REAL SIMPLE

I am just now getting on the bandwagon for Real Simple but I love it! My mom has subscribed for awhile now. I perused hers a few times and always enjoyed them so I decided I wanted my own! Great recipes, ideas, tips, what more could you want? I was especially interested in an article in my 1st issue about book clubs! As you know, I started our own book club 5 years ago this August (crap guys, we forgot to celebrate that too this month!!). We have read some great books and some not to great...and sometimes not even read at all. But no matter what, we always have fun! I think its so important for women to have time together. To bounce ideas of each other, share in joys and struggles, and just be together like sisters! I treasure my once a month get togethers with just us girls!

Here is a snippet of the article:
"Whether due to some failing of time management, imagination, or both, my adult life is somewhat lacking when it comes to two activities that I once took for granted: reading and spending time with friends." Which is why my book club meetings are right up there with the first day of school and the season premiere of The Office as unmissable events. In the 11 years since the inception of my book group- cooked up one night by me and two others, all of us still enthusiastic members-I've been on and off community boards, changed jobs and cars, moved houses, fired and hired babysitters, and seen the arrival and inevitable departure of pets (mostly hamsters and fish). But my book group has been constant.
There are nine of us, and we meet ever six weeks or so. The whole operation is loosey-goosey, but we like it that way. We choose books spontaneously, either something wonderful that someone has just read (which feels a bit like cheating) or a title that is well reviewed (which does not predict success with my group-I've chosen some real chunkers that the NY Times has loved.) We do not do author backgrounds or historical references, and under no circumstance do we use those silly book-group discussion guides that you find at the end of certain paperbacks.
The best part of the group, of course, is the individuals in it: our lives as they change over the years; the constant friendship of the women who can, in the same breath, provide you with a dermatologist recommendation, tips for monitoring teenage behaviour on prom night, advice on confronting a friend with emotional issues, and the best local store to buy good cheese. We have watched children grow and lives change; the talk has moved from diapering to college applications in the blink of an eye; from pregnancies to perimenopause in another blink."

While we are just at the diapering stage, I can definitely say our lives have changed a lot since our first meeting 5 years ago...and I can only hope that our book club will continue for the duration too!! I, too, am a book club advocate like this author and encourage any one else to find one. The article also has some great book recommendations, many of which we have read! I think I will bring it to the next meeting or keep it for future choices too!