Enjoying Books on a Saturday Morning

by Susan Rupert     

Blackhawk Middle School, Fort Wayne

 

Blackhawk Middle School’s staff reading group encourages a variety of reading and spirited discussions.  It has promoted camaraderie among its members and has even indirectly touched the lives of unknown people worlds away.

The diverse group of about 12 participants includes school secretaries, aides, and teachers and meets about once a month on Saturday mornings at a local gourmet coffee shop.  The atmosphere is inviting—with steaming coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and breakfast treats as an added incentive to attend.  Group members enjoy the intellectual aspect of conversing with adults and the sometimes rather heated discussions about the reading.  Members also like the variety of books that have been read.  One member, a teacher and mother of a one-year-old, says she enjoys reading and discussing the books because she considers it something worthwhile that she does for herself.

There is no assigned group leader or specific discussion questions.  A general question such as “What did you like or dislike about the book?” or “Which character did you sympathize with most?” is all it takes to get the group started.  Thoughts and ideas seem to follow naturally as everyone expresses opinions.  People seem to have especially strong feelings about which characters are likeable, which can or cannot justify their actions, and which seem totally devoid of redeeming qualities.  Books have been selected based on hearsay, with everyone agreeing to the next title before leaving the meeting.  An exception to this was made with the last book.  The lone male member chose the title as a concession to the fact that some of the previous titles might have been considered “chick books.”

The group has read Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett.  Other books that were recommended and read by several group members, but not officially club books, have been House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus and We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates.  Several other “Oprah” books—including Stones from the River, White Oleander, Black and Blue, and I Know This Much Is True—have also been recommended.  The historical fiction title The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is a past favorite.  J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring is being made into a movie that will be released next Christmas, so the group chose The Hobbit as its next selection.

A benefit of the discussions is learning about past experiences of group members that influence their perspectives regarding characters and events.  For example, one group member had been an exchange student in a small town in Peru, South America, during the 1960s and explained how the United States had tried to influence political events there in ways very similar to the exploitation of Africa as related in Kingsolver’s book.  Another group member had a nephew who was with the Peace Corp in Africa.  He e-mailed several times telling the group about current conditions in Africa in humorous, entertaining letters.  Military life as a child has influenced another group member.

To be able to discuss the books, members found that they read more carefully.  An unexpected bonus was that book selections have broadened horizons and interests.  Had The Poisonwood Bible not been read, the recent assassination of the Prime Minister of the Congo might have gone unnoticed.  The exploration of the arctic regions took on meaning because of the Barrett book.

Certainly, the club has had an effect on other staff members and students.  Staff members who cannot attend the meetings, but enjoy reading, often ask what books have been discussed or what the next selection is to be.  Students see the books that are being read and ask what they are about, opening up discussions in classes as well as letting students know that reading is enjoyable.