Saturday, March 5, 2016

2016 SOLC 5/31: Book Club Retreat!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.
Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna
for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday
and for nurturing our writing lives.

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres. 
When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy. 
Discover. Play. Build.
  A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!


One night away.
Thirteen friends united by book love
Arrive at different times
The morning crew,
Two afternoon bunches,
The evening party van.
Two meals shared together
Constant chatter
Abundant snacks
Lighthearted laughter
And a scattering of feathers 
(A story for another post).
Careful book considerations
Followed by written ballots
Resulting in next year's book list.
A discussion of this month's book
Our late night tradition of hot cookies
And more talk.
Until the morning people among us 
Stumble off to bed 
How did we stay up until 1am?
Muted conversations continue
As we drift into sleep.
A morning walk on the beach
The sun peeking through the clouds 
Highlighting the mountains.
Fresh fruit, pastries, sourdough pancakes
And more talk, followed by
A hurried clean-up of the cabin
And a dash to make the next ferry.
It's home to our regular lives,
But filled to the brim with book love, 
Good food, dear friends, and memories
To last us until next March.
And a list of twelve books 
To read and discuss each month 
Between now and then.  

We didn't choose all the books you see,
but we considered twenty-seven titles.
Thanks to Lisa's sister, Becky, for this group pic.  
Walk before breakfast with mountains peeking through clouds 
My fun shopping find and the books I submitted -
Mugs with savor (my OLW from two years ago)
and nourish (another favorite word).
This was my grand slam year -
all three of my titles were chosen!
Mind you, I've also had years
when none of my books were selected.  

15 comments:

  1. That is quite the book lovin group of people you have there. What a fun meeting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful group and wonderful purpose to fill you all year long!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! To have this kind of group is fabulous. In our busy lives, to invest a day or two to share some laughter is valuable. Now, because of technology, we can make connections in a lot of ways with less the effort of traveling. The commitment that each member of the group has to be able to continue to be a part of it is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How wonderful it is to share some special moments and books, Ramona.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So going to steal this idea. Love the idea of a reading retreat. And your titles have already been added to my Goodreads account.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is just a joy to read - friends preparing for a year of reading...and great book selections by the way, Ramona.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would join a book club if I knew it was going to be that fun!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hip, hip, hooray for Ramona who got our book club started 18 years ago! What a lot of wonderful memories we have of friendship and literature. Your poem captured our annual retreat perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great retreat and tradition you have had. You must have been quite the book whisperer to get all your choices selected. This is the best kind of book love!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am so jealous, Ramona, wishing I could join in. I'm going to at least suggest to my little group that we choose books for a few months. You've shared such happiness in your words.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What fun! And congrats on getting three of your choices picked! I so wish I had something like that here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks like a great group, Ramona. I wish I had time for a real-life book club like this.

    BTW: I love your mugs. I've been thinking about doing something to mark all of my OLWs through the years. I've been thinking about a charm bracelet, but I just don't know. (I don't drink that much tea and coffee.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ramona,
    I've always wanted to be in a book group, but this one sounds like it takes the experience to a new level. What a fun way to select books! Congrats on your wins. ;o)

    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  14. How fun. My book club visits an independent book store every summer to decide on books. We follow the school year for our book club.

    ReplyDelete
  15. What an amazing way to celebrate book love.

    ReplyDelete