Back to Reading

Photo by Dom J

I'm reading again. Finally. After CH passed away, I tried to read. I ended up frustrated because nothing could hold my attention enough to finish a book. I tried different genres without luck. I was beginning to think I'd never read another book again. I've been a book lover my whole life, so it was a little distressing to not be able to read.

Until a local brewery started a book club. Beer & books? Yes, please! I walked into the brewery with confidence, not knowing exactly what to expect. MS said that the owners had no idea how this was going to go...would it be a hit or a dud? 

I've wanted to join a book club for a while, but I wasn't sure how to go about joining. It seems that most book clubs are already established and not looking for new members. It turns out I'm not alone. Several of the members said the same thing. 

Back to the first night: I joined some ladies already sitting at one of the tables. We ended up with 15 ladies the first night, so I'd say it was a hit. The lady who started the book club is a reading teacher at one of the local schools, and most of the members are teachers. Since most of them are teachers for a different school system than the one from which I retired, I didn't know anyone. And it was okay. I'm getting used to putting myself out there and going places on my own. In fact, I'm actually learning to like it. 

Our "leader" chose the first book: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. His first book was All the Light We Cannot See, which was excellent, so I was expecting great things. I wasn't disappointed. We took 4 weeks to read the book, roughly 200 pages every 2 weeks. It seemed doable, and I liked that the book was broken up like that, so I didn't feel overwhelmed. Cloud Cuckoo Land is one of those books with multiple main characters; each chapter is about a different person. To make things more "interesting", there were 3 different time periods that each lived in. And then there were back stories for each character. The first time we met after reading the first 200 pages, a lot of questions were straightened out. I don't know if I would have enjoyed the book as much if I weren't reading along with a group. I enjoyed it so much that I finished the book even though I missed the last meeting, and then I had to email the leader to let her know how much I liked it. 

This book club has brought back my love of reading. I've read a few other books over the last few weeks and have been able to actually sit down and get lost in them.  I feel like a part of me has been revived. And it feels great!