For the past year, I’ve been hosting the quarterly book club Scripts & Scones: A Literary Tea Salon. I’ve mentioned it in my email newsletters, on social media, and on the My Library page of the website, but I think it’s officially time to bring book club to the blog.
It’s no secret that I love to read. I’ve always wanted to start a book club and, one year ago, I finally did!
In Scripts & Scones, we read books that have been adapted for stage and screen. There are so many stories that are familiar and ingrained in popular culture, but how many of these books have we actually read? Personally, I realized that I’d read precious few, and I wanted to change that.
As a dramaturgy nerd, a book club devoted to source material seemed like a great fit - a clear focus with plenty of room for variety. Tea and scones are also on my list of favorites, so pairing book club with Alice’s Tea Cup in NYC seemed like the perfect combination.
Quarterly meet-ups offer plenty of time to read the book. (And, even if you haven’t finished, you’re still welcome to come!) We have a core group, with many others following along on the periphery. It’s a completely low-pressure, just-for-fun situation.
Here’s how you can participate:
Join the private Scripts & Scones group on Facebook - This is where we vote on books, choose meet-up dates, share articles and more. It’s the best way to stay involved with the community.
Attend our in-person quarterly meet-ups - These generally occur in early March, June, September and December. People easily float in-and-out as personal schedules allow, so participation is very flexible. The best way to hear about these is through the Facebook group.
Follow our discussion on the blog - I’m going to start posting each new book club pick as it’s chosen, and I’ll devote another post to book discussion around the time of the meet-up. Comment on the post to participate from the comforts of home.
Post your reading on Instagram - Using the hashtag #scriptsandscones.
2019 Scripts & Scones Picks:
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
And our first book of 2020 is:
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The plot centers around a young new wife, her widower husband, the housekeeper of the estate, and the mystery surrounding what happened to the first the first wife.
I remember loving this book in high school, but I’ve forgotten all of the details, so I can’t wait to read it again. Rebecca was made into a 1940 Hitchcock film and an internationally successful musical. The English-language version of the musical was set to appear on Broadway in the 2010’s, but never occurred due to fictitious investments. Between the criminal investigations and the heartache caused, the mystery and drama surrounding Broadway’s Rebecca proved to be as disturbing and mysterious as the novel, itself.
Have you read it before? Let me know what you think in the comments!
