Mom and I belong to the Woman’s Literary Club of Corydon, established in 1878 — no, we are not original members. I joined not long after we moved here, and Mom joined not long after she moved here. The women who were long-time members when I joined are gone, now, and new members have been added. I promised Mildred, the woman who recruited me, and who was a daughter of one of the founding members, that the club would never die as long as I was alive. She would be happy to see how many members we have: it fluctuates around the original limit of 15.

She would also be happy to see that it has continued to be a group of women who are very different from one another but get along beautifully. There has never been any cliquishness. There has never been anything but enthusiastic welcome for new members.

We used to all read the same book at the same time, but that was no fun. We didn’t like having an assigned book, and having to read something we didn’t like. So we decided to choose a theme for the year and have each member be responsible for presenting a book to the group. That way, we get introduced to books we might never have chosen or might have resented having to read, and we can borrow the books from the presenters if they sound interesting.

This year, the theme is mysteries.

Last month, I reported on the Judge Dee mysteries. This month, the presenter reported on Jason Goodwin’s mysteries set in the declining Ottoman Empire. Since she’s studied Middle Eastern Dance, she did some Middle Eastern Dancing for us.

I love my club!

I can’t wait to see what the program is, from month to month.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Make some alphabet cards. Shuffle them. Pick one at random, write it down, put it back. Pick another one, write it down, put it back. Go to the library and go to the fiction section. Choose a book at random from an author with those letters at the beginning of his/her name. Read the book. Wasn’t that fun?

MA