and now about reading.

...last night I had the very fun experience of a first bookclub meeting. It was organized by a friend of a friend who just moved here and had enjoyed a bookclub in her old neighborhood. She invited a few neighbors, and mothers of her kids' classmates, my friend and me. Nine of us met and over dinner and drinks got to know each other (well kind of, I'm still not sure of everyone's name!) The group is diverse in terms of age and background which always makes for good discussion. and yikes! I think I'm the oldest (and I know I have the oldest children.) It was rather fun to hear talk about third grade reading projects, and the trauma of starting middle school or finding a good tennis coach...and know that those difficult mothering years are behind me.


We moved on to a good discussion about A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett. The group had voted via email on three titles, and this one won. A few of us had read - and loved - other books by Follett including Pillars of the Earth, A Dangerous Fortune and Fall of Giants. Sadly, none of us thought this one measured up. I admitted I'd skipped the middle 300 or so pages, yet still didn't have any problem keeping up with the story. or the discussion.

And then we started talking about what book we should read next and I suggested we share a bit about books we'd recently read and books we loved. I offered up Night Circus and Cutting for Stone and A Discovery of Witches. (and would've offered up The Gargoyle but I couldn't remember its title). I heard a few new titles - The 12 Tribes of Hattie (how I could miss an Oprah book is telling about the state of my reading right now!) and Team of Rivals.  We ended up choosing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks which no one had read, but everyone had heard good things about. Through that whole discussion, I used the Goodreads app on my phone; and that was new to everyone, so I offered to send an email after.

the Goodreads app - HIGHLY recommend!

...I knew I hadn't updated my Goodreads in a while. but I was surprised to see it was last October. three months ago. and even more surprised that I hadn't read a new book since then. I did re-read the first Harry Potter. and I read the beginning and ends of Lamb in his Bosom (for my other book club) and A Place Called Freedom. and I started Cloud Atlas on October 30 (and I'm only 30% through it...I am still intending to finish, but I think it's going to take me a while).

whoa. I haven't done this little reading since I can remember. and I miss it. I think the reality for me right now is that I have time to "play", I'm more likely to knit, or edit photos, or work on other crafty projects. which could be simply that I'm not reading anything that's better than those activities. or maybe I need a better way to read.

the Audible app...this is as far as I've gotten!

So this morning, I signed up for Audible and downloaded the app for my phone...and Wolf Hall. It's 24 hours long. I'm hoping to finish my Market Jacket while I listen.  (and while I was at it a short story by Lisa Gardner that was free...her name came up last night and I don't think I've ever read her).

Curious - do any of you listen to books? and what was the last book that really captured your attention?