Bonding through books

For Jill Waring-Greatorex, the discussion starter in Sandy Library's most recent book club was the fact that the author had thrown away her manuscript after 350 pages of toil.

"She didn't get the voice of the story," Waring-Greatorex said of Holly Payne, who wrote "The Virgin's Knot." "It was about how this weaver felt that she had been told that she had a gift from God — it was very complicated in terms of how the heroine progressed and the things around her within the culture. (The author) started over to get the voice of the story."

Waring-Greatorex brought up Payne's discarded manuscript only as an ice-breaker for the book club. Participants drove the rest of the discussion with notes and questions they brought — "they just automatically springboarded into that book," Waring-Greatorex said.

Book clubs have been spreading in the Salt Lake area particularly after national celebrities like Oprah popularized the discussion groups. Now, local stores and neighborhood groups are forming across the valley.

The Sandy Library has had a longstanding book club, although with varying rates of participation, said Waring-Greatorex, the librarian who took over administration of the club two months ago. Likewise, the Draper Library has a "Cookies and Conversation" club with a new book on the third or fourth Thursday of each month. Additionally, book stores and libraries in the south valley area offer story times for young children and book clubs for adolescents.

The best part about starting a book club is that the group's dynamic is entirely up to the members. Some groups, for example, are more of a social gathering that use the book as an excuse to get together, such as the cookies and conversation club at the Draper Library. Others, like a group at King's English bookstore in Sugar House, are more focused on just talking about the book and its implications.

Rosalind Sandack, who runs six book groups including the King's English club, kicked off a recent discussion of "The Bluest Eye" with probing questions about author Toni Morrison's message and theme. One woman of the six attendees that evening admitted to plowing through the book in 24 hours, unable to stop turning pages. Several other women confessed they had to put the book aside in some of its bleakest moments.

"All of us have had experiences where our differences stick out and they make us want to disappear," Sandack said to the group. "If we're thoughtful about our reading, it resonates with us personally. That's one way Morrison hooks us."