Ladies, thank you so much for coming downtown on Tuesday evening! I always enjoy our time together and I know my little place stretched to accommodate all of us!! Thank you also for my lovely house warming gifts –I love them. My place looks so much fancier!

I can’t believe we started Book Club 5 years ago! It seems like we only just started reading and dishing together. My hope is that we continue on for many more years. After all, as C_ says, Book Club is “a reason to read” (amongst other things that we’ll keep to ourselves).

I didn’t hear any complaints from any of my neighbours so I think I’m safe to host another rowdy book club session some time in the future :) S_, are you sure you’re not from Texas or Georgia???

S_, thanks for suggesting Mary Lawson’s “The Other Side of the Bridge”. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed learning about the Northern Ontario farming community (and will be glad to never experience it). The book was so full of hardships for so many of the characters that I was glad there was at least one “happy ending”. While Lawson’s portrayal of boys struggling with their identities and values, families losing their sons to the War, families living with past mistakes, sibling rivalry and the maturation of a teenager growing into adulthood and his relationships within his family and community seems so foreign (i.e., the focus on men and farming community while we’re all city girls), it was still relatable in that some of us know people or have relatives that lived in similar situations and during that time. That might be one of the reasons I enjoy reading Canadian authors – being able to relate somewhat.

I just picked up Picture of Dorian Gray and can't wait for our next meeting in May!
Love, Z