a good read

some of my happiest childhood memories involve books. being read to before i could read. riding bike to the new north york public library in the early 60's and coming home with a basket of new books. going to bed early just so i could be alone to read. my world is large because of books. books filled our home when my children were growing up and they are avid readers. it's hard to make time to read in the life i live now. when i sit down i pick up my work - my knitting or spinning. keith doesn't read and when he is home the tv is on.
this is why my little (4 members) book club has become so important. it's very loose (we set our gathering times only after everyone has finished the book). we take turns choosing books and they aren't the "easy" reads you might choose for the 10 minute read before falling asleep at night. our most recent book was "the book of negroes" by lawrence hill. an absolutely wonderful story of slavery and the black loyalists who came to nova scotia in the mid 1700's. and the appalling treatment they received in canada upon their arrival.
our group takes turns hosting a meal inspired by the book we will discuss. catherine made this delicious african peanut soup. and for desert a nova scotian blueberry grunt.
our next book is charles dicken's "little dorritt" (the only dickens we could get enough copies of locally). and we knew we wanted to read a dickens for christmas. all 800 pages...