MCL Book Club

         When Myrtle Creek Library was still a public library back in 2016 there was an announcement for a book club.  Unlike Salt Lake county that has several copies of many books, Douglas county had multiples of  approximately 8-12 books.  I remember the librarian passing a list of suggested titles and a brief description.  The most unanimous we for  A Light in the Wilderness by Jane Kirkpatrick. 

The story is one of African-American pioneer Letitia Carson who made her way to Oregon and although she was a property owner by today’s standards, the law back then frowned upon women owning property.

        It appeared to be easy reading and we each took home a copy (I think there were eight of us) and would meet the following week or two (I don’t remember) and while the storyline did seem interesting, most of us found the book to be very one dimensional as characters would be mentioned but not developed.  It wasn’t so hard to keep track of as it just seemed to leave out enough detail that it was hard to imagine . . . if that makes any sense.

        Latitia Carson was buried in Pioneer Cemetery upon a hill just behind the gas station we often stop to have our car filled.  Roland and I have been to pioneer cemetery only once.  I searched among the headstones to see if I could find one for Latitia but I did not find one.  Most of the “markers” are unmarked – bearing a leaf but no other information.  Those that include a name or date are so badly weathered that it is hard to read (see here). 

For the second book we read it was suggested that instead of having everybody read the same thing, why not read something that we would not normally read and each give our review on what we had chosen. The library was then having a book sale and I somehow felt myself drawn to a book called When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eliosa James. I HATE romance novels, I despise them.  I picked it up not only because it is a genre I avoid, but because it had a giant font which I thought would be easier to read than most books. 

        It was hilarious!  I thought it was anyway.  Yes, it did occasionally drop a hint of grossness but nothing that made me want to vomit (as most romance novels do).  I could read other books by Eliosa James if that was indeed her style.  When I looked at the review four years ago, it did not seem well favored by her fans as she had stayed away from her usual.  Okay, that makes sense that I would enjoy something that the avid romance reader would not. 

        When I looked up the Title today it fell under fairytale 2 and I can no longer find the indecent review which I found before.  But I don’t see the book as a fairytale per se.  I think I would have been more disappointed with it if I had been expecting a fairytale. 

        I remember there were a couple that gave reviews and it peaked my interest but for the most part I didn’t care for the descriptions of the books that the others had read – nor do I recall any further meetings for the book club that seemed to vanish quicker than did the library (here) 

        When we had first moved to Myrtle Creek Jenna and I had gone to the library all the time.  And then I received my position on the board. Funny how I plugged for the promotion of voting to save the libraries and was active as a volunteer for a few months and just stopped going after a while. I got busy with school and then 2020 took over.  I need to go back someday.