shereads For these ‘Bookies,’ reading is a sure bet


Book club part of Forsyth County Newcomers and Women’s Club


STORY & PHOTOS By KATIE VAN BRACKLE katie@northsidewoman.com


The Forsyth County Newcomers


and Women’s Club is much more than a welcome wagon. Within the club are sub-groups to suit all hobbies and interests for couples and singles, providing great opportunities for neighbors new and old to get to know one another better.


Ladies, especially, have a wide variety of options. The “Bon Appétit” group attends cooking classes, while the “Reel Critics” meet for lunch and a movie. The “Sew What” ladies form closely knit ties and the “Dirt Diggin’ Divas” beautify their gardens. And in a back room of the


Manchester Court clubhouse, the “Bookies”


engage in some fast-


paced trading. Of opinions that is, on their favorite books. The Bookies vote on their titles


well in advance, but February’s book raised a bit of a stink. Ann Clark chose Patrick Suskind’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, because the tale of a prominent Parisian perfumer who sniffs out a murder sounded intriguing. But after a few chapters, the Bookies’ noses, Clark’s included, smelled a rat.


Penz.


“In a word, it was awful!” said Lisa “I got about halfway through


and just couldn’t bring myself to finish it.” She wasn’t the only one. “The


main character gets


eaten at the end, for heaven’s sake!” said Jane Watson indignantly.


While the ladies laughed


about this particular “dud,” the book chosen to replace it, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus was thankfully much more enjoyable. Morgenstern


made an


appearance at Woodstock’s Fox Tale Book Shoppe recently to sign copies of her magical tale. Penz said meeting the author


really enhances the enjoyment of a book.


Karen White, local author of On


Folly Beach once joined the Bookies for a discussion. Last year, a group of Bookies traveled to a luncheon at White Columns in Milton to meet Haywood Smith, author of The Red Hat Club. Penz enjoys attending the AJC Decatur Book Festival held each September. She first made the trip to downtown Decatur to meet the author of her favorite book of all time, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. “A friend recommended


Outlander to me but I hesitated because it’s over


1,000 pages,”


recalled Penz. “I finally pulled it out for a cross-country trip to visit my daughter in Oregon, hoping that it would be good because I had nothing else to do for several hours on the plane. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down! My family joked that the common question during that vacation was ‘Where’s Granny? Oh, she’s hiding


somewhere reading


Outlander again!’” The Bookies welcome all new or current Forsyth County residents who would enjoy the chance to share a good book with a group of friendly neighbors. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month, 1


p.m., at the Manchester Court clubhouse in Cumming.


For more information on all of the groups and events sponsored by the Forsyth County Newcomers and Women’s Club, go to www. newcomersclubofforsyth.org.


The Bookies recommend the following titles to fellow readers.


Outlander


By Diana Gabaldon In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon. When she innocently touches an ancient stone in the British Isles she is transported to war-torn Scotland in the year 1743 where her destiny becomes intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and young Scottish warrior James Fraser. Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire becomes a woman torn between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.


Night Circus By Erin Morgenstern


Behind the scenes of a mysterious


night circus, a fierce competition is underway. Two young magicians, Celia and Marco, face a duel they have prepared for since childhood, not knowing that only one can be left alive. Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love, but the game must play out and the fate of everyone involved, from the circus performers to the patrons, hangs in the balance.


Cider with Rosie By Laurie Lee The England of this 1920s tale is one of silence, of hard work and necessary patience, of white roads rutted by hooves and cartwheels. It is the rich, sensuous world of childhood and youth in a remote Cotswold village. Lee’s vivid descriptions and poetic prose transport the reader to a simple world that has mostly vanished.


World Without End By Ken Follett


Fans of Follett’s popular The


Pillars of the Earth travel back to medieval Kingsbridge where four children


witness two before returning


murders.


One boy goes on to travel the world


home.


The Forsyth County “Bookies.” Front, from left, are Ann Clark, Jane Watson and Marybeth Magallanes. Back, from left, are Millie Berman, Mika King, Judy Ree, Lisa Penz, Susan Baker and Terri Browne.


10 | northsidewoman.com | march2012


Another becomes a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl defies the mighty church while another pursues an impossible love. All four live continually under the shadow of the terrible killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day.


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