Books Over Lunch or Lunch Over Books? (post contains a photo of a nude painting)

I'm lucky to be a part of a book club composed of junior high and elementary school teachers who read YA books.  We've been meeting for about two years now, and we've read a great selection of books... everything from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson to Bomb:  The Race to Build (and Steal) the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin to today's selection, Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg.  We are a mixed group of English teachers, a French teacher, science teachers, a math teacher, elementary classroom teachers, and an elementary special education teacher.  We are a range of ages, marital statuses, and family sizes as well as diverse interests and hobbies.

One commonality - we all love books.

I love being part of a community that loves to read and talk about books as much as I do.  Now that I'm no longer in the classroom, I don't get to have as many thoughtful conversations about books as I used to.  This monthly meeting goes a long way in making up for those missing daily talks.  As a group we not only talk about what we thought about the various books we've read; we also talk about what kinds of readers we're eager to pass books along to.  I love it when I hear the science teachers say, "I told two girls in my X-block (homeroom) that they have to read this book, based on what I know about them as readers."  I can't say that sentence is something I would have heard a science teacher say ten years ago.

Today this group of readers gathered at a local restaurant after a day of meetings and left the worries and pressures of school behind as we had a late lunch and talked through the afternoon about the book we read and the books we want to read.  We are readers who have plans, people.

Next up:  Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral, Every Day by David Levithan, and then Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park.

Oh... I almost forgot!  This was our comic relief for the afternoon.  The painting of a nude woman hangs in the dining room of a very popular local family restaurant.  Notice the strategically placed shamrock.