Book Club

One of my new year's resolutions is to be a better blogger. I even get points for it (more on that later). Of course to be a better blogger necessitates having more in your life than just work - really no one else is as interested in the intricacies of my job as I am and ofttimes even I am not that interested. So instead of continually writing blogs in my head which are never actually published I am making more of an efforts to stop whatever I am doing when I feel a blog coming and fire up the old PC. For instance currently I should be cleaning the kitchen which is a bit of a mess from my flurry to get refreshments made for book club. The responsible side of me thinks I should do that and go to bed but the creative side of me decided to do this. It was a pretty easy decision since I don't particularly like doing dishes.

We read "Three Cups of Tea" this month which I highly recommend. It was a bit slow to get into but is a fascinating story about how a few people can change the lives of many...the importance of education to a community...why development and commercialization brings both good and bad...how the power of love and understanding can conquer the power of fear and oppression...and the strength of the media to portray images both true and false.

I readily admit that normally I am an escapist reader and this is definitely not an escape but it is enthralling and very much an edifying read. Maybe I am on a roll and will update goodreads more often this year.

Oh back to the explanation of refreshments - no although I naturally feel that any social gathering requires food it is not a requirement for book club hosts but really how can you not serve tea when discussing a book call "Three Cups of Tea". And yes the majority of us drank three cups of tea. Luckily, my roommate Andrea and I are a bit of tea fanatics and thus could provide a plethora of choices by simply opening our cupboards - 8 to be exact. My new discovery - Sweet Thai Delight which is a truly delightful mix of coconut, rooibos, cinnamon and anise made best with a bit of honey and a splash (large splash in my case) of coconut milk (and yes I did actually have a can of coconut milk in my cupboard because you never know when it will come in handy).