
Anxious People*
I attended my first ever book club.
Title took creativity to find
in a format readable by these
tired old eyes.
FB event said 3 would be attending;
I walked into a room of 30.
Not my cup of tea. An hour later
I walked out into a carnival night,
encouraged by quantity in a town
that usually turns up only for beer;
yet disappointed by numbers
with only a few convo domineers.
*title of book, written by Fred Backman
I know I already wrote about this one. Apologies for being redundant!

Wow! A lot of readers, then! <3
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Evidently!
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I’d be nervous reading in front of so many people.
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Sadje it was a book discussion not a reading.
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Fred Beckman is my favorite author
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You picked a good one to be your favorite :)
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He is a wonderful writer
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I would love to have a small book club with books we all loved and talked about while drinking tea. 🫖📚
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Me too. You just have to be careful not to let one or two people dominate the rest into silence.
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Exactly. Some day I’ll have time for this. LOL!
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So I guess most book club people aren’t on Facebook then! 😜
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I think you’re right, Steve. Or didn’t bother to respond.
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Kind of jarring to expect 3 and get 30! An introvert’s hell! 😰
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Well, you went, you saw, you went somewhere else. :-D
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Thirty is definitely too many. I have a lot of friends in book clubs but all of them are less than 10 people. It takes me too long to read a book; I’d never finish it in time to discuss it. (K)
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30 is ridiculous.
I would so love to be part of an intimate book club. Sigh.
Anxious People was a good read :)
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Agreed, yes, a cozy book club would be awesome. Glad you read it and liked it.
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Where I live, we Anglos are few and far between. If I were on the island of Montreal, or, even better, the West Island, I’d have way more chances of finding one.
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Just curious, Dale, is English your first language or was French? Were you born in Montreal? I just wonder about the term Anglo.
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My first languages are English and French. Born in Montreal and raised on the south shore. We here in Quebec will always have a distinction between the Anglos and the Francos 😉
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What are Anglos and Francos? Those who choose English or French as their primary language?
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Sorry! The things we take for granted over here! Anglophones and Francophones… within the province, mostly :)
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I am still not sure what you mean. If you live in the province of Quebec you are a Francophone and if you live outside of Quebec you’re an Anglophone? I’m sorry I’m woefully ignorant of what you’re saying. Please be patient with me :)
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No. Within the province of Quebec, the English speaking peeps are Anglophones and the French speaking, Francophone. In this province, they are determined to become 100% French. It’s annoying AF for the Anglos. Signs have to be in French but they’ll allow an English version in smaller font below the French. There are Separatists that keep trying to break aways and from Canada but they keep losing. They are constantly fighting. I’m a 50/50. French mother, English father. Brought up in both and as comfortable in either language. We are a supposed bilingual country but that’s not true. The only truly bilingual province is New Brunswick. The rest of Canada doesn’t give a shit about French (small communities here and there, excepted).
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Ah, ok. Thank you for bearing with me, Dale. You definitely got the double charm on that. Equally comfortable in both realms. The Separatists sound a lot like Texans who always want to secede from the US — until a disaster happens and they want assistance.
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Thank you, Lisa! I feel I am so lucky to have gone from English to French schools (Fr for K and grade 1, Eng for 2-6, Fr for high school, Eng for some college, Fr for some other college, Fr for some uni classes.😊).
The Separatists have been trying forever. And exactly. We wanna separate but use your medical, money, retirement, employment insurance. There’s a great skit done by “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” – a sort of SNL from Newfoundland. https://youtu.be/5N5GzYhY2dk?si=GLKh_pjJDbdYsiRz
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It would let me view the video but I found it another way. Funny but informational also. I’m guessing your English comes in real handy with your job.
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I worried about that and I’m sure the French thrown in made it a tad more difficult but you got the jist!
My English has gotten me the job so often. If it was between me and another candidate whose English was meh… The job was mine.
Here, I spend my time cringing in both languages because … Some obviously did not excel in grammar. My boss’ written French is awful!
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I wonder how much you could make as a translator (of both written and spoken)?
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I had considered it once upon a time …
No matter where I work, I end up doing some translations…
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I never attended a book club…yea too many…
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I wanted to give it a try in person. I know they have virtual book clubs but so far haven’t tried one. What do you think about a music-themed book club?
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That would be up my alley more. Musical bio club…there are so many out there as you know.
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I read too slow to join a book club!
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LOL! I hope you are joking, Dana. They usually give you a month’s notice on the book.
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Good to know! But I am a slow reader! 😏
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