By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

One look at the reading lists for Brooksby’s two largest book groups confirms the community’s diverse tastes. From a memoir of an American-born queen of Jordan to the story of  Theodore Roosevelt’s near-fatal journey to South America and a myriad of books in between, readers have all corners of the world and time periods covered.

“We come from diff erent backgrounds, and we all have diff erent feelings about the book. And usually, we come out saying this was something worthwhile,” says Phyllis Monderer, who lives at Brooksby and participates in one of its book clubs.

Multiple groups
So many avid readers call Brooksby home that the community has multiple book groups to satiate their thirst for knowledge. Two groups are open to everyone at the community: the Book Readers, led by Monderer, Lucille Akin, and Prudence Green; and the Page Turners, led by Audrey Hale, Audrey Bedell, and Helen Sondrol.

Both groups meet monthly from September through June and boast memberships of about 20 people. At each meeting, someone—preferably the one who chose the book—presents a synopsis of the author’s life and the book before leading the discussion.

Good reads
Like many of the people in Brooksby’s book groups, Hale was involved with book clubs for many years before she moved to the community. “I read all the time; I read everything,” she says.

Because the Page Turners attract such a diverse group of readers, Hale says you can never be sure what the response will be to a particular book. But she has one rule: “If you didn’t like it, hang on and listen to what other people have to say, and then say what you thought.”