Oct 05 2007
The Treemont Readers Book Club
I had the privilege of meeting with the Treemont Readers Book Club last night from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. This newly formed book club of 14 people chose to read Growing Up In Mama’s Club for their September read and organized things so that my book was placed on the “Book Club Selections” table at Schuler Books on Alpine. What an honor for a first time author’s book to be included with Betty Smith’s classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, etc.
Pat Preston, the group’s facilitator, opened the meeting by telling me how much she and the group enjoyed Mama’s Club. Since no one knew much about Jehovah’s Witnesses, the book was an eye opener. Attendees told me that the book was very well written, compelling, and hard to put down once you started reading it. Sarah Van’tHof said she was surprised to learn how an intelligent person like my mother was so willing to sacrifice her thinking skills, believing she’d earn eternal life for her efforts. Her previous perception was that people attracted to this group were not very intelligent. Barb Weaver said the book was a good reminder that regardless of what religion you belonged to, you need to be able to question church beliefs without being made to feel guilty. It was non-stop questions, answers, and comments before our host, Anne Johnson, signaled that it was time to stop. Her home-made pumpkin cake and fresh apple cider still needed our attention before the evening was over. This was my first meeting as an author with a book club and I can’t remember enjoying myself more. Now I look forward to my next Grand Rapid’s book club meeting on Monday, October 15.
