Book club

Back in high school I worked at a reception center as a dish washer. Eventually I worked my way up to catering server, doing the centerpieces, then wedding rehearsals and subbing for the owner when needed. My boss told me they'd train me to run the place for $60,000/year if I stayed and didn't leave for college. I wasn't completely sure he'd follow through on that salary or I might have contemplated the whole athletic training and teacher gig.

Back to the dish-washing. The only way you got a job at this place was if you had a friend or sibling that worked there so I pretty much made money chatting with my friends as my hands became pruny. There were two fellas in particular who enjoyed some literary discussion. After struggling with the fact there were few books all three of us had read, one buddy said we should all read the same thing so we could talk about it. He lit up with enthusiasm while he laid out this plan for us to choose a book, read it, then meet up and talk about what we liked and didn't like about it.

With a voice dripping in 17 year old attitude I went, "Umm, like a book club?" He said, "No, we're just going to talk about the book we read. Nothing so fancy as a book club."*

I think there is something about calling it a book club that evokes Masterpiece Theater and pretentious discussions on symbolism.

But really, it's an excuse to swap book suggestions and read something you might otherwise never open.

Since I chose the book this round in my church book club, I hosted it at my house. I may have let my cheeky side out a little too much in the email invite by making several references to tweed, leather elbow patches and the like, because several people remarked on it to me. So I figured, why not go with it?

I borrowed some props

Real Simple had a special on layer cakes so I decided to give one a try.

The secret I have been missing my whole life is Don't Overmix the Batter. Just 30 seconds past combined and the cake turns out fluffy

It's a fake pipe, the orchid is real though

I adore this book. It is a slow first 5 chapters, and has no place in my typical teen fantasy genre, but it is fabulous. You feel like a better person after reading it. And after you finish it, you must talk about it. You can't help it. I have a copy from madre dos and everyone who reads it signs the cover, so if you need some new reading material, please borrow it. It's awesome.

My love of books must be contagious because J is already showing interest. These were absolutely unstaged too.

*We were such nerds that we actually did pick a book (Dracula, we were so ahead of the vampire craze), read it, and discuss it.  But you better believe we didn't advertise our old lady pastime.