Pocket Life
By Corky Mau
August 2024
Book ’Em
This club loves to wine, dine and read
Lynn Matsuda exited the corporate world in 2015 with an idea. She wanted to gather women together, but how? She considered two distinct alternatives—bunko group and book club. Matsuda settled on books. To make things even more interesting, she added wine and dinner.
The first meeting of Reading Between the Wines started with five of Matsuda’s friends, each of whom invited another friend. Several charter members still live in Greenhaven and Pocket. They have a special reason to celebrate this month. Aug. 9 is international Book Lovers Day.
Reading Between the Wines currently includes 16 people. Spreadsheets track when a member hosts a meeting and chooses a book. Another tracks each book.
Meetings open with a social hour—the wine part—followed by dinner and a book discussion. Club members or the book’s author think up questions, which are written and dropped into a jar. When dessert arrives, members take turns choosing a question for feedback.
“I think our book club succeeds on many levels,” Matsuda says. “The group is ethnically and professionally diverse. Some are retired and some still work. We’ve shifted from being strangers to being friends.”
Members agree. “I really enjoy this energetic group of women,” Thalassa Naylor says.
Members have interesting connections. Shari Pedroncelli and Toni Sarrica are sisters-in-law. Robin Shimizu and Cathy Palmer are best friends. Janice Thompson and Natasha Boyd are published authors.
Betty Hill and Boyd met more than 20 years ago at a book club for new moms. They are still members of that club.
Guidelines are sensible and simple. Avoid politics and religion. Try to select books fewer than 350 pages. Members aren’t penalized if they skip or don’t finish a book.
Tricia Rosenbaum says, “I offered to quit the club because I had a hard time finishing the book each month. They wouldn’t let me quit.”
Local authors Kiyo Sato (“Kiyo’s Story”), Brenda Novak (“Secret Sister”) and Patti Palamidessi (“The Other Four-Letter Word”) have shared works. Felicia Haecker invited author Abdi Nor Iftin (“Call Me American”) to attend via Zoom.
Inspired by his story, members collected money for his village in Mogadishu. The gift enabled villagers to buy several goats.
Books are a form of communication, you and the page, a silent discussion in your head. These club members like to share what they discover between the covers.
The club is more than ticking off New York Times bestsellers. It’s about sisterhood and finding common ground through the magic of books. Good thing Matsuda chose books over bunko.
MUSIC & DINNER
Face Down band performs Friday, Aug. 9, from 5–9 p.m., at Elks Lodge No. 6. Set up lawn chairs and enjoy music with dinner. Tickets are $15 per person. For information, contact the lodge at (916) 422-6666.
PAINT & SIP
Join Carrie Posey for an art class at Device Brewing Company on Sunday, Aug. 11, from 2–4 p.m. No experience necessary. Each $30 ticket includes a $5 credit toward food and beverage. For tickets, visit allevents.in under Fine Arts.
VINTAGE CARS
Check out vintage cars and hot rods on Fridays, Aug. 2 and 16, at Device Brewing Company. Stroll among the classics from 4–8 p.m. in the parking area along Windbridge Drive. For information, contact Ben Valencia at (916) 698-7507.
Corky Mau can be reached at corky.sue50@gmail.com. Submissions are due six weeks prior to the publication month. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
