Reading groups offer an escape

by Gwen Allen

            Twelve years after she began the book club with Town and Country Public Library in Elburn, then situated in a storefront on Main Street, Margaret Ritchie is one of the only original surviving members. And although she misses the women who first joined but have since passed away, she said the women who belong currently have become her good friends.

            Ritchie said she started the club as a way to expand her and her fellow members' interests, as well as to provide a social outlet for people in the community that love to read.

            Once active in her church and with her now-grown children, she said she was looking for something that would be just for her.

            “I have grandchildren that I spend time with, but this is my adult social time, and I think it fills that role for several other women in the group too,” Ritchie said. “We meet with the purpose to discuss books, but because the discussion brings out a lot in our personalities we have gotten close.”

            She said in addition to their monthly meeting every third Tuesday of the month at noon, the group convenes socially outside of the library at least four other times a year.

            “One of the ladies has a mystery party every year; another has a really fancy spring luncheon, and we love these events,” Ritchie said. “We also meet for dinner after a book, like we once went out for Mexican food after a Mexican-themed book.”

            Even though the group has become a tight knit sisterhood of sorts, she said she would still like to see new members join to help broaden ideas and expand shared thoughts.

            Although current members' interests vary, as a group of women, she said they are naturally drawn to books of female persuasion.

            “We like books about women, a lot of our books have been about strong women,” Ritchie said. “But we try to stay away from the romance novels, although we have read a few, its better to read a book with a little controversy or one that we can learn something from.”

             She said the beauty of the group is that it allows members to read books they wouldn't normally choose, and as a result they become more fulfilled and a well-rounded person.

            This too is what Sabrina Malano likes about the Sugar Grove book club.

            “You pick up things you normally wouldn't, so it expands your reading,” Malano said.

            As a stay-at-home mom, Malano said the book club is a social outlet for her too.

            “With a new baby, I don't get out much, so it's one of the things I look forward to every month,” Malano said.

            In addition to her busy schedule as a mom, she also works for the Chamber of Commerce, is a committee member for her local Homeowners Association and is a member of the Corn Boil Committee. But of all these, it is only the book club that fulfills her social need.

            “This is more fun, the other things I do are more business oriented,” Malano said. “I get to meet new people who enjoy reading too, and it's just for me. It's so friendly, they even threw me a baby shower when I was expecting.”

            Malano is one of 12 members that meet on the first Tuesday of every month at the Sugar Grove Library at 7 p.m. New members are welcome.

            For more information on these book clubs, call the Town and Country Public Library at (630) 365-2244 or the Sugar Grove Public Library at (630) 365-4686.

Elburn Reading Club

September book—“The Woman in White,” by author Wilkie Collins

October book—“Galileo's Daughter,” by author Dava Sobel

November book—“The Pearl Diver,” by author Jeff Talarigo

Sugar Grove Reading Club

September book—“Losing Julia,” by author Jonathon Hull

October book—“River of Doubt,” by author Candice Millard

November book—“Nineteen Minutes,” by author Jodie Picoult

09/05/2008