Book Club

I've always wanted to be a part of a book club. Considering that I read a lot, and when I read a book I always want to talk about it, like we did in school. But I don't know very many people in the area, I've only been living in Virginia for 3 years, and while I've made a few friends, I still don't know nearly as many people here as I did when I lived in Chicago. It just happens that way when you live somewhere your whole life, you tend to accumulate friends and acquaintances. Of the friends that I have met, most of them are not big readers like me, so starting a book club with those folks wouldn't be all that easy.

Olivia and Katherine have expressed an interest, which is great, but you two ladies are the only ones I know around here who read. If you want to have a three person book club with me, I'm all about it. If you know anyone else who wants to be a part of it, even better.

I propose we meet once a month, I figure that's a good interval since we are all busy people and all, and I think having more frequent meetups would be more difficult to fit into everyone's schedule.

Mostly I'm interested in a book club because my reading has been pretty redundant lately, and I would love to have some recommendations for other books to read.

Here's a short list of some of the authors whose books I've read most recently:

Jodi Picoult
Jennifer Weiner
Joyce Carol Oates
Margaret Atwood
Toni Morrison
Kurt Vonnegut

I've been reading mostly female authors lately, mostly because I enjoy being a reverse sexist and all that. For a while there I read like, 5 Margaret Atwood books in a row, and then I even re-read A Handmaids Tale and The Blind Assassin. She's great really, but sometimes she can be kind of a downer. So then I got into Jennifer Weiner because she is totally chick-lit and entertaining and happy-endingish, and when I am done with her books I tend to feel a little better about life for some reason. I read Jodi Picoult on a suggestion from a friend and I like her stuff, but at the same I hate it. It reads like it was meant to be a movie or something. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Joyce Carol Oates, she's good and I really enjoyed reading her novels, but they don't leave me feeling all that great, and sometimes that's OK, but I guess at this point in my life I don't really need any help feeling depressed. I don't even think I need to explain why I love Toni Morrison, I first encountered her in high school required reading, but I LOVE her, and I could read her books over and over again. Kurt Vonnegut is an old standby, I just know that I could pick up any one of his novels and that I would totally love it, at least that has been my experience so far.

Anyway, that's the end of my ramble about books. I would love some suggestions on other authors to try, and anything about a book club.