A friend was talking about her book club the other day. How it was her month to host the group, how it was her book that was read for this meeting and how she did not read the book :) It has me and another friend thinking about starting our own little book club. Possibly getting together once a month (or every six weeks or something long enough to make sure everyone has time to read the book). Each person involved would add a book to the list of reads and be the host when your book was the topic of discussion. I was thinking that "All time favorite reads" would be a perfect theme for book selections for the inaugural year. Choose a book that you love, have returned to many times out of interest or sheer enjoyment that you would want to share with others. Although it is difficult to pin point just one book. I was recently thinking about rereading a favorite of mine that would be a perfect candidate. It's a cold weather book: Time on Ice: A Winter Voyage to Antarctica. It is a travel narrative of a married couple who, over the course of three years, prepared and sailed from Norway to Antarctica, over wintered for a year in Antarctica living on their sail boat and the return trip. The chapters alternate between the husband and wife, presenting different voices and differing concerns. This is a book that always inspires dreams of adventure. And in particular, it makes me want to have a sailing voyage with Mark. Mark and I have our little sail boat (a Prindle 19 catamaran), we have had a few interesting sailing adventures together, off the coast of North Carolina in Pamlico Sound camping out on the boat-accessible only island of Portsmouth. But most of our sailing adventures have occurred on land locked lakes of Pennsylvania. It is unfortunate that we were not able to get out on the boat this season. I am fascinated by travel narratives in general (most of what I have read in the past few years have been non-fiction travel or natural history narratives). I love the details of how they prepared, what they packed, what and how they cooked and what they did to keep them selves entertained for a year over wintering in such an isolated environment. It is a true test of a couple to spend so much time in such close quarters. Mark and I could have fun in a shoe box, I think we would do well under those conditions. I love this book. I love how it inspires me and awakens the desire for more of our mini adventures together. I would love to share this book with a group of friends and hopefully share the enthusiasm for life in its pages. Yes, this would be the first book I would recommend to a book club list. So, anyone interested?