Read Online The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee - Free Book Online Page A

deeper and deeper until he’s eaten enough to make an island out of the middle.”
    â€œWhat does he do with the middle?” Connie continued, still looking puzzled.
    â€œOh, he eventually gets around to that, too. Another time, he chips away from the edges until the island has completely disappeared. The point is, he consumes thousands of extra calories at one standing. I’ve informed him of the existence of bowls, but he won’t use them because he knows they would make him commit to a finite amount.”
    Sensing that she was losing control of the meeting again, Maura Beth stepped in and abruptly switched subjects. “Ladies, this is all very fascinating, but I wanted to get your opinions on when to schedule the next meeting. We need to decide how long it will take us to read our first selection.”
    â€œExactly what is our first selection, by the way?” Miss Voncille wanted to know.
    â€œI planned to go into that, too,” Maura Beth explained. “I had one particular classic in mind but thought we’d discuss it first. We might as well do that right now and then worry about the scheduling later. So, to cut to the chase, what does everybody think about getting our feet wet with the very dependable Gone with the Wind ?”
    â€œI’ve waded in that pool before with The Music City Page Turners,” Connie explained. “It’s been a few years, though.”
    â€œSo you’re less than enthusiastic?” Maura Beth said, sounding slightly disappointed.
    Connie shrugged while patting her hair. “I’ll go along with the majority, of course, but it’s just such familiar territory to me.”
    â€œWe’ll branch out, I assure you,” Maura Beth explained. “Harper Lee, Eudora Welty, Ellen Douglas, and Ellen Gilchrist won’t be far behind.”
    â€œGetting back to Gone with the Wind, though,” Miss Voncille began. “I’d like to know what could possibly be said about Margaret Mitchell’s only contribution to literature after all these decades? Hasn’t it been done to death and then some? Because the truth is, I don’t know if I can get through all those dialects again. I read the book way back in high school and never deciphered a word Mammy said. Did slaves really talk like that? Lord knows, I don’t want to get into that can of worms called political correctness, but I am a student of history, and it seemed so exaggerated.”
    Instead of being discouraged by the negative comments, however, Maura Beth was actually pleased. “But that’s exactly the sort of observation I’d like for us to be discussing in the club. We don’t have to stick to the same tired angles, as if all criticism has been chiseled in stone. We can explore new and original concepts.”
    Miss Voncille looked pensive but sounded placated. “We can bring up anything we want? No matter how outside the box?”
    â€œAbsolutely. You can be as revisionist as you like. All writers should be open to interpretation forever, even if we tend to bronze and retire them.”
    â€œOn the other hand, you can always rehash the movie,” Councilman Sparks quipped unexpectedly. He was sitting back in his chair with his arms folded and a supreme smirk on his face. “Which would seem to lead to the obvious next question: Will your members fall back on watching Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh instead of taking the time to actually read the book? And how can you prove they didn’t take that DVD shortcut?”
    Maura Beth quickly realized that her fears about Councilman Sparks attending the meeting were not groundless. Clearly, he was there to make trouble with his subtle digs, but she was not going to give him the satisfaction of showing her irritation. “If members would like to view the film in addition to reading the book, I would certainly have no objections. That would make an excellent point of comparison for