Want to be part of a SLC book club?

[Jennifer Jensen]

Hi everyone,

I hope this is ok to post here. I haven't had much luck using other means, and this seems like the perfect place to put this.

My name is Jen, and I started a book club a little over 2 years ago. We currently have 5 five members, but are looking to expand with 1 or 2 new members. We meet the last Monday of each month at 7:30, each taking turns to pick a place to meet for dinner to discuss our monthly book.

Although we are social, we do get down to business discussing the books. We are probably not the ideal book club for someone who is more interested in socializing aspects.

We read a broad range of books, and are just coming up to the next voting period. I have it broken down into the following 6 categories: Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Best-Seller/Top 10, and Historical Fiction. We will be reading two books from each category.

If this sounds like the book club for you, please write me a quick note and we'll discuss it more. I look forward to finding you!

P.S.-- We are all women, from the age of 27-40. We do have one LDS member (more on the liberal side), the rest of us are agnostic or Christian.

[Cheya (booklogged)]

Wish I lived closer to Salt Lake.

[Jennifer Jensen]

Are you in UT, Cheya?

I've got 2 members that do a little bit of commuting. One is from Provo and the other is from Bountiful. We kind of jump around where we go.

[Cheya (booklogged)]

Jennifer,

I live in Vernal, so we're talking about a 2-3 hr drive both ways. I wish I could join but I don't think it's a good idea. :(

[Jennifer Jensen]

Oh, gosh! Yeah, that's a little far to come!! You could try starting one in Vernal?

[Maw Books]

Hey Jennifer,

Absolutely, it's the perfect place to put this thread! Your book club sounds FANTASTIC. So if I understand correctly, you rotate amongst an SLC restaurant each month? Do you meet all over the valley or is their a particular location that you stick close to?

Right now I am a member of two book clubs that meet face-to-face and another that I do via webcam on Skype, all on a monthly basis. So adding a fourth for me probably wouldn't be realistic right now, although I'm curious. (But I hope that you are able to find some new members!!)

Can you share with us some of the past titles that you've read?

[Jennifer Jensen]

I really love my book club; it's my second child. I was so lucky to find the girls that I've found, and they add so much every month. The last few months, though, at least one person has been absent (which normally doesn't happen; one of the girls actually has PERFECT attendance. I, as the organizer, do not, because I was out one month having the baby.) and this does hurt our discussions just a little. Here is the list of everything we have read in the past:

Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver
"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
"Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami
"Suite Francaise" by Irene Nimirovsky
"Anthem" by Ayn Rand (my pick)
"Don't Shoot the Dog!" by Karen Pryor (Ellen's pick)
"Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (Sarah's and my pick)"
"A Good and Happy Child" by Justin Evans
"A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
"Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"A Model Summer" by Paulina Porizkova
"The Moor's Last Sigh" by Salman Rushdie
"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory
"Peony in Love" by Lisa See
"Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
"The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman
"The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell
"Stiff" by Mary Roach
"Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
"Nine Parts of Desire" by Geraldine Brooks
"The Shack" by William P. Young
"The Bondwoman's Narrative" by Hannah Crafts, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
"The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain" (Modern Library edition)
"Dubliners" by James Joyce
"Prozac Nation" by Elizabeth Wurtzel
"A Primate's Memoir" by Robert M. Sopolsky

For the last two voting years, we've been choosing categories, so the books we choose fall within the parameters of those categories. This is our month for nominating new books, so it's pretty exciting. Some of these books we liked, and some of they we did not. Everyone has been wonderful and trudging through the books even when not liking them. We are also not afraid to tackle the thicker books, which is one of my favorite things about this group.

[Jennifer Jensen]

As for restaurants, those are chosen by the book host. We do have our favorites, and so it's fine to do repeats. Some examples are: Denny's, Coachman's Pancake House (not my favorite!!), Citris Grill, SLC Pizza and Pasta Co., Mekong Cafe, and Citta Gelato.

For October, we'll be going for Indian food.

[MJMBECKY]

I can't say that I will always be able to meet, but I'm very interested, and live in the valley.

[Jennifer Jensen]

At this time, I'm really looking for people who are able to commit to coming more frequently. :-( Over this two year+ period, the most anyone has ever missed has been maybe 3 or 4 times. This book club honestly isn't the best choice for members who are only sometimes able to attend.

I also go to a second book club (not one I'm in charge of), and have been really disappointed at the lack of commitment and follow through of some of the members. We've constantly got at least 2 missing people, and then on top of that several people who haven't finished the book. It's really frustrating, and part of why I love my group so much.