by guest blogger Rachel Slaiman
Love to read, but can’t seem to find a good book club? The Women’s National Book Association New York City chapter is introducing its own book club that will discuss contemporary books by women writers on a bi-monthly basis.
L to R: Sherring Dartiguenave, Jodie K. Bishuer, Hannah Bennett, Jill Wisoff, Rachel Slaiman
The first meeting was held Sunday, December 4th at Marlton Hotel in Greenwich Village. The group shared coffee and tea, good food, talked about our favorite passages from the book and our perceptions of the main characters. We also tried to relate our own experience from moving to NYC that gave us an opportunity to know each other a little bit more.
“Let’s say I was born when I came over the George Washington Bridge…”
The book club is moderated by Jill Wisoff and the novel chosen was Sweetbitter by bestselling novelist, Stephanie Danler. It is a coming of age story about a food industry server, Tess, who comes to New York from a small town in the Midwest. Over the course of a year, Tess learns about the hard life as a “backwaiter” from the restaurant’s doyenne, falls for an attractive but troubled bartender and grows into a new person who trusts her senses and heart instead of her head.
In February, the book choice is Mister Monkey by Francine Prose. Other books for later months are The Cosmopolitans by Sarah Schulman and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Rachel Slaiman is a published freelance writer of several articles in both print and online as well an editor and copy editor of aspiring author’s manuscripts. She is an active member of the WNBA as well as serving as co-chair for the Brooklyn Book Festival. Rachel holds a B.A. in Communications and an M.S. from Pace University. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing short stories.
