One nice thing about living in a small town is that I get to be friends with people with whom most people don't. Like my doctors and dentist and community leaders and owners of and workers at the businesses I frequent and my boss(es) and local law enforcement... You get the picture.
The people, I imagine, that most residents who live in larger cities would consider acquaintances or less -- merely members of the world who exist as background to their days.
But I get to be actual friends with these people. It's pretty cool.
So at book club last night, my dental hygienist (and friend!) Anne told me she had just finished SPOTD: The Hero Chronicle Continues and loved it. I do too. I love the characters, and I love the fun powers that Chase gets to play with in volume 2. I love the story's dramatic arc, and I love the direction the book heads leading up to volume 3. Most of all, I love that the world the characters inhabit, though imperfect, feels safe. There is no question that Chase, Addy, Charlie, Johnny, and Kat are loved. And that love makes their world secure, even when things go terribly wrong.
I'm glad that my book is next on the list of books to be read by my friends. Especially after the book we just finished. You see, for book club this week, we read Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, and although the group enjoyed the book and talking about it, we were left with a sense of sadness over the evil so easily to be found in our world. The story is heartbreakingly brutal, forcing us to face the inhumanity that can occur when people stop recognizing others as people deserving of love and security. When people become merely background.
Happily, we are able to find our humanity and the joy of connection with each other. That's a great part of being in a book club. Especially one in a small town.
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