The Book Club

Book clubs, like readers, come in all shapes and sizes. The one thing they all have in common is the love of literature. Many literary groups grew from the ashes of the pandemic, while others have been in existence for over a hundred years. A quote by Mason Cooley sums it up quite well…”Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

I reached out to both of my sisters-in-law about their book clubs. Hollyn, in Redding, CA has been a member of Ex Libris for 32 years. The ladies meet once a month in member homes with luncheon and table decorations relating to the book. Example: Hollyn made borscht to go along with “A Gentleman in Moscow”. Over the years the favorite books have been “The Help”, “Kite Runner” and “American Dirt”.

Sandra, in Klamath Falls, belongs to a group originally known as Cheaper by the Dozen, denoting the 12 members. Over the years it’s evolved to just Book Club. This group also changed their format from appetizers to dinner! Two of their favorite books are “Have You Seen Luis Valez?” and “Remarkably Bright Creatures”.

Closer to home is a monthly book club at Sherman County High School. Anyone interested is welcome to attend the meeting on the first Thursday of the month at 5:00 in the school/community library. The December book was “The Women” by popular author Kristin Hannah. The January novel is “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” by Deborah Moggach.

One of my very favorite students, Mahaley, and some of her friends started a virtual book club during the pandemic. The group members had recently moved away from each other, and wanted to stay connected and have something to talk about outside of Covid’s doom and gloom. The five members “meet” every two months or so via the computer as one member and her Corgi live in L.A., one a mom of two little boys in Denver; two are in Austin – one a tattoo artist and one a singer. Mahaley recently moved from Austin to the Pacific Northwest. These creative young women might draw a picture of the characters, or create a soundtrack for the book, or create a cast of characters for a movie. Currently they are reading a memoir about a Hollywood producer in the 1960’s/1970’s, Robert Evans. The prompt for the next meeting is to act out a monologue from one of his movies. Mahaley says, “Of course, sometimes we don’t talk about the book and just catch up on life! But it keeps us reading, and keeps us connected.” Favorite books of this eclectic group are “Shark Heart” by Emily Habeck and “I Who Have Never Known Men” by Jacqueline Harpman.

And now a most extraordinary story of a book club in Condon that has been in existence since October 5, 1914, and is still going strong. The initial name of the literary group was the Condon Reading Club, which consisted of 12 members, as that’s how many could comfortably meet in someone’s living room. After the first year the name was changed to the Wednesday Afternoon Reading Club, but when one of the members couldn’t meet on Wednesdays as she was needed to assist in her husband’s dental office, the meetings changed to Thursday, even though the name remained the Wednesday Afternoon Reading Club. So, Thursday is the meeting day, and has been since 1932.

The first meeting on that October day was held at the home of Mrs. Tom Weinke, the wife of one of the town’s attorneys, with 12 members present. Charter members were: Roberta Weinke, Mrs. B.A. Cathey, Elizabeth Cathey, Mrs. A.B. Robertson, Robena Parman, Blanche Parker, Estelle Veatch, Nellie Wilburn, Annie Johnson, Myrtle Bennett, Margaret Hurlburt and Mrs. Westfall. The membership remains at 12, and as quoted in the February edition of the Ruralite in 2013, member Eva Lou Greiner said, “For a new member to join, someone has to die or move.” Also reported in the Ruralite article was that the only meeting missed in the first 100 years was in November of 1918 during the great flu pandemic.

The group’s motto is: “Learn one thing new each day.” And those words ring true month after month as the members are treated to a book report with each member responsible for one report a year. This is a change from the other book clubs where everyone reads the same book and meets to discuss it. Surely the members of the Condon group have lists of books recommended by fellow readers.

At the time of the club’s formation, Condon had no library. The members lobbied the county, the city, and local businesses to form a library, as the only way to get books was to order them from the State library in Salem. They worked tirelessly for years to obtain a library for their town. In 1921 a club member, Mrs. Neville, was appointed librarian for a collection of books housed in a private home, and Condon’s first library was born.

The organization of this group is amazing. The Constitution and by-laws cover everything from attendance to officers, expectations for attendance and choosing new members. The best unwritten rule is that candy and nuts must be served at each meeting!

The Wednesday Reading Club that met on Thursdays has reverted to its original name of the Condon Reading Club. Meetings are held twice a month from October through April at Summit Springs. Two former members of the group, Myrtle Potter and Ann Greiner, live at SSV and are always welcome to join in the fun. At the present time there are only eleven members. They are: Dorothy Schott, M’Lis Jamieson, Windy Liptak, Shirley Ludlow, Mary Bare, Alicia Walwrath, Patty LaTrace, Karen Jones, Jude Berray, Candi Beebe and Cindy Osterlund.

I share book titles back and forth via text with three dear friends, which works for me. But I thought it might be fun to join an online book club, but when I searched the internet there are literally more that I could count. So I will stick with what I have. The trouble with online…no candy and nuts, and no one cares if you move, or die.