My first encounter with a book club — yesterday in Truro, NS — could not have been a better experience. It was fascinating to hear the insightful comments from the readers about my first novel, Thomas, A Secret Life; and fun to respond to their thoughtful questions about different aspects of the book. Each reader had her own take on the action, characters, mood, momentum and themes of the book.

If other book clubs are anything like the one I visited, how great is that! Long live reading culture. It is a pillar (if not the foundation) of our civilization. Fiction, history or how-to; about the past, present, or future: books stimulate our minds like nothing else.

Thanks Truro book club for a very good time yesterday morning.