I am in the best book club in the world…big claim yes, but true 🙂
Let’s see. I have been with my reading ladies since my son was 5…and now he’s 14!
Meeting monthly with a book to discuss for some chit chat, some deep dive into the said book and some treats to celebrate our time together in each other’s homes…what’s not to enjoy, right?
When I first joined this group, I was worried that I won’t enjoy reading other people’s pick of books. But I am amazed at all the treasures of books I have gleaned from reading a wide variety that I would never have picked on my own. All topics and genres. All kinds of authors or anthologies…my world of reading has certainly expanded from being a part of my book club.
But that is still not all that is amazing about this book club.
It’s the relationships, the nurture, the care that I have seen the ladies support each other with in times of need that is the most remarkable and best part about this group. We are there for each other in the highs and lows of life…And there have been deep friendships, connections between other family members…
It goes so much deeper than just discussing books together. But it starts with discussing books together.
With that introduction, I thought I’d tell you about a very special evening we had last Friday when we met for our monthly meeting.
The book in question was C. S. Richardson’s All the Colour in the World.
My friend, who knows the author welcomed us all in her lovely home with a spread of colourful treats in keeping with the theme of the book. And instead of plates, we had wooden palettes to eat on…How amazing is that, right?
Soon after the chit chat, we connected on Zoom, and were face to face with Mr. Richardson on the big screen!
After showing him around the room so he could see his audience, and saying hellos, we dug right in to asking him questions about the book, about his writing life, about publishing (his work background), about his time as a Giller shortlisted author, and his reading life…he regaled us with his stories and insights for an hour or so. His generosity both with his time, his patience, and mostly with his honesty about how his life as an author was unfolding was a welcome surprise.
I can imagine that Mr. Richardson has talked immensely since his book was shortlisted for the biggest literary prize in Canada, but there were no signs of him being tired of talking about it. He was very happily telling us about his thought process and intentions for the story and characters.
It would not be an exaggeration to say we had a great time.
To hear a creative talk about their work in such depth to people who are big fans of that particular work, it was a big treat for us, and all us bookies (as we call ourselves in the group) had big smiles on our faces the whole time.
Mr. Richardson’s intellect, his sense of humor, and his down to earth honesty were very endearing. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from our chat with him, but what actually transpired was better than I could have imagined!
Oh and it helps, that we all LOVED the book!!!
After disconnecting the video call, we spent another hour or so just talking about how much fun that conversation was and our own insights from everything the author told us…we all came out of the conversation richer for having been a part of it.
Thanks to my friend who organized this beautiful fun-filled evening…