First post!

I can't believe it has taken me this long to start a blog! Writing has always been a natural part of my life--but aside from writing for work, writing for myself, and taking occasional creative writing classes, it's not something I've shared with people. Though I have been a life-long lover of books, I just recently joined my first book club (hard to believe), started by a friend and affectionately called "The BBC"--Brooklyn Book Club. Since I work in publishing, I find myself constantly reading books for work, and this book club has been a great opportunity to venture out more often to other works. I am continually inspired by what I read. I thought it would be a nice way to kick off the new year by writing about what I read and hoping the words that inspire me will also inspire others.

So, here you will find an unofficial book club blog to discuss current selections, but also general musings on anything else that happens to cross my mind!

I hope to shed light on why words inspire me so much--sometimes just a quote can make my day. In this case, the inspiration for the blog name came from Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote:

"Be not the slave of your own past.

Plunge into the sublime seas,

dive deep and swim far,

so you shall come back with self-respect,

with new power,

with an advanced experience

that shall explain and overlook the old.”

Thank you Emerson for that. This is one of my all time favorite quotes and I never tire of reading it. It always re-invigorates me to push forward, fight my fears and jump right into what's next for me in my life.

So here's where we get to the books...this month's book club pick is READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN by Azar Nafisi. It's the perfect jump-off for the blog (although our group has already read 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, MIRRORS by Eduardo Galeano, UNACCUSTOMED EARTH by Jhumpa Lahiri and LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel respectively, and all wonderful picks).

READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN is a beautiful blend of memoir and literary criticism. In a nutshell, the book is about Nafisi's secret book club in Tehran, Iran. She was forced to resign from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, so she invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret.

She seamlessly weaves in discussion of four major authors--Vladimir Nabokov, Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Jane Austen. The discussion is riveting and focuses on how art helps them to survive in a severely repressed environment.

I have to say, I can't believe how little I knew about the Iranian Revolution. I am learning so much by reading this book and it's a fascinating glimpse at this part of the world. It's a picture many of us in this country don't get to see.

The way Nafisi talks about Nabokov, Fitzgerald, James and Austen reminds me of how authors continually awaken and inspire me.

I'm looking forward to discussing this month's pick!