Heights High staff book club
What started as a book club for Bellefaire teachers four years ago has grown into a bona fide reading group for Heights High staff. “Compared to most book groups, we are really low-key. We read only two or three books a year,” according to Kathy Lawrence, Program Specialist of Libraries for the district and the group’s organizer. However, Lawrence is quick to add that all of the books have been worth the read, even the more obscure works. “There are many well-read teachers in this school and I so appreciate their unique suggestions for titles, and the conversation they bring to the table around them.”
Though the discussions are usually held at a local restaurant, the readers of Mark Winegardner’s Crooked River Burning spent the evening dissecting that book at the Shaker Heights’ Van Sweringen mansion, which acted as part of the setting of the novel. In a recent appraisal of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow’s novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which is set in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of France, a member contributed that her husband had grown up on that island. “It brought a part of the world close to home and added a richness and color to our discussion that couldn’t have happened without her comments and memories,” Lawrence added.
Reading titles have included What is the What, Water for Elephants, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Suite Francaise and the upcoming December discussion title, The Devil in the White City. “Anyone and everyone at the high school is welcome to join us at any time. It’s nice to grab a bite and enjoy relaxed conversation with your colleagues - and the books are so good.”
If you are interested in joining the staff book club, please contact Kathy Lawrence at k_lawrence@chuh.org for details.