Tonight my new book group met to discuss Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This is a book that I had read a couple of years ago, for my first book group. When I read it, I was Gruen's ideal reader. I read along engrossed, and falling for every trick. I could not imagine how the book could end well, and was totally shocked when it did. I then told my friend, Kim, who was reading the book, that it had a great ending. She said she had figured out what was going to happen, and was right. The only other book that I can recall reading without having any clue as to how it would end was The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Again, in The Hours, I fell for every trick, and did not figure out how the characters were connected until the very last page.
The meeting tonight included seven people, and we expect the size of this group to fluctuate from meeting to meeting. We are all members of a group within my school district that supports the families of children who are different learners. Most of us liked the way that the story was told through flash backs, so that we knew that Jacob lived a long life as we read about his youth. All but one of us plans to see the Water for Elephants movie.
We discussed plans for a next meeting, and decided that our next book will be Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. We also decided that we wanted to include Friends who don't like to read. As a result, we will be meeting every other month to discuss books, and in the alternate months we'll have a bar night. This is a book group that I could like! From now on, I'll call this "The Friends Group", and you'll know what I mean.
Still reading: Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart
Still listening to: Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
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