A first for bookclub

For the last 5 years, I have been in a bookclub of 13+ women. We take turns picking books, meeting once a month, and having a potluck based on food themes in the book. Sometimes we’ll even dress up. (crazy ladies) Over the duration, we have often been caught up in a lot of the “Oprah picks”, but from the beginning I have made it my mission to deviate from the norm and pick edgy current literature. Last summer, I read one of the best books I have found in awhile. How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater, by Marc Acito is clever and laugh out loud, people seeing your fillings funny. I was finally able to choose this book last month. The day of bookclub, as I was perusing the internet researching fun discussion topics, I found Marc’s website, with an open invitation to join in on book club discussions. Due to the last minute nature of the request, I knew I could not ask him to call our bookclub, but I emailed him anyway. Holy crap he wrote back AND offered to join us via phone. Let the sweating begin. Suddenly I was reduced to a nervous giggling school girl with sweat marks the size of …saucers, NO dinner plates. That night, 11 30+ year old women sat around my speaker phone like it was a religious icon. A Buddha perhaps? He graciously spoke to us for about 30 minutes answering all of our questions very thoroughly. It was a first for book club, and made me the coolest bookclub book picker ever.