Musical Books!

For those of you who read my post Musical Dinners here is a follow on, Musical Books!

I've always wanted to join a book club, opening up to a whole new world of books and authors that normally don't cross my path. When we first moved I thought about it as a way to meet a few people but Archie was really dependent then, feeding every 1-2 hours, wanting me to be there all the time. Leaving him at a set time was just impossible as every day was different. The few times I did leave the house without him were completely spur of the moment and I spent the whole time watching the clock. One day I was so desperate to get my hair cut I rang the hairdresser and told them I couldnt' book an appointment but if they could fit me in right now I'd be there in 2 minutes. Luckily they could fit me in! Anyway I digress.

About 5 months ago, Archie was finally in a much more predictable routine and in a moment of pure serendipity the library posted a sign about starting new book clubs! Yipee! I chose to join the evening group as I could leave the kids with Matt and have an hour or two of just grown up time out. As it turns our evening group has to be a 'late afternoon' group as we have to be out of the library for them to shut at 6pm so we meet from 5 - 6 which works so well as I generally get home to dinner on the table! Win win! Sorry, digressing again!

Anyway, we've read some really great books, and so far, one dud. But that is the luck of the draw. We meet on the last Wednesday of the month, so have a month to read the allocated book. I generally give myself the last two weeks before the meeting to read the book club book, and read a book of my own choosing for the rest of the month. Herein lies the musical book issue. If I'm not finished my 'personal reading' book, I have to put it down, read the bookclub book and then take it up again when I'm finished bookclub!

I haven't found it to be too much of an issue, except at the moment my 'personal' book is Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and it's taking me an age to finish. I really enjoy it while I'm reading it, but I'm not overly drawn to read it, if that makes sense. You know when a book just captivates you and it's all you can think about, all you can do to stop yourself snatching a moment here or there to get another paragraph read. I think I've read three bookclub books all while having Mansfield Park on the backburner. I've just finished the bookclub book for this month and I read it in about 4 days. It was fantastic, but I'll do a separate post on it later.

So, I'm back to Mansfield Park. I've got a while before I'll have to put it down for the next bookclub read, please let me have finished it by then!!!

Oh as an aside, about joining to meet people ... I'm the youngest of our group of five by about 30 years! So if you live around Maryborough and feel like joining a book club, let me know!