Book Night: an idea to save me from brain mulch

The inspiration for Book Night?  Outing myself as a gossip mag addict. It wasn’t as if I was always like this. Before parenthood, I was quite bookish. My brain could cope with twisted plot lines, three-dimensional characters and words of multi-syllables. Two babies later and my most challenging read is Now magazine.

I realised the error of my ways when quizzing friends over dinner, “What do you think of the Katie Price and Peter Andre split?”  I started a conversation (actually, more like a monologue) that exposed my in-depth knowledge of their marriage implosion.

At that point, I knew my love affair with gossip mags needed to be over: “It’s not you, it’s me…” I whispered to my stack of Heat, Now, New! and Closer magazines as I lowered them gently into the recycling basket (and concealed them beneath a copy of New Scientist, lest passers-by should judge).

I made a decision:  to look for a more suitable reading match for my intellect before my brain becomes a mulch capable of reading nothing more perceptive than Goat and Donkey in Strawberry Sunglasses (though a good book, in truth). It’s something I’ve resolved to do before and failed, so how can I make sure that this time I will succeed?  

What I need are Book Buddies: the human equivalent of a mighty boot up the derriere.  If I arrange a monthly get together to discuss a book we’re all reading, I will simply HAVE to read it. And, to kill two birds with one stone, I can use the evenings to resurrect my tragic social life. With the aid of wine and nibbles, this can actually be FUN.  

Ah ha!  Brilliant.  Now, all I need to do is to find a group of like-minded people who will join me for my very first Book Night…

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