In the Spirit of Christmas

Our annual Christmas meeting was held on what turned out to be the coldest night of the season. But inside of Kelly's home it was warm and cheerful as we gathered around her decorated tree, sipping at tea and munching on hors d'oeuvres both nutritious and sweet.

Eventually we got around to discussing this month's book selection, Dewey: a small-town cat who touched the world. Most of us enjoyed the book as an easy and light-hearted read for the busy month of December. A number of us commented favorably on the story and memoir combination, mixed with historical information about the small town of Spencer, Iowa. Only one of us put the book down after the first few chapters. She found the book to be 'too cheerful,' but may pick it up again at a future time.

The book sparked a lot of discussion between us about the cats in our lives, from rescued kitten stories to an anecdote about a dog who puts the cats to bed every night. And several people shared stories about the small towns where they grew up. We discovered, again, that the world is a small place, after all.

Mary did some research and located some video about the legendary Dewey. It can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jGpvvLmwbs. For anyone who is a cat lover, this book is highly recommended.

New Year's Reading

Diane has finished compiling the book list for the year ahead. For Deborah, who has asked, (and is welcome to meet with us), I am including the following list for the first four months of 2010:

• Jan: Smilla's Sense of Snow, by Peter Hoeg (fiction)
  
• Feb: Loving Frank, by Nancy Drew Horan (fiction/factual)
  
• Mar: Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson (fiction)
  
• Apr: Little Bee, by Chris Cleave (fiction)

We will be returning to our usual meeting schedule of the fourth Tuesday of the month, meeting at the library conference room at 6:30 p.m.

There will be more titles to come. We have a selection that also includes historical fiction and non-fiction books. Authors in the upcoming year's readings also include Geraldine Brooks, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Kathryn Stockett.

It's December!

The cold has arrived and the holidays are approaching. We are all set to meet on December 15th, (one week earlier than usual), at 6:30 p.m. for our Christmas party meeting. Kelly has graciously agreed to share her home with us for this gathering, a discussion of the book Dewey, the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, by Vicki Myron.

We will be sharing treats, so please bring a tasty goodie, and also a book or two to exchange with others. For every book you bring to leave, you need to take one home with you. This year we should not have any books leftover.

Leftover treats? Is there such a thing?