bookworm book club

I am so excited about this.

My sister just forwarded an email to me, written by a friend I worked with at summer camp in Montana. Lindsey is one of the funniest people I have ever met...and apparently quite the reader. She has started a website called The Bookworms Book Club where each month she reviews four books and invites you to read one of them too, to write your own review, and join the conversation on her website.

I love this idea because she reviews the books at the beginning of the month, allowing you to read her thoughts before you make your pick. Genius. And it's just her honest opinion, not the perfectly worded back cover that makes every book sound amazing. And not all of the books are new releases...which means I don't have to go and buy every book at Barnes and Nobel. I can check them out at the library. Cha Ching. (That's the sound of money still in my pocket...)

But what I think I love the most is that this sort of book club takes away all the obligation of having to read one particular book by one particular date. I hate assigned reading. I resent it. Reminds me of 6th grade when my reading teacher made our reading assignments into bookmarks, so that I was always keenly aware of how many chapters I was behind. And I was always behind. A procrastinator and a slow reader...reading always felt like a chore.

It's a whole different topic for another day...but just as a side story: I remember when I read Harry Potter while abroad in India. I was on the top bunk of a bed with three other students in an overcrowded train, barreling down the tracks. The train was potent with people and engine and I was totally lost in a game of quidditch taking place on the pages of the book. And when we got to our destination I remember actually thinking, "I think that's what people mean when they say they get sucked into a book." I was 19 years old when I first got sucked into a book! Isn't that crazy to think about?!! I was so late to the reading party.

Anyway, I hope you join in with the Bookworms. This month I am going to read The Giver. I remember student teaching 8th grade and the students going crazy for this book. Should be a fun read.

And just a suggestion to Lindsey: I think The Bookworms Book Club should have buttons with iridescent rainbows on them and a place for five star stickers, one star for every book read. And when your button has five stars you can turn it in for a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. Oh man, does anyone remember Book It? I LOVED that program. Food always has been my best motivator...