Ultimately, the club organizer sent out a message declaring the book club meeting postponed to September 19. I did not see any further correspondence about it, and I assumed that every member had agreed. You know, without hitting "Reply All."
Last Monday, the original date of the meeting, I had joined my parents for dinner at their house to visit a while with my oldest nephew, whom Mom had taken shopping for back-to-school clothes. "There's someone at the door," he told me shortly after we'd cleared the table and Mom was finishing up in the kitchen. I went to the door and saw one of the book club members who lived across the street and down from Mom and Dad. I realized at the same time that it was seven o'clock and that the dreaded book was in her hands.
"Book club is tonight, isn't it?" she asked as I opened the door. I could see the confusion in her eyes as she scanned the living room and found it empty. Not to mention only half-painted a lovely blue on the side where the piano resided.
"Actually, it got moved to next month--September 19th," I said. "Did you see the e-mail?"
Shaking her head with a bit of a sheepish laugh, she replied, "No, I never read my e-mail." Facebook has killed e-mail, I thought to myself, but I couldn't figure out how else she would know what was going on with the group, unless she talked to other neighbor-members--something less likely to happen recently as a lot of people go on vacation at the end of August.
Honestly, I felt bad she had made arrangements to be there that night, and the thought of her turning right around and going right home to dissolve her "night out" seemed unfair. So I grabbed Mom and we stood on the front porch chatting for a bit about the book. She said she liked it, and cared for it far more than the book she had been reading for another group, A Visit from the Goon Squad. (I looked at it in Target last Friday while browsing books until my sister and my cousin were ready to go; I see how the changing perspectives could annoy readers.) After a few minutes, I excused myself to spend a little more time with my nephew.
So I guess we will see her again on the 19th. . . at which point in time I will have read the club's selection. I can't put it off for much longer- Ooh! What's that? Another cat mystery?
How did I get hooked on those?
2 comments:
yikes totally awkward! but of course you took care of it!!
i miss my book club at Towne Book Center but I have little time and even less motivation to read anything stronger than a couple of FB posts.
keep up the good work!
Well, that's it--book club isn't just about reading, period. It's an occasion to hang out with people. I think you should be allowed one "freebie" a year where you don't have to have read the book and you're coming for the wine- er, social interaction.
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