It is hard to believe that we are almost half way through the 2008-09 book discussion at the Tottenville Branch. Tonight we will be discussing All My Sons by Arthur Miller. It is the first time in a long time that we have read a play, so it will be interesting to see how the group reacts. In some ways the play seems to me to be dated, although it is about an issue, manufacturing shoddy military machinery and war profiteering in the U.S. during World War II, a subject that doesn’t seem to be talked or written about much. (Was it a big problem?) I don’t know how the group will react.

They have been pretty pleased with the selections so far: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. The most popular title was The Secret Life of Bees with The Memory Keeper’s Daughter a close second. Our next book is Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. This was requested by a number of members of the group.

We’ve been averaging 13.5 people per session, which is a really high number for Tottenville. They are really into it!