Last week the Humboldt Reads! book group met to discuss The First Desire by Nancy Reisman. It was the 27th book we’ve discussed. I’ll confess, I didn’t finish this one. I wanted to, I intended to, but I didn’t . Often when I give up on a book, someone will tell me that I should have stuck it out a few more pages because it got “really good” later on. No one said that about The First Desire. Only one of the participants loved it. She was impressed by the author’s use of language to describe characters. I think I can appreciate a good turn of phrase as well as the next reader, but please, give me a plot to go along with the pretty words!
The book choices for Humboldt Reads! took a turn down a pretty rocky road a year or so ago when I began to choose books I wanted to read, but hadn’t read yet. I grew tired of the necessity of re-reading a book so that I could remember enough about it for a discussion. I thought if I chose something I hadn’t read yet, I could experience it for the first time with the other discussers. Unfortunately, there are plenty of potholes and bad books on that road.
Our next book is Driftless by David Rhodes. It is a little longer than most of the books we choose, so we are going to skip an August meeting and convene on September 23 at Rustix at 5:30 for our book discussion. Grab a copy, give it a try and join us for dinner on the 23rd. I hope enough of us finish it so we can have a really good discussion.
The October Humboldt Reads! book is To Kill a Mockingbird. 2010 is the 50th anniversary of its publication. Although most everyone over the age of 12 has read it, how many of us have read it lately? It’s worth reading at least once per decade. It will be interesting to see if this year’s impressions of it will be any different than the other times we’ve read it.
For November I’ve chosen The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It has been a really big hit with the teen crowd for awhile. More and more frequently an adult comes in looking for it on the recommendation of a friend or relative. It seems a bunch of book clubs in the Cities have read it and shared their enthusiasm with those of us in the hinterlands.
Humboldt Reads! is a book club without a membership list. People come and go. Last time we had two people attend for the first time. Some attendees have been coming since the very first. The crowd varies from 5-15 people. We always have a good time. Stop by the library for a copy of Driftless and join us at Rustix on September 23. I’ll save you a seat.