TA-DA! —a book club is born.  Birmingham Literary Society met last night for the very first time- what a great start girls!   I was happy as a little clam as 6:30 ‘finally’ rolled around and people began to arrive.  Giddy would be a better word.  What a group of women!  Very diverse and eclectic.

Everyone filtered in as the conversations grew – we prepared our munchies, giggled over my cocktail napkin collection (one must have great cocktail napkins – he he he) made cocktails and poured wine (a must  – ahem).  I had a Dark and Stormy my new favorite cocktail. Yum.  We settled into seats and began.

Author bio first then book club discussions.   I shared my findings on the author Marsha Mehran and was shocked to learn she had passed away at a very tender age of 36 – alone in a small cottage in Ireland (you can’t make this stuff up – really).  She had been dead a week before anyone realized she had crossed over the rainbow into Never Never Land.   Strikingly beautiful from her photos – she was described as a very bright and gifted child learning many languages at a young age.  She was born in Tehran and lived in many different places including S Fla and NYC.  After her divorce she moved to Ireland – battled depression, declining mentally and becoming reclusive.  She needed a book club bless her heart!  She had a third book that remains unfinsihed.  Smack.

We all agreed Pomegranate Soup was a great first book to dig into.  Three sisters flee their homeland in Iran after the revolution.  Scarred emotionally from their experiences, they nest in a small charming town in Ireland — outsiders they create a niche by opening an enchanting cafe filled with aromas of their homeland.  I won’t give away ‘too much’ in case you haven’t read the book.

After reading my book I usually find a Little Free Library to deposit it into.  Thanks again ladies for making our very first meeting a complete success.  Bravo! ::::turning cartwheels::::  Our selection for next month is The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood.  Woot!