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Thanks to all of you who answered our recent poll about how your group is meeting these days. For many years, book groups took place in homes, restaurants and libraries. There were a smattering of online discussions. But then the pandemic hit, and intrepid book group readers really got inventive as they tried to meet “safely.” Here’s a snapshot of what we learned about what you are up to these days.

My book group met this month to discuss THE PAPER PALACE, and as always, we had a spirited discussion. We decided to go “old school” by looking at discussion questions and focusing our conversation since we felt there was a lot to discuss. All eight of us had opinions (lots of them) --- and lots of comments. At one point we talked about the ending; six of us saw it clearly one way, while two others saw it differently. And each person was absolutely sure that they were right. We wondered, How could it be any other way? We ended up having one of the members read the last three pages of the book, and by then I think we had reached a consensus. But once again this shows the power of reading together. Oh, and for the record, in my interview with Miranda Cowley Heller, she told me that she did not figure out how it was to end until the last three pages!