Never to be outdone by the provincial outpost of Seattle, New York has upped the reading party ante. Topless Reading Parties are springing up (see what I did there?) around the Big Apple. Stop laughing. It's true. It's very cutting edge. And you and I certainly weren't invited (there are small favors in life). Topless Reading Parties operate on the same principle -- show up, read a book -- sans shirt.
There is a literary connection here, I'm sure of it.
Perhaps you only get an invitation if you can figure it out.
But let's get back - just for a moment - to the entire idea of a reading party. The act of reading, in my backwoods world, is still a solitary activity. And if I'm going to be completely honest, that is precisely why I love it so much. On the whole, I prefer the characters I meet in books to the people I interact with on a daily basis - you know, family, work, PTA bitches, etc. This is why I carry my book around with me. Stick my nose in a book and I effectively cut off the outside world. See ya, bitches.
A book party implies interacting with others. If we are interacting with others and the topic is books, isn't that called a BOOK CLUB? I could be wrong, just throwing that out there.
And I really can't get off the topic of the silent book parties. I've already acknowledged that this might be a refuge for those who have no where quiet to go and read on the first Wednesday of every month in Seattle. I hesitate to point out that the Seattle Public Library, located not too far from The Fireside Room, is open daily until 10 pm, although to be fair, they don't serve adult beverages. Still....there are probably at least a hundred different places within the city limits of Seattle that are both quiet and serve libations where one could comfortably sit down and read a book. And I'm willing to be you could even do it on days other than the first Wednesday of the each month. Shocker, I know.
Sigh. No wonder I don't get invitations to these things. I can't shut up.
