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Jan. 28--The five adults and two small children sat around a table eating quesadillas, fajitas and tortilla chips while the grown-ups discussed the pros and cons of advances in medical science.
It was an unusual conversation for 2 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, some might say, but not for this bunch -- all members of a new book club in Homestead. They were discussing the theme of the group's latest book assignment, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, which centers on genetic engineering.
"This book is very deep and it covers so many other areas of life," said Julia Pare, 52, a store owner and frame designer. Pare, like most of the members of the club, only recently settled in Homestead and joined as a way to make connections in her new town.
The club, which met for the eighth time in as many months on Jan. 20, was started by Brooklyn transplant Carina Ryder, 36, who moved to Homestead about three years ago. Ryder, a nurse midwife by profession and mother of 1-year-old Aiden, said she was looking for a way to meet people with similar interests -- namely, books.
"I was getting lazy about reading and I wanted to make sure I read at least one book a month," said Ryder, who registered the club at the popular website www.meetup.com. "I try to pick stuff I wouldn't necessarily read myself so that I can expand my repertoire."
Since starting the club, she said, "I've certainly been introduced to books that I might have otherwise never heard of."
Club member Nicky Weirbach, 32, who moved from the Allentown, Pa., area to Homestead two years ago, said finding new friends who enjoyed reading as much as she did was a challenge.
"Where I was before, there were tons of book clubs and it wasn't hard to find," said Weirbach, a nurse at Homestead Hospital. "But I moved to Homestead and I couldn't find anything."
That's when the book club came along.
Although many people have signed up online, Ryder noted, not many have shown up to meetings. The few faithful -- who include Pare, Weirbach, Kendall resident Crystal Poon and Ryder's husband, Richard O'Connor -- meet monthly, usually over dinner at Casita Tejas on Krome Avenue, to discuss a new novel selected by Ryder or another member. Beginning in March, the group will meet at Spellbound Books and Gifts, 107 Krome Ave.
The group has read and discussed Pope Joan by Donna Cross, The Smallest Color by Bill Roorbach and A month of Sundays by Julie Mars. Next month, the club will be reading The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits, and will begin introducing monthly themes.
All agreed that the current title was a real page-turner that has provided generous fodder for discussion.
"Some of the other books we read, I couldn't even get into at all," said O'Connor, 51. "When I read [My Sister's Keeper], you almost feel like you are part of it."
Ryder said the group has been able to notify members about other author events through the meet-up website. She and Weirbach have attended author readings at Books & Books, too.
"I'm really grateful for the book club," she said.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Miami Herald
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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