Readings and Greetings: Book Club Celebrates Ten Years of Reading Great Books

Ten years ago four women sat on a shady patio to talk about one of our greatest loves--reading.  Before the evening was over and the wine bottles emptied we set upon a path of sharing our passion of books and reading.  Perhaps C.S. Lewis best summed up our feelings when he wrote,  "We read to know we are not alone." 

Doris, Diane, Sonya

 Since that evening a group of ten to fourteen women has met on the 2nd Monday of each month to discuss a selected book and to share our thoughts and lives through our readings, our musings, and our reflections.  It is like Edmund Burke says, "Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting." 

Sonya, Jan, and Jeannette

And we do eat delicious treats while we share our thoughts. Occasionally, a single book receives  applause and accolades from all of us, but that is rare, because we are women who first speak our minds, and we share in the selection of books which often pushes us out of our comfort zone.  Although fiction books remain the most common genre, we've also read a wide range of non-fiction from biographies (Kate Remembered) to history (1776), and to current mainstream thinking (A Whole New Mind).  

This fall a list was compiled of 120 books that we have read and discussed over the last ten years.  From that list we voted on our favorite top 12 books, not an easy tasks for anyone.  My only regret is that we didn't allow an evening to read over the list, reflect and share orally why one book received a vote when another one didn't.  Sixty-two books received votes, and ONE book was the runaway favorite.  Perhaps it was the way Atticus listened and taught Scout and Jem about life that touched us deeply: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."  Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird climbed to the top of our list by receiving a vote from nearly everyone.  

Our Top 12 picks:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Help by Stockett
Light Between Oceans by Stedman

Unbroken by Hillenbrand
The Kite Runner by Hosseini

Seabiscuit by Hillenbrand (our only author to make the top 12 twice)
Killing Lincoln by O'Reilly

Seven books came in tied for 8,9,10, 11, and 12 place with each receiving four votes:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Skloot
The Book Thief by Zusak
My Sister's Keeper by Picoult
Glass Castle by Walls
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Flagg
Three Cups of Tea by Mortenson
Secret Life of Bees by Kidd

As I compiled the votes, I reflected on and observed several things.  We learned that in the first two years we read two books by Jeanne Ray and a book by her daughter, Ann Patchett.  We went on to read four titles by Ann Patchett that created great discussions but didn't make our top 12. Other authors that we read more than one of their books include: Khaled Hosseini, Geraldine Brooks, Jeannette Walls, Jodi Picoult,  Dan Brown, Mitch Album, Sue Monk Kidd, and Fannie Flagg who made us laugh.  Thanks to the Dillon Lecture Series, and the independent book stories like Watermark Books and Bluebird

T.C. Boyle and Trudy at Watermark

Books, several of us have enjoyed meeting or listening to these authors--Geraldine Brooks, Daniel Pink, Lisa See, T.C. Boyle, Jeanne Ray, Jeannette Walls, Stacey Cordery, Jill Browne, M.L. Stedman, Laura Moriarty, Lisa Tucker, Greg Mortenson,  Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Senator Bob Dole.   Of the twelve classics we've read besides To Kill a Mockingbird the only other ones to receive votes were Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, My Antonia, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Gift from the Sea. One month during the winter we meet with four to six other book clubs to discuss a classic or other notable book.  To hear another woman's point of view or experience always expands our learning.   Occasionally,  in gatherings like this we even gossip about books, "No, don't waste your time on that one."  "Oh, you've just got to read this one."  "Don't know what Oprah was thinking when she called this one great!"  Some books were never finished by a few of us, other books that we might not have read of our own choosing enlightened us to another genre, style of writing, point of view, or time in history.  Our minds, our outlooks, our experiences were changed because of the books we read.  

Dr. Seuss, in his book I Can Read with my Eyes Shut, seems to exemplify our growth as readers and as women, when he writes, "The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more you learn, the more places you will go."  

These books received one, two, or three votes and are in no particular numerical order:

Kate Remembered by Berg
Ahab's Wife by Naslund
No Ordinary Times by Goodwin
1776 by McCullough
Water for Elephants by Jankowski
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Little Bee by Cleave
Shanghai Girls by See
Eleanor and Franklin by Lash
Eat Cake by Ray
Julie and Romeo by Ray
Truth and Beauty by Patchett
Bel Canto by Patchett
Where the Heart is by Letts
DaVinci Code by Brown
Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Doig
Pilot's Wife by Shreve
What Remains by Radzwill
Take Big Bites by Ellerby
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Edwards
American Gospel by Meacham
Gift from the Sea by Morrow
Tortilla Curtain by Boyle
My Antonia by Cather
On the Road by Kerouac
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini
Escape by Jessop
The Zookeeper's Wife by Harp
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Smith
A Whole New Mind by Pink
#1 Ladies Detective Agency by McCall
Loving Frank by Horan
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Shaffer
People of the Book by Brooks
Half Broke Horses by Walls
Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl
Last Lecture by Pausch
Their Eyes Are Watching God by Hurston
Life in France by Child
Devil in the White City by Larson
Beekeeper's Apprentice by King
The Things They Carried by O'Brien
Dove Keepers by Hoffman
Paris Wife by McLain
Heaven is for Real by Burpo
Life of Pi by Martel
Catcher in the Rye by Salinger
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Durrow
Caleb's Crossing by Brooks

Out of 120 books read in ten years 63 received votes leaving behind another 57 books on the list or on our shelves, some that affected of us, some we never finished, and some we wondered "why did we pick this?".  In the end, we've all made connections to each other, with characters, and with places in time who will live on within our hearts and minds.  "Bon Appetite, and Cheers to another ten years of great reads."  



P.S.  We read 119 books not 120.  One title, Eleanor and Franklin, we decided to read over a two month period.  

Storm Clouds

The storm is brewing in the west, while I'm perched high on a bluff overlooking Elk River as it blends into Grand Lake with its calm waters, boaters,  fishermen and women, pelicans, gulls and other swooping chattering birds.  A

Lee's Resort, Grand Lake, Oklahoma

talkative blue heron searching for a fisherman's handout just landed on the dock below bellowing its arrival.  As the onlooker perched on a peak, I watch in silence as the heron stalks the pier.   Shouldn't that bird be in the marsh or on the bank, but if he were I'd not have this opportunity to watch.  I had to chuckle as the heron lifted his leg and scratched his head.  Does this bird have fleas?

Lucy's at my feet protecting me from stray dogs, squirrels, and children.  Sitting in the wild of changing weather makes it difficult to concentrate on writing because I'm so busy feeling the temperature drop, noticing the changes from calm to white capped water, and seeing the green splotches of water currents floating on the blue gray cast of the lake waters.   Watching UBB's (unidentified brown birds)  fly below me, white gulls floating on air like snowflakes against the green hills across the water, and turnkey buzzards soar above is fascinating and quieting for the soul.  At home I know my birds--cardinals, orioles, wrens, robins, grackles, juncos, nuthatch--and their seasons, but the waters edge of Grand Lake brings a whole new landscape into view, even a late season hummingbird on a yellow rose bush, or perhaps it was one of those gigantic insects that I have no name for.  Either way I'm intrigued.

Facing the East with blue bluffs on the right.

Ah, the smell of stink bait as the man sporting a yellow cap and a heavy belly slowly meanders down to the to fishing pier.  My daughter, celebrating her 42nd birthday, is down on the dock fishing this morning.  I've brought steaks for dinner tonight, but a fresh fish cooked on a grill would be such a treat.

Oh, my heavens,  a speeding boat with flashing red and blue lights, no siren, just raced by; I've never seen police on water.  I wonder with the massive increase in boaters, houseboats, and lake homes, and if the age of cell phones and immediate contact has created a place for law enforcement on the water's edge.  In my childhood on Grand Lake in the late 50's and 60's we sometimes felt like we owned a cove or river of water since we were the only boat out for the day.    I'm looking down to my right at the blue bluff area, retelling

50 years ago, we fished, slept, and swam from this old houseboat.

my husband of the time my parents and friends owned a houseboat that for a few years was docked near the cove to Blue Bluff.  Winds are shifting and cool chill hits me from behind.

A moment of sunshine through the clouds.

Two men in a fishing boat are drifting by, my husband thinks they're reading the sonar or radar looking for fish.  What happened to looking for shad, schools of fish, or old fishing holes?  Shaun and Katy are talking to the guys now.   I imagine the dialogue goes like this:  Men, "Catching anything over here?"  Shaun, "No but we've had a few nibbles.  You see anything out there?"  Men, "Yeah, looks like back there to your right might be a few fish."  Then Shaun casts his lines toward the open lake.  The clouds have calmed and darkened around us now, so what is coming in from my back or Southwest?

My nose sometimes sniffs like a dog, especially when rain is in the air.  I can smell the rains but the clouds are hiding behind us in the trees, and the lake view looks innocent.  Oops!

Twenty four hours later:  Without thunder or strong winds to warn us, rain drops hit my back yesterday.  I closed the computer, cradling it in my arms like a baby or a small grand dog; I ran between heavy rain drops with Lucy and Jack running alongside.  Katy and Shaun with their two dogs, threw their fishing gear together and hurriedly climbed the stairs and ran back to the cabin.  A cool wet day sent us all off in different directions.

My Miami High  School class of 1965 met here at Lee's for a 50th reunion planning meeting,

Jack scouted out the area casinos, and Katy and Shaun drove around the Horse Creek area reflecting on her childhood  memories of swimming and fishing on Grand Lake.  There was no fish for dinner, but the steaks and grilled fresh veggies were juicy and delicious.  A small sliver of Yoder Chocolate Cream pie  topped off the night, until the moon came out and our young fisherman, Katy and Shaun, determined to catch a fish on her birthday headed back down to the docks.   After hours of football and an OU win, Jack and I made our way to the docks to sit  and watch our fishermen in action.  With our senses scanning the air and water for a calming memory, we reflected on a great day.  Happy Birthday Katy.

A new day:  sunshine on our faces and a cool fall breeze on our backs.