Every summer, I have the wonderful opportunity to go on a girl’s beach trip with some of my besties. Priorities set in the moment our toes hit the sand. Cool cocktail in hand, each of us sets our chair on the water’s edge and whip out our reading material du jour. My selections are consistently mocked: Entrepreneur Magazine, Fortune, Business Week and whatever business book has topped the chart at the moment. Productive and educational … yes, relaxing … no.
Thanks to those wonderful trips with my besties, I’ve resolved myself to reading more fiction. For those that know me well, I’m a productive person and so I have rationalized this as a way to stay balanced. I try to fit a fiction read into my rotation of purposeful reading; whatever the latest cult phenomenon I hear all of my friends and neighbors chatting about or whatever Oprah recommends (I’d do most anything for dear Oprah!).
I’ve found that I actually enjoy the brief escape to fiction land and enjoy absorbing the details of these books. So much so, that I’ve begged my way into a book club. Yes, begged. When I expressed interest, bestie P’s response was “but you only read that boring stuff”. I had to prove that she was wrong. So I immediately picked up the monthly selection and began my reading journey.
To my surprise, this month’s selection was an extremely easy read and I absolutely enjoyed reading it. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen is an entertaining story of one man’s reflection on his life lived, unlikely friendships made and the loves of his life. Surprisingly, it made me reflect on my relationship with my Nana and all the questions I had for her and the stories I’m sure she and other 91 year olds could tell us young folks if we would just take the time to listen.
The other secret bonus of being in a book club is that there’s a theme party with each read! Ya’ll know I’m a fan of parties so I can’t wait for our monthly meet and greet to discuss this book!
P.S. - I'm so excited that the movie is opening next month and it's starring dear Reese Witherspoon! It's a definite must see for sure!
~ charmed b
