Thursday, October 21

book clubbing

crossingtosafety

Tonight I am hosting my very first book club discussion. I've spent the day vacuuming, baking with Oscar (he's good licking paddles) and drafting out a few talking points. I kind of feel like I'm in college again: hunkering down with Wallace Stegner, researching Madison and Toscanini, deconstructing his quiet and beautiful and ultimate novel. (Except in college I didn't have a kid and I probably used the oven a total of five times.) Here's one of several favorite paragraphs:

Meantime there were these friends, this open-armed family, this summer weather, these peaceful mornings on the guest-house porch where, with my typewriter on a card table, and the thrushes and whitethroats singing up the last act of the summer's intense family life, I could sit among the treetops and look down through the hemlocks to the glitter of the lake and feel my mind as sharp as a knife, capable of anything, including greatness.

I wish my copy had this cover. Apparently Charity's legs were even longer than I imagined. (That's Charity, right?)
.

7 comments:

Dede said...

Good luck, Ali! Sounds like it will be a good night. Wish I lived close to be a part of your club :)

Brooke Romney said...

Sounds fun. I love book club. Was the book good? I'd love to add it to my "to read" shelf!

Lane said...

That has to be Charity. Sally, sadly, is not interesting enough a character to be featured on the cover. Interesting to think of the book as "about" Charity.

I wish I could come to your book club, sounds like you would do an excellent job. And this is coming from someone who consistently struggled with book club.

Ann Marie said...

ha! we are reading the same book for our book club...since i suggested it i have to come up with the "questions"...any suggestions? i actually just finished reading it today for the second time...i'm kind of in a trance about it. so good.

Lisa Michelle Cifuentes said...

I have not read this yet, but this paragraph is beautiful! I look forward to checking it out. Hope the book club went well! ♥

Haley said...

Love this book, how was your club meeting?

InCircle Interiors said...

ohhh, this is where i saw it! i read this over christmas and i know your blog was one that i saw it on. it was lovely. and yes, that has to be charity.

-martha