Extra Extra, Read All About It!

This weekend, Violet attended her very first book club! And she loved every second of it. She loved that some of her favorite people came to visit. She loved that we had pizza. She loved that Emily changed her diaper and that spitting up meant she could wear not just one but two adorable outfits. She loved how everyone made a big fuss the minute she started to cry, and cooed appropriately whenever she did something cute, like yawn or sneeze or stare contemplatively into the distance. She loved that really, book club this month was less about the book and far more about her.

But when she gets a little older, hopefully she'll grow to appreciate just how awesome this book club is. Allow me to brag. For I invented this book club, and we're going strong on our third year now.

Here's the thing about book clubs. So often, they don't work. The last one I was in lasted a grand total of two books. And I have a theory why. Book clubs are intimidating. First, you have to read the book. Then you get together and have to prove you did your homework by talking about said book. And this talking has to reach a much deeper level than merely "I liked it" or "I never got around to finished, oops". Oh no, book club conversations have the obligation of involving themes, character study, language analysis. You have to ponder what the author meant when the main character broke the wine glass on page 59 or why the color cerulean blue appears so frequently. And for all you know, the author didn't mean anything by it, it's just a color and the main character just happens to be clumsy so stop reading things into it.

Or, even worse, everyone gets together and then promptly ignores the book. The meeting is just an excuse to gather and gossip. Even with the best of intentions, I have a feeling this is what most book clubs devolve into. In which case, you should just call it what it is and remove all the pressure and guilt of reading, right?

That's when I had my flash of inspiration. It occurred as I sat leafing through a "1000 books you should read before you die" list. I was surprised to see how many of the books had been turned into movies. Some I only knew the movie version, I had no idea it originated with a great piece of literature. And I thought - what if there was a book club where, rather than gathering together every month to suffer through a stuffy conversation about theme and intent, you just watched the movie version of the book instead? Ah, genius! Suddenly all the pressure would be gone! Didn't manage to finish the book? Who cares - you'll get to watch the story anyway! Don't know why the author keeps mentioning cerulean blue? Who cares - no one is going to ask you! Hated the book? Eh, who cares - especially if the movie stars George Clooney!

And so Mook Club (Movie plus Book, get it?) was born. And the interesting thing is, more often than not, we still end up having that "deep" book discussion. We'll compare the book to its film adaptation and mention what surprised us. We'll complain about the actors cast, or debate which we preferred, book or movie. We may not talk themes, but we still talk. Over the years we've read everything from Breakfast at Tiffany's to Harry Potter. We've read YA books (Ella Enchanted, Holes) and decidedly more adult fare (A Widow for a Year, Bridges of Madison County). We've timed our selections to match movies newly released in theaters (Marley and Me, Alice in Wonderland). And we've gone back to the classics (Anne of Green Gables). It's been fabulous.
 
This year's books include The Secret Garden, Out of Sight and The Blind Side. We'll take turns hosting; sometimes there will be slumber parties, often the will be food. By unanimous decision, Violet was voted in and will be our sixth member. It's going to be a good year of reading.

 Our first official Mook Club picture!