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Neighbors | Zack Shively .Members of the Tea and Mystery Book Club discussed literature and drank tea in the Austintown library on Sept. 12. Pictured, from left, are members Cecilia and Theresa.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively .Austintown librarian Lindsay Platt led the Tea and Mystery Book Club on Sept. 12. The members do not read the same book, so they must explain the book without ruining it.
by ZACK SHIVELY
The Tea and Mystery Book Club met on Sept. 12 in the small meeting room in the Austintown library to discuss literature.
Librarian Lindsay Platt led the book club. The club does not all read the same book, as some of the library’s other book clubs do. They all read different material and discuss the stories together instead.
Platt began discussion by talking the books she read in the last month, “Pretty Girls“ by Karin Slaughter and “The Ex“ by Alafair Burke. Other members in the group had read Peter Lovesey’s “The Vault“ and Jill McGown’s “Death in the Family.“
The style of the book club allows others to get good book recommendations and come back to talk about that book in a future meeting. However, the discussions can sometimes be difficult because the person talking about a book has to tip-toe around the plot to avoid ruining a book for the other members. For example, the member discussing Lovesey’s novel often stopped herself and said “without giving too much away,“ and tried to explain parts of the story without spoiling it.
The conversations on specific stories turned into a general discourse on mysteries. Some of the discussions went into other media, such as radio plays and movies, but some stayed in literature, like their conversation of praise for Agatha Christie.
The Tea and Mystery book club meet the first or second Tuesday of every month. The group welcomes new members and does not require registration. Each meeting has tea for participants of the club.