Last Book Club Meeting

 Our main topic of conversation today was that we all have to make smart choices in life, in order to live the life we want. Throughout the book we meet characters who visit the shop. Most of them want things handed to them on a plate, and do not take responsibility for their lives. The one character who has taken responsibility for his life, and made the right choices, was a millionaire.  I think this made a big impact on Jimmy. 

In my previous blog I mentioned that I thought Kevin was smoking weed, and that was a correct assumption.  He ends up arrested and in prison.  This goes to show you that, even though Kevin was supposed to be smarter than Jimmy, in the end he was making the wrong choices, and he ends up in prison.  Jimmy, on the other hand, took Duke and Cap’s lessons to heart and realized the importance of good role models in a young man’s life.  In the end of the book he takes on a mentor role with a new young man in the shop, Ernesto.

We also talked about the role of God in the life of Jimmy.  This topic came up because of the visit from Sister Smith to Jimmy’s house.  First of all, I wondered why Duke never discussed God with Jimmy. He did tell Jimmy to go to church, but he never mentioned God or spirituality and what role they play in life. Does believing in God automatically make a person make the right decisions, or at least make it easier to choose the right thing?  I also thought it was interesting that Duke was talking about choices and sex, and made Jimmy think about the practical things in life, and made it clear that Jimmy was in charge of his life. Sister Smith on the other hand, is preaching about God and the Bible and is not making an impact on Jimmy whatsoever.

I did not enjoy book club. It was a hassle getting everyone together at the same time, and I did not think everyone was invested in it, which affected the conversations negatively.  Doing this book club made me think of collaborative learning and it made me realize that, in order for a literary circle to be successful, there must be guidelines to follow.  I felt like we were all lost on what to talk about and how to run a book club, so maybe a few pointers on these issues would have been helpful.