Unlike many book clubs, our book club does not have either an impressively long history, or a large membership. Evolved from a big Thursday dinner group in early 2017, it has only four members meeting one Saturday each month, to continue to talk about what was on our mind. The brief time at the monthly dinner was often not adequate for airing our thoughts fully.
The short history of our book club is punctuated by its frequent change of meeting locations. It started at each member's living room or kitchen, and then graduated to local libraries equipped with free meeting rooms or spaces. Scotts Valley Library had both small study rooms and outdoor decks. But some Saturday staff there were strict disciplinarians: we could not use a room more than one hour per day, even when all the rooms were widely available. Outdoor decks were free from the staff's severe scrutiny, but we had to contend with the fierce valley sun beating on us, or strong corridor winds. When we moved to Live Oak Library, we did not fare much better. There was no meeting space inside. Sitting outside the library, we had to endure both the direct sun, and glaring glances from fellow sitters who sharer the same seating preference as us. The location dilemma, however, has been magically resolved by the invention of Zoom meetings, since the March 2020 shutdown to isolate COVID-19. As our Zoom is free, we have to limit our book discussions to 45 minutes each month. In the final analysis, our freedom of space is won at the expenses of time.
I was no fan of book clubs, since my reading taste is not only peculiar, but also narrow. I felt it uncomfortable, and even invasive if anyone would suggest or recommend a so-called good book, as my firm belief is that personal reading choices are rather private. Four years of book club reading has transformed me beyond recognition. Not withstanding the writers' lightweight view toward academic science and disciplines, I have gone through books like Delia Owens' Where the crawdads sing, Brit Bennett's the Vanishing half, and Janet Skeslien Charles' the Paris library.
To my greater surprise, I have found myself slowly climbing out of my comfort zone, and expanding my horizons by reading our book club selections, such as Tana French's the Searcher, Arlie Russell Hochschild's Strangers in their own land, Kate Moore's The radium girls, Laura Moriarty's The chaperone, Ann Patchett's the Dutch house, and State of wonder, Lara Prescott's The secrets we kept, Wallace Stegner's Angle of repose, and Kevin Wilson's Nothing to see here.
Our book club has also enabled me to be less discriminating but more tolerant toward life and the people around me. With the aid of eAudios, I am able to finish two required books per month. The bedtime book choices, however, are dedicated to my pleasure reading of favorite British and Scandinavian mystery writers.
