The Who and the Why

This is the journal of The Open Books. A book club that began in the fall of 2000, with only 4 members. It has waxed and waned from 4 members up to 10 members at one time. Currently, and for the past 2 years, we have been stable with 8 members: Ryan, Jessica, Kelli, Michelle, Carolyn, Christina, Kerry and myself, Shelley. Other members have been Angie, Jessica P and Jennifer. We all reside in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Six of us are nurses, one is a social worker and one is a chemist/scientist. We are all moms and of course, are very busy just trying to keep our lives together. The meetings take place about every 6 weeks and whoever picks the book, hosts the book, either at their own house or at a restaurant. Sometimes we do themes, such as ordering Chinese take-out to discuss the book Snowflower and the Secret Fan, or getting the movie version of the book and watch it following the discussion. Whatever we do, there are no rules and we are just glad to be able to get out of the house for a night with the girls.

I started a written journal several years back and have tried to keep it updated, but am continuously falling behind. I am now starting this blog to see if we can do a better job at archiving our meetings in a more timely fashion, and also to encourage my fellow book club members to join me in this process so that there are more views and thoughts than just my own.