A book in my hands can be a dangerous thing.
Suddenly I’m finding an out of the way corner where I won’t be found instead of eating lunch at my desk, I’m staying up until the wee hours of the morning rather than tucking into bed at my regular 10 p.m. bedtime, I’m canceling plans so that I finish a few more chapters. I get so caught up in the story that I forget about the life going on around me.
Still, it’s been a long time since I’ve devoured a good book, so I thought I would risk it and join Pierce County Library’s community reading program.
Several Pierce County communities, like Sumner, have hosted reading programs for many years but “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” is the first county-wide stab at the idea. And they aren’t pulling any punches.
A few weeks ago they hosted a tea party in Sumner to introduce African bush tea, which is sipped in abundance in the novel, to the community and throughout March and April there are African folkdances at various county libraries. Won-Ldy Paye, an award-winning children’s author, will share stories of Liberian culture. And at the end of February, Puyallup’s own Becci Crowe shared stories about her travels to Botswana and Zambia.
The final hoorah is April 26 when the author, Alexander McCall Smith, will be at Pacific Lutheran University for a book signing.
It’s a great time for the community to start ready again — even if you are like me and haven’t picked up a new book in a long time.
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