“On the same page” is a series featuring Utah book clubs.
Editor’s note: If you have a book club and you are interested in being featured, please contact us at features@deseretnews.com. Please include your name, your contact information and one or two sentences describing your book club.
SALT LAKE CITY — In 1997, a group of 10 women began to meet in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The Red Hat Society era was just beginning, so the women bought red hats. Now, 23 years later, half of the original group members still belong to the book club that meets monthly.
Although the club has no official name — member Maurine Miles said The Grandmas was considered at one point — the ladies have grown into best friends who talk about books, get off topic and then go back to talking about books.
Deseret News: How did the book group start?
Maurine Miles: One of the ladies just came to a couple of us — we live really close together — and said, ‘I think we need to start a book club because our kids are old enough they don’t need us that much anymore and we all love to read. Let’s do it.’ And so we agreed.
DN: What kind of books do you read?
MM: We started out doing a few romantic novels. But within two or three years we … started choosing more deep books. … We focus a lot on historical fiction and true history. We’ve done quite a few war — Second World War, First World War, even Revolutionary War — books that talk about people during that time.
DN: What is a memorable book club experience?
MM: When we were younger — we’re all probably now in our 60s and 70s, and when we started out, we were in our 40s — we took several trips together to St. George. And then we did some sightseeing along the way. One year we actually rented a big van and we all went together in the van, and that has to be one of the funnest things we ever did. We stopped at yard sales and nine ladies piling out of a car — it is pretty interesting.
DN: What is one of the most memorable discussions you’ve had?
MM: We’ve had some good discussion around “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and we also read (“The Help”). … And the fact that we grew up during the ‘60s, ... when there were big issues with (racism), and how being out here in the West, we didn’t really realize that there was such a problem with segregation.
DN: What are you reading now?
MM: “The Prayer Box” by Lisa Wingate.
DN: What book would you like to see made into a movie?
MM: “The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown.
The Pleasant Grove book club recommends:
“The Children’s Blizzard,” by David Laskin, HarperCollins, 336 pages (nf)
”Three Cups of Tea,” by Greg Mortenson, Penguin Random House, 349 pages (nf)
“Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust,” by Immaculee Ilibagiza, Hay House, 256 pages (nf)
“Sarah’s Quilt,” by Nancy Turner, St. Martin’s Press, 432 pages (f)
“From Sea to Shining Sea,” by James Alexander Thom, Ballantine Books, 896 pages (f)
“1776,” by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, 400 pages (nf)
“A Train to Potevka,” by Mike Ramsdell, Brigham Distributing, 305 pages (f)
“My Name is Resolute,” by Nancy E. Turner, St. Martin’s Press, 608 pages (f)
“The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,” by Daniel James Brown, Penguin Random House, 404 pages (nf)
“Gone with the Wind,” by Margaret Mitchell, Simon & Schuster, 960 pages (f)
“Nicholas & Alexandra,” by Robert K. Massie, Penguin Random House, 672 pages (nf)