OUR BOOK GROUP

One of my favorite times here at Kendal is at 3:00 PM on the fourth Thursday of the month.  That's when sixteen to twenty of us, men and women, meet to discuss the book chosen for that month.  This started in March of 2006 which means we are in our sixth year and going strong!  I have a list of all the books we have read and it is rather impressive, I think.  We have no leader.  I convene the meeting at exactly 3:00 PM and we have only two rules:  we may only talk about the book and only one person may talk at a time.  We pass around the microphone and give each person a chance to talk at least once.  At 3:50 we end the discussion and decide together what we want to read next. We usually have a backlog of suggestions and then we vote.  Not all books appeal to all members at the same time.  However, everyone is a good sport and reads the chosen book and often says," I'm glad we chose this book because I really enjoyed it and never would have chosen it on my own."

Last month we read Turn Right at Machu Picchu.  Several members had traveled there and brought with them photographs of  their trip which of course made this book all the more interesting.  This month we  read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks which tells the story of a poor woman in the 1950's whose cells were used for research without her permission.  These cells turned out to be extremely important for research in curing many diseases and made alot of money for some people but not for her family.  We knew we needed help for this discussion and a retired Denison Biology Professor was willing to meet with us.  The professor talked about the importance of the cells and because he had also taught Bioethics, told us about the complicated consent forms we now have to sign before having procedures.

Next month we will read Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev.  This time the discussion will be led by the daughter of one of our members who is a Professor of Russian Literature at Duke University. I will tell you about that next month.

The membership is certainly diverse.  Our youngest member is seventy and our oldest is ninety.  We have nurses and teachers and engineers and people of various other backgrounds.  Everyone is welcome!