Book Club

I went to my monthly book club meeting last night, something I really LOVE to do. We meet at the Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Charlotte which is lovely both inside and out. I enjoy using my brain for something other than medical stuff and sometimes the books we read truly challenge my abilities, but that's why I do it! The book we read for last night was a doozy, but I'm glad I read it. ("Koolaids - The Art of War" by Rabih Alameddine.) Some of the other books we've read have been "The Storyteller's Daughter" by Saira Shah, "My Name Is Red" by Orhan Pamuk, "The Wedding" by Dorothy West, "The Space Between Us" by Thrity Umrigar, "Independence Day" by Richard Ford, "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde, "Pillars of Salt" by Fadia Faqir, and "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen. Our next book for the November meeting is, "Dancing To "Almendra"" by Mayra Montero. It's about mafia-dominated Cuba before Castro took over in 1957. See? I would never read that on my own.

I took a picture of these planters for Saeed.

Drought or no drought, they must be watering these!

Looking down you can quickly see this store has much more than just books. It's really a gift shop with lots of books.

A wall celebrating independent booksellers, which are retail shops not owned by large companies, that sell books to the general public.

The cafe inside this store is called Bronte's Bistro (for Emily Bronte, the British author most well known for "Wuthering Heights.") This is where we meet so that those of us who have come straight from work can have a very nice meal.

I came early enough to take these pictures before the diningroom got too full. I decided not to take pictures of my book club buddies; they may not want to be on my blog.

This circular booth is our table. Once in a while we have to give up our cute little round corner table for a larger one. Personally I like it when our group is small so I can get a word in!

Those chairs look so inviting.

This is a real fireplace that they light when it's not 90 degrees out. During the summer they use it as a display rack.

Throughout the store there are many many displays. This table was about the environment. If you can see the dark pink book on the right - it's cover says, "It's Easy Being Green."

I have never seen so much Vera Bradley in my life!

This is in addition to what you see above.

There's a whole room just for kids. I can't wait to bring my grandchildren here.

Pink dress up costumes must distract children from the books, but when I was little....

..... this is what would've appealed to me!!