Reverb 10 - Party

Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.

Parties aren’t really my thing.  I’m always glad I went after I’ve been to one, but I almost always have to psych myself up to go when invited.   I guess my social needs trend more towards one-on-one events than parties.  In the past year I’ve missed a couple, either because of the conflicts of raising kids or because I just needed a quiet night at home with my family.

Tonight, though, was a party I really enjoyed.  The twelve women of my book group met at Ricco’s Italian Bistro for dinner.  Tonight was a rare night for us because all of us were present.  We’re in our seventh year together and this has become our holiday tradition.  December is the one time we don’t discuss books; instead we exchange them.  I had two glasses of the house merlot, a caesar salad to die for and a fabulous FETTUCCINE DIAVOLO that was just the right amount of spicy.    (I had intended to take my camera, but forgot, so no pictures.)

We had a slightly too small table for 12 by a big plate window looking out over a few Christmas lights and a dark night.  Over wine we talked about everything under the moon, having conversations and cross-conversations on a broad range of topics.  Books, jobs, triathlons, kids leaving for college & the associated pains for parents, whether to tell your kids there is no Santa Claus, and whether we should try having our husbands read a book and join us some month .. among other topics.

As a group, we are intelligent women who love to read and who like being talking about books.  While we sometimes struggle to find great books to read, we always have excellent discussions about the books and about so much more as well.  I love it when I see no redeeming value in a book, but after we discuss it I can see it in a new, more favorable light.  While we don’t see each other as a group outside our monthly meetings, our community is small and we run into each other a lot.  

After untold hours over the years talking about books, characters, big ideas, and little ideas you get to know each other in a deeper way.  I like knowing that Amy will always have a liberal take on whatever we read, Lisa will want to go into greater literary analysis, Tracy will be able to compare it to a host of other books, and Kandra will ALWAYS totally miss the sex in the book.  These women understand me, and better yet, they accept me as I am.   I am blessed to count myself one of them.

In case you’re wondering, the January selection is a our group’s first ever book of short stories called  “Sourland: Stories” by Joyce Carol Oates and for February we’re reading “Cutting for Stone” by Abraham Verghese.  Between reading those, we’ll all be trading around the books we exchanged tonight.