule back then: no hardcover book recommendations because, "They're too heavy to carry around."  I was so happy when Amazon introduced the Kindle.

So I host next.  I'm already nervous about what to serve.  If only Andy were for hire.