JAN: I joined a book club about ten years ago in hopes of getting greater insight into the way different readers respond to different books.
But the funny thing about book clubs is they get to be about a lot more than just books.
Our group is all women. About twelve of us now, and at least half of us have been together for ten years. We’ve given each other advice on hair dressers, yoga teachers, ski lodges, and the best New York hotels. We’ve supported each other over miscarriages, divorces, parents' deaths, and trouble with our children. We’ve celebrated birthdays and book launches and major promotions.
Last summer, one of our members, Beth was promoted from commander to captain in the Navy Reserves. We all attended a military ceremony on the USS Constitution in Boston. It was an emotional and beautiful event, illuminating service and dedication. We were all blown away with pride. Afterwards, we got a private tour of the historical battleship, and toasted Beth's promotion with champagne cocktails at brunch aboard the cruise ship Odyssey.
Last week, our book club got together for a different kind of party. This one was to say goodbye. Beth was assigned to a command post in Iraq. She’ll be gone for at least a year.
Because of Beth's attitude about the assignment – that it was an exciting opportunity – we treated it as a celebration. Rose hosted, we all brought food and wine, and even spouses were invited. Beth arrived in a terrific black cocktail dress accessorized with Navy issue desert boots.
But the funny thing about book clubs is they get to be about a lot more than just books.
Our group is all women. About twelve of us now, and at least half of us have been together for ten years. We’ve given each other advice on hair dressers, yoga teachers, ski lodges, and the best New York hotels. We’ve supported each other over miscarriages, divorces, parents' deaths, and trouble with our children. We’ve celebrated birthdays and book launches and major promotions.
Last summer, one of our members, Beth was promoted from commander to captain in the Navy Reserves. We all attended a military ceremony on the USS Constitution in Boston. It was an emotional and beautiful event, illuminating service and dedication. We were all blown away with pride. Afterwards, we got a private tour of the historical battleship, and toasted Beth's promotion with champagne cocktails at brunch aboard the cruise ship Odyssey.
Last week, our book club got together for a different kind of party. This one was to say goodbye. Beth was assigned to a command post in Iraq. She’ll be gone for at least a year.
Because of Beth's attitude about the assignment – that it was an exciting opportunity – we treated it as a celebration. Rose hosted, we all brought food and wine, and even spouses were invited. Beth arrived in a terrific black cocktail dress accessorized with Navy issue desert boots.
We did not cry. At least not at the party. We gave Beth a gift certificate for her new Kindle so she could keep up with the books we were reading. We were quite bossy about expecting her opinion of each month’s choice by email.
We will be thinking about what we can send her, and what we can do for her family left behind. But mostly, we’ll be reading all news out of Iraq with a new intensity. We'll start seeing the war a lot closer up, holding our breath after each new terrorist attack, and praying hard until the day she comes home.
What are we reading for next month? I can't remember.
