Jamming With Book Lovers

As this health crisis grinds on, I'm doing what I'm sure many of you are doing, i.e. regularly relying on ZOOM and other meeting apps to help stay connected with others. And though I knew before the crisis began that my reading community was vital to me, the book jam I hosted on Tuesday brought into sharp relief what fellow readers routinely bring to my life.

Of the twelve people online, two just listened as the other ten of us described what had specifically moved us in a book we'd recently read or, one that was still fresh in the memory. After giving a brief synopsis of our respective books, most of us also read a passage to help give others the flavor of the prose. Of the nine novels spoken of at the book jam, two went immediately onto my "to read" list, as did the only non-fiction book described, a .300 batting average - Ted Williams territory. I'm confident others will seek out at least one of the ten, based on the passionate endorsement of the readers who spoke.

But even if none of the books described make someone's list, I suspect our closing discussion of other worthwhile books from the catalog of the ten authors gave many of the twelve of us some good ideas. That's how I ended up with the fourth addition to my list. When attending your first book jam, what book will you choose to endorse?

(Attentive readers of my blog will not be surprised to know The Overstory (2018) by Richard Powers was my choice for this jam.)

 https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2020/02/to-be-continued.html