Setting the bar.

The first Book Club I ever attended as an author was hosted by a dear friend. She invited her book club which had disbanded a few years earlier because no one read the books. It was a sweet, generous, supportive gesture. Later that evening I told my husband, “They can only get better from here.” Two people showed besides the hostess and me. One had read part of the book. One hadn’t read it at all.

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Last night I attended a book club where all nine ladies read the book. They told me that was possibly a first. We discussed the themes – marriage, family, emotional and physical satisfaction – for a couple hours. They told me that was definitely a first. All this occurred sipping coconut tequila spritzers on a gorgeous, begonia-covered patio. When I got home I told my husband, “They may all be downhill from here.”

Thanks to all these wonderful, funny, endearing ladies. I loved your stories (that one time at the cabin with your Mom and Dad,) (that time on the bus); your insights (we may have just saved a marriage) (would you have enough free hands? Maybe with a talk-to-text microphone); your honesty (I was angry with all the characters, but I had to keep reading); and your empathy (that could be true for a lot of marriages).

Thanks for letting me share a perfect Minnesota evening, ladies.. You set the bar high.