I joined a book club.
by Carole P. Roman
originally featured on Medium.com
I joined a book club. I always wanted to go to one, especially after I saw how much fun Candace Bergen was having at hers.
They weren’t reading Fifty Shades at this group. They picked Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday.
I dutifully read the book a week before our meeting and seriously thought about not showing up. It was a hard read, and while I loved the writing style at the beginning of the book, I didn’t understand the connection between the three parts and found myself puzzled, as well as bored by it.
I couldn’t deny Halliday’s talent, but to me, the book seemed pointless. I didn’t leave a review on Amazon simply because I found I had nothing nice to say.
So, it was with great trepidation I went to my first meeting. I sat in a corner thinking I had easy access to the door in case I embarrassed myself.
I pictured a room of intellectuals, sipping tea, stating obvious insights I missed. It felt like Honor’s English, and even though I passed that course about a hundred years ago, I became the same ball of insecurities once again.
Someone might ask what I thought, and I’d look like a blithering idiot. They’d smirk, or even worse, I’d say something, and it would be followed by condemning silence. I sunk into the seat, hunched over, afraid to admit that not only did I not understand the book, but I also didn’t like it either.
I had expected us to sit around and they would ‘gab’ about the chosen book. It seems that this book club hires a person to actually discuss it with the readers.
She came in with articles, research, and read the book with laser intensity, dissecting in an arresting way. I perked up. She asked questions that I could answer, not only that, she made me dust off my flabby brain and make it work.
At first, my brain chugged, it backfired silently in my head. Then, all of a sudden, my mind opened up like Dorothy seeing color for the first time in Oz. The story and plot of the book clarified the author’s intent crystallized.
I felt intelligent, erudite, thoughtful. I opened my mouth, and so much stuff came out, it felt like a great purge! I bet I lost fifteen pounds from all the knowledge that was stuck in me.
You think I’m joking? I’m NOT! It felt good to really talk to people about something I’ve read.
It didn’t matter if I enjoyed it. Everybody in that room hated the book, too, I realized. However, it didn’t prevent them from allowing the book to step into their lives and make an impact. They read and shared what they thought. They nodded and smiled at me. I felt included, if only for that hour and a half, and more importantly, I didn’t think about what happened to me in February. That I joined because I was suddenly lonely, and my status had changed from married, to widowed. It didn’t matter. This was a meeting of the minds, rather than the hearts and it felt good to give that organ a rest.
If you are stuck in life or feeling a bit outside your body or mind, join a book club and meet people in a new way. It allows you to leave your body for a bit and meet people on a level playing field.
I think it gave grief the day off.
What a novel idea.
Who doesn’t like a good animal story?! That’s why we created this special edition for our series on Flash Fiction. The contents of this seventh Flash Fiction anthology are drawn from the 438 stories found in Books 1 through 6, incl., of the Creative Ink, Flashy Fiction anthologies and are devoted entirely to our friends from the Animal Kingdom. Here you’ll find stories about loyal canines, mischievous felines, photobombing birds, and other creatures, large and small, that will make you smile, perhaps shed a tear, but always leave you thinking about this strange and awesome road we call “life.” The stories, each 250 words or less in length, are best compared to a handful of peanuts or M&M’s. Which is to say, they’re tiny, bite-sized morsels that won’t let you stop with one!
Theodore Jerome Cohen, PhD, is an award-winning author who has published more than ten novels, all but one of them mystery/thrillers. He also writes Young Adult (YA) novels under the pen name “Alyssa Devine.” During the course of his 45-year career he has worked as an engineer, scientist, CBS Radio Station News Service (RSNS) commentator, investor, private investigator, and Antarctic explorer. What he's been able to do with his background is mix fiction with reality in ways that even his family and friends have been unable to unravel! His most recent writings include anthologies of Flash Fiction as well as anthologies of unusual short stories titled The Road Less Taken (Books 1 and 2) and a ripped-from-the-headlines novel, Wheel of Fortune, a mystery/thriller based on an actual FBI sting that took place in southeastern Pennsylvania some years ago involving a New York-based crime-infested cartage association. Prior to this he wrote Eighth Circle, which was inspired by instances of mob-influenced corruption in New York City, and Night Shadows, which dealt with the subjects of child abuse, teenage rape, and teen suicide. Earlier mystery/thrillers included Lilith: Demon of the Night, inspired by real-life instances of vampirism, and House of Cards: Dead Men Tell No Tales, inspired by the 2008 financial crisis, which was precipitated by the housing bubble. Finally, an earlier novel of the same genre, Death by Wall Street: Rampage of the Bulls, focused on corruption within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the incompetence of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). From December 1961 through early March 1962, Dr. Cohen participated in the16thChilean Expedition to the Antarctic. The US Board of Geographic Names in October, 1964, named the geographical feature Cohen Islands, located at 63° 18' S. latitude, 57° 53' W. longitude in the Cape Legoupil area, Antarctica, in his honor. Dr. Cohen's Antarctic Murders Trilogy describes what happened following a robbery of the Banco Central de Chile in Talcahuano in May, 1960. The robbery and the events that took place primarily between May 1960 and March 1962, are described in Frozen in Time: Murder at the Bottom of the World (Book I).Unfinished Business: Pursuit of an Antarctic Killer (Book II) reveals the events that unfolded between March 1962 and March 1965. End Game: Irrational Acts, Tragic Consequences (Book III) takes place in 1965 and resolves most, but not all, of the issues raised in the series. The entire Antarctic Trilogy can be found in one Kindle edition titled Cold Blood. Dr. Cohen's first novel, Full Circle: A Dream Denied, A Vision Fulfilled, which is based on his life as a violinist, was published in 2009. Dr. Cohen at one time was a violinist with the Bryn Athyn (PA) Orchestra and particularly enjoys the music of Gustav Mahler. Dr. Cohen also has published more than 450 papers, articles, columns, essays, and interviews, and is a co-author of The NEW Shortwave Propagation Handbook (from CQ Communications). Finally, Dr. Cohen has written three children’s books: The Magic Machine (1979) and three books in the series Stories for the Early Years: Pepe Builds a Nest (2017),Rufus Finds a Home (2017), and Fuzzy Wuzzy (2017). For more information on Dr. Cohen and his books, the interested reader is invited to view the book descriptions, photographs, and videos that can be found at <www.theodore-cohen-novels.com>. His Young Adult novels can be found at <www.alyssadevinenovels.com>.
