You know it's a great party when the party decorations include a party bunting made of pages from a book (unless you are such a lover of books that pages torn out to become merely party decorations makes you ill- however neither I nor my friends at the party are yet of this ilk).
Every year my sister Stephanie and another friend host a book lover's party. When I attended last year, Clementine was a mere week or two old! This year I left her with Ben and the boys and remembered bitter-sweetly that at the last party she had met many important friends and family in her life for the very first time.
At the party, we bring themed food from a favorite book, and you can see by some of the pictures here that there are some pretty creative and fun renditions of fun book-themed food. We also do a book exchange. About a month or two before the party I always worry about what I am going to bring, because, despite thinking of myself as a reader, I often look over the year at what I've read and it's a lot of unfinished books, or else it's books that I read right along with my friends, and I just can't bring that to a book exchange because no one wants to come home with a book they just read. I ended up bringing Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth, forgetting that three of my friends are pregnant. Not a good book to read while pregnant. Too high a worry and gross-out factor. Oh well, it was the best I could do. Next year I vow to have many, many choices for the next book party. I am going to read, and finish, more books. Yes.
Cate brought the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. I'll say this for the series. I have not seen Cate's face, outside of practicing piano, eating meals, or doing chores, for the last 10 days, since she began reading the series. Several days she has told me that she was growing close to getting tired of reading so much. This is Cate we're talking about here. A couple of afternoons after reading all day she felt a little nauseous.
I remember when growing up and visiting our city's largest library, the Denver Public Library, and leaving with a brown paper grocery bag filled to the brim with books, diving into them on the drive home, not letting up all afternoon, continuing through dinner (if I could sneak the book on my lap under the table) and into the evening, and then telling my mom, "I think I'm getting sick. My tummy hurts."
"Um, Jenny, you probably aren't sick. You just sat and read for 6 hours straight. Go outside and get some fresh air."
Watching Cate consume, no, inhale, Mistborn reminds me of that. She's halfway through the third book and her kindle tells her she has 13 hours to go. A dream come true for a book lover who is always on the lookout for new reading material like a man in desert looks for water.
I came home with The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and couldn't be happier. I hear it's a great inspiration to get people reading again, not only in the entertaining book itself, but in the great book suggestions throughout the novel. I'll tell the truth- instead of messing with my stupid phone, I carried the book around with me this morning and am about 70 pages in. Yes. Thank you, book party.
Grace brought Daddy Long Legs and came home with The Bronze Bow. Good. I want her to read that book. I want to read that book. Evie brought the ever delightful Betsy-Tacy and came home with Twenty and Ten, a book I forgot about, but have read at least 3 times growing up.
Oh, how I love yearly traditions, especially when they are good ones, like the annual book party.
