When Tokilla Book Club invited me to join them for dinner and discussion of The Same Moon, I already knew a couple of its members — Jill, my neighbor and fellow writer-friend, and Rachel, who twenty-four years ago (!) co-introduced me to my husband, Jon. I figured my links to the rest of the group would be that they’d all read my book, and that we live in this already frozen tundra called the Red River Valley.

But as has so often been the case since moving back to my hometown, I was amazed to find I had existing connections with everyone else as well:

• The woman who once bought a home from my elementary school orchestra teacher and knows his daughter (who I spent second grade trying to emulate by drawing horse sketches) and her husband, who I went to high school with
• A woman who works in what, when I was a reporter, was my favorite city hall department, knows the people I loved to interview and actually now has what used to be the job of a friend of mine
• The sister of a woman I met a few months ago in the Lemonade Book Club, which I once-upon-a-time belonged to
• A professional musician who shares my interest in world music and, surely, other connections as well

If we’d had more time, I’m sure we’d have found more linkages.

Isn’t that the beauty of book clubs? We gather, the book group creating a hub with friends from various parts of life. We choose books that link us together, and they draw us in, a cluster of busy, overcommitted spokes.

For an evening or morning, we slow down and take time to ponder new topics. Sharing fresh ways of thinking and our own experiences, we get recharged and leave refreshed. At least that’s my experience here.

Thank you, Tokilla Book Club!

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If your book club is reading The Same Moon, I’d love to share your photo — please contact me to share … or to schedule a visit! You can find discussion questions and photos of past book club gatherings — where else? — on my book group page.

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Feeling the urge to write? Check out this take-anywhere writing prompt, which was described by a university student as “a breath of fresh air.”

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