This past weekend, I finally had my first brunch book club discussion. We met once before over brunch to decide on books/pace/brunch, and this time was to talk about what we'd read. Initially, we were meant to meet up 3 weeks ago to discuss The Snow Child, but we were, ironically, snowed out (only in Portland).
Let me back-track a little. I've wanted to be part of a book club for a long time. I was part of a book club once, but it fizzled out after only two books and a real lack of direction. I was super-stoked when my friend Macey asked her facebook friends who would be interested in joining a book club, and even more excited to meet some new friends in the process (shout-out to Lindsay, Sarah, and Ashley). No surprise that we're all bloggers.
So fast forward to this past Saturday when we met at Maurice for brunch to discuss The Snow Child and Little Bee (affiliate links, meaning if you buy anything through those links, I could get a teeny tiny percentage of money from Amazon). We met for brunch because we have decided that it will be the setting for all of our book discussions, and a great way for us to explore Portland's brunch offerings. Every meeting will be a new book and a new brunch spot.
Maurice was a delight. I love when a luncheonette has a case full of tasty treats as soon as you walk in the door, and Maurice's was very enticing. The whole space is bright and airy, with white walls and south-facing windows. The offerings consisted of quiches, scones, and pastries, and we all opted for coffee. I loved the cups used to serve the coffee, and the brew itself was tasty (from Courier Coffee, next door). I opted for the bleu cheese quiche and the deliciously huge currant and rosemary scone. If you haven't figured it out by now, I love my scones, and I'm a bit of a scone snob (those Starbucks bricks can't even be called scones in my opinion), but this one was wonderful. The scone itself was flaky and tender, while the rosemary added some depth. And it was big enough for leftovers! The quiche was good too, but sweets are the way to my heart.
As for the books, each of us seemed to hold different opinions. I loved The Snow Child (and you can read my review here), but others had a hard time with it because they struggled with whether it was supposed to be real or fantasy (must a book choose?- that is my opinion). As for Little Bee, I think we mostly agreed that it was good, but a difficult subject, and perhaps not one we may have read were it not for book club.
Next up, we're reading Lean In and meeting for brunch at Meriwether's. I'm looking forward to it- I'm only 15 pages in, but I already have some notes for discussion.
Have you read any of these books? How do you feel about scones? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!
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