The Seven Moons

For April, we read The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.  This is a novel that brings to light the violence and horrors of the civil wars in Sri Lanka.  The novel is set in the afterlife where the main character is faced with reviewing his life, the subjects he photographed, his relationships to solve his own death.  This was a difficult read, but an important one.  We had good discussions about Sri Lanka, colonialism, and afterlife.  We talked about the spiritual nature of the novel.  Some of us were unable to finish, given how hard the subject was but we were encouraged by the finishers to read it through in the future.

We also had a good talk about recalibrating our book club and recommitting to the core reason we have been together for so long.  We first of all, love each other.  Secondly, we appreciate the push to read material we would not ordinarily read.  Thirdly, meeting with each other rises us out of our day to day lives in a very meaningful way.  While the pandemic and our more remote members have caused us to figure out some more creative ways of gathering.  We agreed that earlier is better.  5:30 is a great time to meet.  We also appreciate our Burlington members who are more central and can accommodate us all.  We will make every effort to bring dinner to those who open their homes to us, while also wanting to be creative about perhaps a Saturday afternoon at a member's home that is more of a drive.  Finally...communication!  Everyone agreed that email is the best way to communicate!  I am recommitting to being more timely with the blog!

We are meeting next on May 22nd at 5:30 at Mindy's home- Lexi is taking the lead on dinner, but might delegate to the rest of us.  We are reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks