Bobcat Book Club, Celina Record

Bobcat Book Club members share love of reading, lively conversations Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Feb 25, 2016 There is only one rule to which members of the Bobcat Book Club must adhere: Read the book. Celina resident Teri Williams, who founded the club a year ago, said she has previously belonged to other book clubs where members attended meetings mostly to socialize. “We’d just chitchat the whole time,” she recalled. “I wanted a book club where we’re actually diving in and reading and discussing.” So far, the mandate has not proved problematic for the nine members of Bobcat Book Club, which meets monthly on Saturday mornings at Ground Up Coffee, 2750 S. Preston Rd., in Celina. “Usually everybody reads the book,” said club member Jennifer Blanco of Celina. The group tackled 10 tomes last year and recently finished reading its second book this year, a novel called “84, Charing Cross Road” by author Helene Hanff, which was set in World War II-era London. Each month’s selections are chosen by members and have run the gamut of genres from contemporary and sci-fi novels to young adult titles, among others. “We’ve definitely had an eclectic mix of books,” Williams said, which have sparked “a bunch of very fun, intelligent conversations.” The plot of “84, Charing Cross Road,” for example, sparked a spirited back-and-forth about the lost art of letter writing. “Deadly Little Secrets,” a Texas-set true-crime novel by author Kathryn Casey, was particularly well received when the group read it last year, Williams said, and prompted “big what-would-you-do conversations” during that month’s meeting. In April, the group plans to read “Steps,” a science-fiction novel by Little Elm-based author Eric Trant, who is scheduled to attend that month’s meeting and gauge members’ feedback about the book. Cindy Schuler of Celina is a former grade-school reading teacher who joined the club last year. She said she is “excited” to meet Trant and discuss the book with him. “I just think it’ll be fun to talk to [the person who] wrote it and go, `Where did you come up with this?’” she said. On the other hand, “If we don’t like the book, it going to be pretty uncomfortable,” joked Bob Pine, the group’s sole male member (he is also Williams’ father), who travels from his home in Fort Worth to attend the meetings. “What more do you want? You get to sit and have coffee and talk to people about books,” he explained about why he makes the far trek each month. “If you love to read, it’s a natural.” Catherine Haslett attended her first Bobcat Book Club meeting this month in hopes that it would “be fun and we’ll get to read a variety” of titles, she said. “I get stuck in ruts, so it’s nice to have other people who can say, ‘Hey, this sounds good’… that would never be something I would pick up normally, and then I find a treasure that I would absolutely never have had.”