I love to read.  I love book clubs so I can talk about what I read.  Not all book clubs are for me.  My first book club was 14 years ago when I had babies.  I learned then I do not like to talk endlessly about breastfeeding; I like to talk about the book.  In my second book club I found it frustrating to skip the book talk entirely if not everyone read the book.  Really?  I did my homework and I’m punished?  The Queen Bee of the club picked all our books too.  I did what I had to do:  I started my own book club and I took the people I liked with me.

Now I have the book club for me.  I love everything about it.  Not all are original members from 12 years ago.  People come and go but are always my friend; life happens.  One current member, Invisible Girl, keeps up on the books but can’t make it as often now.  She battles bad guys in court and there are a lot of bad guys out there.  We miss her and her yummy cakes.  She’s with us in spirit.

My Book Pals, minus a few.

Nobody misses if they can help it.  When we meet, we talk about the book, usually about twenty minutes unless we hate it, then it’s longer.  We love to rant.  We talk about the end of a book even if only a few finished it.  Hooray!  We all have a say in what we read but the hostess is the tiebreaker if there is one.  No Queen Bees.  We screen carefully.

We like to dress for meetings.  If you can’t dress up for your girlfriends, who will appreciate that cute top and not ask you if it’s new?   It’s like an unwritten code to step it up from the yoga pants.  However, we know a busy day and sometimes the sporty look is the way it goes.  We’re just happy to see each other.  I like that; I like flexibility.

Club Favorite.

We take turns hosting.  A couple of members own their months.  February suits for one.  She tried to switch to January when we needed a hostess, a real gal pal.  The offer lasted a split second.  She is Miss February and that’s that.  Love a girl who knows what she wants.  Miss May lucks out with the perfect weather so we can converse in her perfect garden with perfect garden-plucked bouquets, absolutely lovely.  She’s one powerful lady to control Mother Nature like that.  For Miss Hot Stuff, no matter the month, winter spring or summer, it’s HOT!  She hosted last January, hoping to break her hot streak.  The California drought makes January feel like April.  She will keep her title.

Luncheons are the best venue these days.  Nights cut into taxi time.  Luncheons suit the girlfriend cuisine better anyway.  Nobody is going to turn down a salad because they are on a diet.  Our members can make a lean and mean meal, and sometimes tie it to the book.  We ate French when the book took place in Luxembourg, Expat.  Miss Planner even matched the wine to the meal.  We had rooster soup, black market salad and wedding cake to simulate WWII-starved Russia, City of Thieves.  Another time we ate as if we were at the spa, Cobb Salad for the main course and mixed berries for dessert.  And once, we enjoyed wine cake made from a secret recipe.  Only one of us has wrestled the recipe from her so far.

August we break out of our book club mode to go to a movie, hopefully a book-based flick.  We make an evening of it and discuss over wine afterward.  This past summer we saw “Blue Jasmine.”  It was never a book but Woody Allen suits our style.  The star, Cate Blanchett, resembles one of our members, Sharon.  We were so happy Cate/Movie Star Sharon won a Golden Globe; it was like a family win.  We all wanted Cate’s classy clothes from the movie too.

Book Talk Gem.

Last December we started a gift exchange and it was a hit.  Girlfriends just know what girlfriends like.   The talk of the table was a package of six “Mother Pucker Lip Glosses” from Funny Girl.  She’s good for a laugh and came through on the gift.  A few tried it and found their lips vibrated.  A little “lip plump” ingredient was laced into the gloss.  Everyone sparkled and buzzed.

We invited an author in for a book talk for the first time last year too.  My Australian friend, Alicia Young, wrote “The Savvy Girl’s Guide to Grace.”  Our Stylish Girl hostess artfully displayed the book on a pedestal in the center of the table, like a wedding cake.  The book club was on its best behavior.  I think it was Alicia’s accent.  We sat up straighter.  Asked brilliant questions or quoted specifics from the book.  Only one person spoke at a time. We talked about the book or the author the entire two hours.  It was bring-a-friend-day and one came.  New Girl was so impressed she joined our group.  We fooled her.  She’s actually still with us, five months later. She likes us warts and all.

When it comes to book vs. Kindle, we are a mixed bag.  Some go both ways because there is nothing better than holding a real book.  No matter the device my book club buddies love to read.  We like smart, well-written fiction and memoirs.  We read some really great stuff in 2013.   Here is our first official book list:

Book Favorites

1. City of Thieves:  Page-turner.
2. This is Where I Leave You:  Hilarious and witty.
3. Where’d Ya Go Bernadette:  Funny and adventurous.
4. Wild:  Inspiring and controversial.
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:  Good old-fashioned read.
6. Great Gatsby:  Perfectly worded and engaging.

Best Author Talk

Savvy Girl’s Guide to Grace:  Fun. Enlightening.  Author Alicia Young is delightful, smart and charming.

Worth Mentioning:

A Light Between Two Oceans:  Great discussion book.

Orphan Master’s Son:  Pulizter Prize winner.  Long.  Slow.  Graphic.

Don’t Bother:

Expat:  Not stay-at-home mom friendly.