“Now for the title choice.” Marcus pointed at Riva. “Since this is your idea, I bet you have some suggestions.”
Riva’s mind went blank. “I, uh, I don’t know. It should be something both men and women will enjoy.”
“Have any of you read Tolstoy?” Marcus asked. “I’ve read some, but not all.”
“Tolstoy?” Riva blinked. “That seems a bit daunting for our first book.”
“Fitzgerald?” Windy suggested.
“Fitzgerald might be a bit overwhelming too.” Fiona glanced at Kitty. “Especially to people who haven’t been reading a lot.”
“And a little depressing,” Riva added.
“What about James Joyce?” Fiona suggested. “I always wanted to readUlysses.”
“How about something easy?” Kitty turned to Marcus. “You say you’re a reader, but have you ever read one of those steamy romance novels?”
Marcus cleared his throat. “Can’t say that I have.”
“Can’t say orwon’tsay?” Kitty teased, making the others laugh uncomfortably. “The only reason I mentioned it is because some of my clients bring books like that to my salon and, honestly, they can’t seem to put them down. I’d love to hear a guy’s perspective on one of those.”
“I think we should ban bodice rippers,” Riva said.
Kitty’s brows arched. “Bodice rippers?”
“A friend of mine called them that.” Riva wished she’d never brought up the book group idea. It seemed to be taking on a life of its own. “I’m starting to reconsider Tolstoy now,” she told Marcus. “What about starting with one of his short stories? That might not be too intimidating.”
“I don’t know.” He glanced at Kitty and Laurel. “Maybe we should get something lighter and more compelling. We don’t want anyone to lose interest in reading because we picked something too heady.”
“Since you both mentioned Tolstoy, I got to thinking of a novel I wanted to read last winter,” Windy said. “Has anyone heard ofA Gentleman in Moscowby Amor Towles? It made all kinds of bestsellers lists and has even been adapted for TV.”
“I want to read that too,” Riva told her.
“So do I,” Marcus chimed in. “I heard it’s a compelling way to learn about the Russian Revolution. And not too heavy.”
“Sounds good to me,” Fiona said.
Marcus looked at each of them. “Is that four votes for Towles?”
“What about our nonreaders?” Riva looked at Laurel. “Are you abstaining?”
“I’m willing to give the Russian book a try if you think it’s that good,” Laurel said to Marcus. “So we definitely have a majority.”
“I think I’ll abstain,” Kitty said. “My head is spinning at the thought of havingtwobooks to read now.”
“Being in our book group isn’t mandatory,” Riva told her. “It’s supposed to be fun.”
“Fun?” Kitty frowned. “To be honest, I kinda feel like I’m back in English lit class in high school. And I took that class by accident. I was never real academic.” She took a sip from her wineglass. “But Windy said the book is a TV show? Are we allowed to watch that instead?”
“I think any book we choose should have to be available in movie form,” Laurel said. “Just in case we don’t have time to read.”
Kitty put on a sly expression. “True confession,” she began, “I read a couple pages ofPride and Prejudicetoday, but it was just too wordy for me so I googled it, hoping I’d find a summary, you know, so I could cheat. Well, I discovered it’s a movie. I think Hugh Grant is in it. He’s not too difficult to look at.” She giggled. “So that’s my backup plan. You know, in case I’m too busy at work ... or whatever. I can spend an evening with Hugh Grant. Might not be as fun asNotting Hill, but it can’t be as dry as the pages I read today. I hope you don’t mind.” She looked hopefully at Riva.
“I guess I don’t mind ... if you really can’t manage the book. But spoiler alert, Hugh Grant isn’t inPride and Prejudice. He’s inSense and Sensibility.”
Kitty frowned. “Hopefully there’s a hottie inPride and Prejudice.”
“I know I brought it up, but isn’t movie watching considered cheating?” Laurel asked.
