Imagine, if you will, cave men and women sitting in their caves around the campfire, discussing the writing on the cave walls.

"Well, Og, I think the author meant that the saber tooth tiger in that drawing was representative of man’s inner beast. This wall is a story about fighting the demon’s that live within a man’s soul."

"No, Grug, there is sex on that tiger’s mind. Look, his tongue is hanging out. The cute she-tiger over by the watering hole is it’s long, lost love. This is a love story—a romance."

Since the earliest times, people communicated in some form of written language. From cave writing on walls to the modern e-book, others have been reading and interpreting the written word. In the example above, Og and Grug were obviously part of an early book discussion group. Ok, well maybe not, but the point is that book discussion groups have been around for a long time and are still going strong.

In 2004 Mel Krutz compiled for the Nebraska Center for the Book a book of 271 pages, "Reading and Writing Nebraska: A Survey of Our State’s Book Discussion and Writing Groups". It is a listing of all the book discussion groups and writing groups in Nebraska that Mrs. Krutz could uncover to that point in time. As the preface of the book says, this is a "wonderfully forever incomplete" survey because new groups are perpetually being formed while old groups fade away. At the time of printing, Nebraska had 282 book discussion groups as well as 94 writing groups.

Eight book groups began before 1900. The oldest of these groups is the George Eliot Club of Hastings, begun on December 15, 1889. It was named after the nineteenth century author because the club began by studying her books so the name stuck. (George Eliot is actually the penname for Marian Evans.).

The earliest club that really met in a library is Beatrice’s Fortnightly Club, which began at the Beatrice Public Library in 1882. According to Mrs. Krutz’ book, one current member has been in the club for sixty years.

The names of some of these clubs can be intriguing. The members of the Hastings’ Fish Fry Book Club, begun in 1930, actually consume donuts and coffee at their meetings. The name comes from the play "Green Pastures" by Marc Connoly. Their constitution calls them, "The Emancipated and Amalgamated Order of Fish Fryers of the Cosmos". How do you top that!

It is truly amazing to me that these clubs have been continually meeting over such a long period of time. However, it speaks to the enduring love of books by generations of Nebraskans.

At the time of the book’s printing, Scottsbluff/Gering had nine book clubs. I don’t know how many are meeting now. My purpose is to tell you about two that are sponsored by the library. The Literary Book Club, formed in the late ‘90s, is a joint endeavor of the Scottsbluff and Gering Public Libraries. They meet at 1:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month in the Scottsbluff Library meeting room and read a wide variety of books. Every year they include fiction, nonfiction, a book by a Nebraska author, a mystery, a romance, and a Christmas book in December. The group is open to all. The next meeting is April 4^th at 1:30p.m., and the book being discussed is "Three Weeks with My Brother" by Nicholas Sparks. May’s book is "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.

The Brown Bag Book Club was formed recently at the library. (The AAUW’s Brown Bag Book Club dissolved a few years ago.) It too is open to all comers. The Brown Baggers meet the third Wednesday of the month at noon in the library meeting room. Bring your lunch, they promise to get you back to work on time.

April 19^th is the next meeting of the Brown Bag group. The book for discussion is "Big Stone Gap" by Adriana Trigliani. Big Stone Gap, Virginia is a small town where nothing much happens. The highlight of the week for Ave Maria Mulligan is Friday when the bookmobile arrives. (I can relate to this ) A wonderful book about families and small town life, "Big Stone Gap" was Trigliani’s first novel.

The Brown Bag Club met for the first time in March and has selected books through November so anyone new to the group can help them pick books for the rest of their reading year. Other books being read by the Brown Bag Book Club include the following:

"Light From Heaven" by Jan Karon. (May) This is the final volume of Karon’s Mitford Series about Father Timothy Kavanagh.

"The Big Year" by Mark Obmascik. (June) Bird watchers know about North American Big Year where bird watchers compete to spot the most species in a year. This book relates the adventures of three competitors in the 1998 American Big Year competition. (The blurb I read makes this sound like a hoot! (Pun intended.)

"Miss Julia Throws a Wedding" by Ann B. Ross. (August) A continuation of Ross’ series about prim and proper widow Miss Julia Springer and her friends in a small North Carolina town.

"Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. (September) Selected as one of the 2005 Best Business Books, Gladwell studied a wide range of fields to illuminate how people make snap decisions, and how valid those decisions are.

"Watchers" by Dean Koontz. (October) Another one of Koontz’s supernatural thrillers, the hero of this tale encounters a stray dog with unusual powers and ends up the prey of a murderous, hybrid dog.

"American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America’s Back Roads" by Pascale Le Draoulec. (November) Pie lovers this is the book for you (and me). "American Pie" chronicles the author’s pie-hunting journey of discovery from San Francisco to New York. What a great trip! (I would have to walk it though to keep my "Moby Dick" hips and thighs in check.)

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