Book Club

Tonight was my favorite night of the month -- book club! It was especially fun for a few reasons: 1) I got to host it; 2) so many of my friends were here; and 3) the book was great!

This month's book was, "The Ladies Coupe" by Anita Nair. It's a novel that takes place in modern India and tells the stories of six different Indian women. Themes include marriage, love, children, aging, extended families, identity, desires, and dreams. The characters were interesting, and there was a lot to learn about Indian culture.

There were 13 of us tonight -- the most we've had in well over a year. Only three of us had read the whole book. Two others read part of the book. The rest hadn't even touched the book! Who are we kidding? We just come to book club to hang out with friends and eat good food. My friend at work has had a book club with the same friends for 12 years. She said they finally got honest and now accurately call it the "Touch the Book Club". I like that!

The discussion is always lively at book club, and tonight there was a lot of laughter as we related our own thoughts and experiences with the themes from the book.

I was tickled that so many of my friends came. I have the greatest friends ever, and to share the common experience of book reading makes the friendships all that much richer!

We usually serve food to go along with the book. I served Mulligatawny soup, chapatis, fresh mangos and blackberries, and a plate of three different chocolate desserts. (David made the brownies for me!)

I had tons of candles in the house and when John came to pick up the kids before book club started, he asked me if I was having a seances. I told him, "I hope so. You never know if enough women will show for a full coven, and you have to have a coven to do a seances." I love messing with him.

This was the first book club I've hosted as a married woman. My friends all love Darryl and asked where he was (he was upstairs playing on his XBox). Everyone had gone except Jana as Darryl came down the steps. The three of us started talking and before you know it, it is 11:45! Darryl can make anyone feel like they are the most important person in the world.

As Darryl and I were cleaning up, the conversation went something like this: "How's Jenni?" "I don't know. I didn't get a chance to talk to her." "Is Brad about done with the kitchen?" "I don't know. I didn't get a chance to talk to Cindy." "Are Kelly's kids feeling better?" "I don't know. I didn't get a chance to talk to her." At that point, Darryl looks at me and says "Why do you even have book club if you don't get to talk to anyone?" I love him; he so gets it!

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