Among the many active committees that make Pine Run residents busy, involved and entertained, our Let’s Talk Books Club is one of the longest in existence and most enthusiastic group of women and a few men. Some people might observe that reading is a solitary act and that reading a book allows the reader to enter another world. But what happens when you read a book in the company of others? You enter the world together but see it in your own way. It is through sharing those differences of perception that the group acquires its emotional power.

A NY Times journalist, Robin Teller, is in three book groups – a woman’s group, an inter-generational group with her daughter, and a couples group. She says, “It’s like sitting around gossiping about people, only you’re gossiping about characters in fiction which is more meaningful.”

Over the last 8 years, our Pine Run Book Club has run the gambit from mystery to classics, to books that evoke many different emotions. The most common quote we hear at the conclusion of a meeting is, “Oh, I like the book so much better after we have talked about it!” No doubt that reactions do differ – from “I loved this book” to “As soon as I get home, I’m going to burn this book!”

— Rita Klein