The best part about our book club is the food. Okay, truly it’s the friendship. We were all friends before the club – I don’t remember who suggested we start meeting every month to discuss a new book. But I always look forward to getting together with the girls, sharing our thoughts, and enjoying good food and wine.
When we first moved to the city, it was the constant get-togethers, weekend late-night parties, and mid-week lunches and dinners. But as we’ve gotten a little older, attached, headed to grad school, or started new jobs, we can’t always meet up like we used to, which makes our scheduled book club meetings all the more special.
This month we met at my apartment to discuss EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert, admittedly a little behind the curve! But we wanted to make sure we all had read before we saw it on the big screen. And I am really glad we did. Just like my favorite part about our book club is getting together with the girls, some of my favorite parts throughout Gilbert’s book are the friendships she makes along the way.
We all agreed that one of the most touching moments is when Gilbert describes her Thanksgiving dinner in Italy, sharing with new friends from all over the world to experience the American turkey tradition. Ally, one of my good friends remarked, “We did that too when I was living in Croatia after college.” Though I’ve heard many Croatia stories, this was my time hearing about her Croatian Turkey Day!
Thanks to my book club, I’ve traveled the world with food. We always meet at each other’s apartments or Central Park (in the summer months) and each member is tasked with bringing a food from a place or theme in the book. This time, with EAT PRAY LOVE spanning Italy, India, and Indonesia, we had some pretty interesting eating combinations! Italy dominated with pastas, cheeses, homemade pizza, and some Cabernet Sauvignon, but there were also some interesting Thai noodles that entered the scene. We’ll plan to have Indian after watching the movie.
I’ll end on this. When I got a few emails prior to our meeting this month that a couple members had not finished the book, and one hadn’t even started, I was not so pleased. But when I received an email after our meeting from the “not-yet-started” member saying she’d started the book and was already loving it, I smiled. If I love a good book, I want others to enjoy it too, and especially my book club members and dear friends!
Julie’s book group will receive a Book Group in a Box full of great reads for her group. Your book group can, too!
Post a comment below or on Read It Forward on Facebook, or Read It Forward on Twitter sharing your book group story, and you could be featured as our Book Group of the Month!
Looks like Julie’s group had a lot of fun with Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
My book group meeets at Panera once a month for a great meal and great discussion about books.
Looks like Julie’s group had lots of fun with Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. We are sharing that book as it travels throughout our group. We meet once a month at Panera to share a meal and some great discussion about books.
Looks like Julie’s group had lots of fun with Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. We are passing that book around through our group. We meet once a month at Panera to share an great meal and some great discussion about books.
I would like to nominate our Denver-based book club for the very prestigious Book Club of the Month Award! We are an amazing group of eight women, composed of a dental hygienist, a fitness professional, a writing teacher, a music teacher, a theatrical director, a microbiologist, an interior designer and a chef. Together we form an intense, passionate, outspoken and intelligent group – we absolutely love books and love talking about them even more!
Our reading list is as diverse as our group. Past selections have included The Lace Reader, 1776, East of Eden, The Glass Castle, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Possession, The Red Tent and this month’s selection: Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca. We try to vary our choices between fiction and non, classic and newer, and food always plays a big part in our get-togethers! Although we loosely attempt thematic menus, in 1776 they subsisted on rotting meat and in The Glass Castle there often wasn’t much to eat at all, and since we love to eat we are not bound by these constraints.
Such a diverse group of women definitely do not agree on all points, and our discussions are often loud and passionate! The most important aspect of our book club, though, is that we are each immensely respectful of others’ views. While there may be disagreements, the individual perspectives and unique insights we each offer – plus an atmosphere of open-minded acceptance – make our gatherings the highlight of our monthly social calendars. Amazing food doesn’t hurt, either…
Please consider featuring our group on your site!
i love food and traveking too
this looksreally good
To Elizabeth,
Our book group was featured (we are from Montclair NJ) and it was quite an honor and an exciting meeting when we opened the book gifts send to us from Read it Forward. Our group has read a few of the books you listed in your post and I was really excited you read Rebecca. We loved it and watched the movie afterwards. I recommend you do that- it added another dimension to the book! We had so much fun.