In preparation of the next meeting of Books on Tap, I flipped open “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed to continue where I had left off. Ironically, chapter 13’s title was, “The Accumulation of Trees.” Seeing these words splayed across the page on the evening that Nor’easter Athena was gracing us with her presence was a little unsettling, but, tossing anxiety aside, I continued the journey.
After losing her mother, divorcing her husband, and experimenting with heroin in a new relationship, Strayed comes to the realization that she has to do something drastic to reclaim her life. In the combined spirit of Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love,” and Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods,” “Wild” takes readers along on the author’s solo trek of the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail. From the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State, she begins her trip with absolutely no idea what she has gotten herself into, but, as we follow her path, it’s clear that she has burrowed into the valleys of her grief, and come out of it, realizing the depths of her strength.
Join us at The Tap Room on November 27th for the discussion of “Wild.” If you can’t make it, we have several other book groups on the calendar. On Wednesday evening, November 14th, Joan Goldstein leads the Talking Politics group in a discussion of “Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption Created the Worst Financial Crisis of Our Time” by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. Monday night, December 3rd, the Mystery Book Group will meet to discuss “Wicked Autumn” by G.M. Malliet. And, on December 13th, we are getting together in the morning for Anne Enright’s “The Forgotten Waltz.” Now, might be the perfect time for a winter escape. Pick up a book and dive in.