The Pfister Book Club Celebrates April in Paris

Though Milwaukee was still appallingly wintery this week, the Pfister Book Club set our minds on lovelier locales with an “April in Paris” themed meeting.

We discussed The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, a novel about a Parisian bookseller who has the gift of “transperception”, meaning he can see deeply into his customer’s emotions and prescribe them the perfect book to help heal what ails them.  He floats his literary apothecary down the Seine as he deals with his own memory, guilt and grief, and meets a host of interesting characters along the way.  It was a meandering, quiet book about characters dealing with their own hearts, set lushly in the south of France.

Our discussions, as always, were lively and nuanced.

We enjoyed a trio of French desserts: decadent petit chocolate gateaux, chocolate-dipped macarons, and traditional Parisian Brest, which was flavored sweetly of almonds (and the crowd favorite).

Desserts by Chef Travis Martinez

Book nerd that I am, I even embraced the Parisian theme in my outfit.

Next month is our final Pfister Book Club!  I’ve loved every one of our meetings and the wonderful community that’s been created around books.  Please join us Thursday, May 10 at 7:00pm as we discuss F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby.

I’ve adored Gatsby since I first read it as a teenager, and I’m also a devoted fan of the Leonardo DiCaprio film adaptation.  Every time I watch the flower scene, I gasp at the screen.

Feel free to dress up in your flapper finery for our last meeting!  We’ll make a party of it.

In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.

-The Great Gatsby