Mark Twain once said, “Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” The teachers’ book club lives up to this ideal. The group was originally all Central Greene teachers but has since become a local teachers’ book club. The book club recently read its 100th book. The GreeneScene is happy to commemorate their big achievement by sharing their story.
Heather Rogers Morris officially started the book club in 2012. After reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, Heather loved the book so much that she wanted to discuss it with other women. The book club got its start with six members and has been constantly growing and evolving since its inception. Heather Morris, Marcia Moore, and Kelley Stoneking have been book club members since day one. The club is currently made up of “one English teacher, two science teachers, one history teacher, three learning support teachers, one substitute and one who left teaching behind to become a long-haul truck driver. We also have a ‘token friend’ who is a non-teacher,” says Marcia.
The book club is open-minded about books. They enjoy genres and authors that are new to them. Each month a different member selects the book. The member who chose the book picks the location for the meeting. Meetings are usually at a local restaurant or one of the members’ homes. The members love to get together for a casual evening of conversation, food, and drinks. “The book is very important…but the friendships are the best part. Getting together… letting off some steam. Book club is like a therapy session for all of us!” says Kelley Stoneking. The book club members enjoy chatting about books so much that they have an on-going group message to keep the discussions rolling.
A hundred books read, and several members count West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge as their favorite selection. Marcia Moore had a particularly magical experience with this book. She says, “In a strange twist, as I was listening today, the story was traveling with me through Tennessee, all the way to Memphis with me passing the Memphis Zoo sign after they talked about that zoo, then almost to Little Rock, where I stopped for the evening. Within minutes of me crossing the Mississippi River and seeing the “Welcome to Arkansas” sign, the characters crossed their own bridge and saw the sign. It was just a very cool experience!”
Other favorites include Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, and their 100th book club selection Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese makes the favorites list as well. The 100th book club pick was made by Stacie Evans who has been a book club member since 2018. “Stacie chose a new restaurant in town for this meeting, M & J Tavern and Tap. We really enjoyed the food, and the margaritas were to die for!” says Kelley Stoneking.
“Keep reading. It is one of the most marvelous adventures anyone can have,” said Lloyd Alexander. These words could have been written about the teachers’ book club.