Proud New Yorker I may be, but I’m lucky enough to spend my winters in south Florida—no snow, lots of sunny days with weather warm enough to swim, bike, and walk outdoors. But what about my brain, you ask. Does it get any exercise?
Yes it does, thanks in no small part to The Festival Book Club of North Fort Myers, a erudite group of women who selected their club’s name from the Southwest Florida Reading Festival a marvelous literary event held each March at the Harborside Event Center, nestled on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers.
The Festival, which has been sponsored by The Lee County Library System for more than a decade, has grown into a relaxed and fun-filled literary event that catches the attention numerous authors of fiction and non-fiction alike. I suspect the authors enjoy the Festival because it attracts thousands of readers. Because it is held in south Florida in March, the readers who attend the Festival are as likely to come from another state or another nation, as they are to be full time Floridians. And the same is true for our book club. Nearly half the members are Floridians, while the rest of us come from a number of States and Canada just for the winter season.
I was delighted when it was my turn to select a book and host a recent meeting. My choice of book was limited to anything written by an author attending the 2011 Reading Festival, which meant I could select from a wide array of fiction and non-fiction authors.
So, rather than enjoying a leisurely visit with Alex, Mike and Mercer, I was constantly taking notes, just a bit fearful that I’d let the Festival gals down by not being prepared to lead the discussion. I went online and read a number of interviews Linda Fairstein had given around the time that Lethal Legacy was released and I researched the New York Public Library building, since so much of the action takes place there.
I need not have worried. As usual, the ladies of The Festival Book Club were filled with opinions and not afraid to share them. What surprised me most was that not every one is as charmed by the concept of having New York City as a character in the book as I am. Some readers thought that the book went overboard on all the intense description of the library and its environs, while I consider all the New York history to be a secondary mystery to unravel as the characters solve the primary “who dun it.”
We also discussed Alex’s relationship with Luc. Is he really necessary? Some members like the idea of a romantic Frenchman popping in and out of Alex’s life on a very irregular basis, but more thought that Luc comes across as an add-on. His main purpose seems to be to show Alex as a woman, not just a prosecutor. I think that while a romance with a local, more available man might seem to interfere with Alex’s job, in the long run, readers would get comfortable with that give and take. But, of course, we are all waiting for Alex to hook up with Mike.
That’s what I like best about book club: everything is fair game—setting, characters, style and substance. Next, we’re moving on to a non-fiction work.
I’m sure our discussion will be lively. It always is.
Image courtesy of PrintsByFormedByFire
According toTerrie Farley Moran, writing short mystery fiction is nearly as much fun as hanging out with any or all of her seven grandchildren. One of her recent shorts can be found in the anthology Crimes By Moonlight, and Terrie blogs at Women of Mystery.
It actually seems as though you were able to keep the book club ladies on track and had a great discussion about the book rather than start gossiping. I have to disagree with not being charmed by having NYC and the library as characters. The city is as interesting as they come and that particular library is legendary. Linda described them both perfectly and made them a real part of the story.
I’ve lived in Montana. People there positively hate NYC and New Yorkers. No, I don’t think they’re envious, although I can’t imagine why. I must admit that their mountains, lakes, glaciers, grisly bears and sunsets make for meaty characters as well. Maybe not quite as mysterious as NY…maybe not quite as rich in delicious detail. But then I think of Carl Hiasson. He’s got Florida down to a T, and if that place ain’t a character, what is?
Your book club sounds wonderful. I’m envious.
Hi Cathi, the Festival Book Club is an extremely serious book group. We never gossip! It would be hard to find a more interesting and interested group of readers. and, Livclaire, I do understand your envy, I am so happy to be a member of Festival.
I’m interested in the idea of a series book as a book club discussion pick. Had most of the others read any of Fairstein’s other work? Do you think the discussion might have gone in a different direction if they had/hadn’t? I am always wary of things like that–my own view of characters, setting and relationships is so colored by earlier books in a series I don’t know how much patience I would have with people who didn’t have that background.
Hi Laura,
A couple of us have read other books in the Alex Cooper series, but for many of the members, Lethal Legacy was their introduction to Linda Fairstein’s work. I picked the book, not even thinking about what number in the series it was. For book club our goal is to find a book that the Lee County library has at least fifteen copies available for us to reserve–although the Kindle readers frequently buy and download.
You bring up an excellent point. A lot of people like to start a series at the beginning and move forward. Our book club is very eclectic in taste and curiosity, so there are always a few of us who will read the book and then research the series, the topic, etc. so, generally, those who are interested in finding out more, do so before the meeting. And I will say that Fairstein’s books are very pick-up-able. There is always the usual “how we got here” references to former books but basically, the stories are very focused in the moment for the story and in the past only for the history of the parts of New York that Linda is using as backdrop/part of the story. You don’t need to know a lot of character history.
Fabulous!! I like the mirror on the bottom. And your garden looks great as well!!
Thanks for sharing such informative and nice blog,I really happy to read your blog , hope your next blog will soon
Thank you for making me realize this. It’s great.
Thanks for sharing.I found a lot of interesting information here.
I enjoyed read over your blog post. Your blog have nice information, I got good ideas from this amazing blog. I am always searching for this type blog post.
Nice Blog Post. It’s really good to see the informative blog like this.
Thnaks for Shaering it
is a city building recreation computer game at first created by the Bulgarian studio Haemimont Games.
It is an electronic signal measuring, data searching, works to offline mode with further implementation.
is the fact that it has a larger quantity of live-solid recording.
is acclaimed and other Puzzzals games are accessible available.
Thank you for sharing this article. It is really useful, hope you can share more other articles.
This article is very helpful for us, Thanks for sharing. Such a more nice and valuable Article. Really your site is very awesome. Thanks for giving us these kinds of Articles.
hi
<hareemch434@gmail.com
I like your all post. You have done really good work. Thank you for the information you provide
What a great job. I’m regular reader of your blog. You always share a good infromation. Thanks for sharing. For further details please visit my website
ESET NOD32 Antivirus, usually known as NOD32, is an antivirus programming bundle made by the Slovak organization ESET. ESET NOD32 Antivirus is sold in two versions, Home Edition and Business Edition
I’m going to read this. I’ll be sure to come back. Thanks for sharing. and also This article gives the light in which we can observe reality. This is a very nice one and gives in depth information. Thanks for this nice article..
I.m Read This Blog Writer Put SOme Amazing And Intresting Things In A Manner Way, On The Other Side You Can Visit My Site WindowsCracked, You Can Find All Kind Of Pc Softwares Easily.
Thank you so much for sharing such useful and interesting information. Your website is highly effective and contains worthy content.
I loved the article, keep updating interesting articles. I will be a regular reader
Nice Post This article is very helpful for me please don’t stop posting this type of article.
Wise Program Uninstaller is an excellent answer for uninstalling home windows programs, permitting you to uninstall programs speedy and absolutely use of its easy and consumer-friendly interface. The built-in test engine will test and delete all the left associated documents, folders, and registry gadgets after the de-installation, making sure the program is absolutely removed from your laptop.
TOTAL Video Converter, you can convert any video and music to mp4, avi, iPhone, iPad, mobile, PSP, DVD, and burn videos on DVD, AVCHD, and Blu-Ray.
I’m the owner of this website. I’ll provide the service of all types of crack software for PC.
You can also download it.I read this article!
I hope you will continue to have such articles to share with everyone! thank you!You can Visit my website
href=”https://vstlinks.net/timemator-crack-latest-free/”>Timemator Crack
href=”https://vstlinks.net/wing-ftp-server-corporate-crack-latest-free/”>Wing FTP Server Corporate Crack
href=”https://vstlinks.net/picsart-crack-latest-free/”>PicsArt Crack
href=”https://vstlinks.net/diskeeper-professional-crack-latest-free/”>Diskeeper Professional Crack
href=”https://vstlinks.net/world-machine-crack-latest-free/”>World Machine Crack
href=”https://vstlinks.net/du-meter-crack-latest-free/”>DU Meter Crack
I read topic and I’m feel good with the article, Thank you.