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What Are They Reading?
BY ELAINE ROOKER JACK • PHOTOS BY JOON KIM
Who they are: The Beauties and the Books: Harriett Beck, Brenda Elkins, Jan
Goldammer, Julie Hammond, Jayne Hollander, Renee Johnson, Kay Maurer, Carol
Mullen, Lynetta Weathers, and Kim Williams.
First meeting: February 2003.
How they got together: It started with Kim and Lynetta and their shared love of
reading. “One of us would say ‘You gotta read this; I want to talk about it,’” says
Lynetta. They invited Julie and Jan and a couple of others and met at a coffee
shop. Over the next two years they added members and started meeting in each
others’ homes.
Their meetings: First Tuesdays at the home of the person who chose the book.
They eat supper and discuss the book over dessert.
What they’re reading: The Christmas Hope by Donna VanLiere
Their all-time favorite selection: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
Book they lost a member over: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. (She hadn’t
read it but objected to it in principle.)
Their all-time hated selection: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García
Márquez (“When he was tied to the tree barking like a dog, well, that’s when I gave
it up.” —Kim)
Carrot Cake (from Julie Hammond)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour round cake pans. In medium bowl,
combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In large bowl, combine
sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Stir in flour mixture; mix well. Stir in carrots,
pineapple, raisins, and nuts. Pour batter into cake pans. Bake at 350° for 50-60
minutes, or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely
before icing.
Cream Cheese Icing
In large bowl, combine all ingredients; beat until smooth. Spread on bottom cake,
put other cake on top and spread on it. Then coat entire surface and sides of cake
with chopped pecans. What they do when they’re not at book club: Most of them
are social workers and registered nurses at Floyd Memorial Hospital and Hospice
of Southern Indiana. Their group also includes a hospital administrator, a doctor,
and a dietician.
Favorite cause: Hospice of Southern Indiana; they donate book baskets for fund-
raising auctions.Other books they’ve loved: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer
Bradley, He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding
Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks, To Kill
a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Book-inspired meeting: They read Love Overboard, by Janet Evanovich, and
discussed it on a member’s boat, docking at Captain’s Quarters in Prospect for
supper. When I arrive I'm greeted by hostess Julie who introduces me to the
assembled members sipping mulled cider by the fire. I ask Kim, the unofficial
“Queen” of the book club, about the rules. “There aren’t many rules,” she says,
slicing garlic bread while Julie stirs the puttanesca sauce. “Read the book,” hollers
Brenda from the other room, “that’s a rule!” “But we don’t throw anyone out who
doesn’t,” Kim adds.
The book for the evening’s discussion holds their attention for about three
minutes. They agree that it was predictable, depressing and melodramatic. “It was
the dumbest book, but I couldn’t stop crying,” says Jayne. Harriett muses that any
one of them could have written a better book.
They digress into discussions of things they have dissected in college and nursing
school, angels and whether or not they are real, and their shared history since
forming this book club. They’ve stood by each other through marriage, divorce,
and a breast cancer scare. They’ve helped a member find the courage to face an
abusive situation. They’ve played matchmaker. They may have even saved a life,
but I’m not allowed to write about that.
Someone yells out, “Hey, let’s show her the video.” Kim forbids this and explains
that they made it when Oprah asked book clubs to send in videos. They promised
Oprah if she visited their book club they’d make her a Derby hat and serve
bourbon balls. They never heard from her; they figure it’s her loss.
They promise me that they usually spend much more time talking about the book.
But they’re quick to add that having fun together is the whole point. The evening
has been full of laughter: jokes, wise-cracks, gallows humor, and outright silliness.
As they leave, I hear more than one member complain that her face hurts from
laughing.
Elaine Jack at elainej@iamtodayswoman.com is a regular feature writer for Today’s
Woman magazine. She has been writing for seven years.
BY ELAINE ROOKER JACK • PHOTOS BY JOON KIM
Who they are: The Beauties and the Books: Harriett Beck, Brenda Elkins, Jan
Goldammer, Julie Hammond, Jayne Hollander, Renee Johnson, Kay Maurer, Carol
Mullen, Lynetta Weathers, and Kim Williams.
First meeting: February 2003.
How they got together: It started with Kim and Lynetta and their shared love of
reading. “One of us would say ‘You gotta read this; I want to talk about it,’” says
Lynetta. They invited Julie and Jan and a couple of others and met at a coffee
shop. Over the next two years they added members and started meeting in each
others’ homes.
Their meetings: First Tuesdays at the home of the person who chose the book.
They eat supper and discuss the book over dessert.
What they’re reading: The Christmas Hope by Donna VanLiere
Their all-time favorite selection: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
Book they lost a member over: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. (She hadn’t
read it but objected to it in principle.)
Their all-time hated selection: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García
Márquez (“When he was tied to the tree barking like a dog, well, that’s when I gave
it up.” —Kim)
Carrot Cake (from Julie Hammond)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour round cake pans. In medium bowl,
combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In large bowl, combine
sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Stir in flour mixture; mix well. Stir in carrots,
pineapple, raisins, and nuts. Pour batter into cake pans. Bake at 350° for 50-60
minutes, or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely
before icing.
Cream Cheese Icing
In large bowl, combine all ingredients; beat until smooth. Spread on bottom cake,
put other cake on top and spread on it. Then coat entire surface and sides of cake
with chopped pecans. What they do when they’re not at book club: Most of them
are social workers and registered nurses at Floyd Memorial Hospital and Hospice
of Southern Indiana. Their group also includes a hospital administrator, a doctor,
and a dietician.
Favorite cause: Hospice of Southern Indiana; they donate book baskets for fund-
raising auctions.Other books they’ve loved: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer
Bradley, He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding
Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks, To Kill
a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Book-inspired meeting: They read Love Overboard, by Janet Evanovich, and
discussed it on a member’s boat, docking at Captain’s Quarters in Prospect for
supper. When I arrive I'm greeted by hostess Julie who introduces me to the
assembled members sipping mulled cider by the fire. I ask Kim, the unofficial
“Queen” of the book club, about the rules. “There aren’t many rules,” she says,
slicing garlic bread while Julie stirs the puttanesca sauce. “Read the book,” hollers
Brenda from the other room, “that’s a rule!” “But we don’t throw anyone out who
doesn’t,” Kim adds.
The book for the evening’s discussion holds their attention for about three
minutes. They agree that it was predictable, depressing and melodramatic. “It was
the dumbest book, but I couldn’t stop crying,” says Jayne. Harriett muses that any
one of them could have written a better book.
They digress into discussions of things they have dissected in college and nursing
school, angels and whether or not they are real, and their shared history since
forming this book club. They’ve stood by each other through marriage, divorce,
and a breast cancer scare. They’ve helped a member find the courage to face an
abusive situation. They’ve played matchmaker. They may have even saved a life,
but I’m not allowed to write about that.
Someone yells out, “Hey, let’s show her the video.” Kim forbids this and explains
that they made it when Oprah asked book clubs to send in videos. They promised
Oprah if she visited their book club they’d make her a Derby hat and serve
bourbon balls. They never heard from her; they figure it’s her loss.
They promise me that they usually spend much more time talking about the book.
But they’re quick to add that having fun together is the whole point. The evening
has been full of laughter: jokes, wise-cracks, gallows humor, and outright silliness.
As they leave, I hear more than one member complain that her face hurts from
laughing.
Elaine Jack at elainej@iamtodayswoman.com is a regular feature writer for Today’s
Woman magazine. She has been writing for seven years.
