Bluestockings Book Club: Brentwood City Read

What is a Bluestocking?

In the early 1750s Mrs Elizabeth Montagu and others started a women's literary discussion group, a revolutionary step away from traditional mindless women's activities. They invited various people to attend, including a botanist, translator and publisher called Benjamin Stillingfleet. He wasn't rich enough to have the proper formal dress which included black silk stockings. So he attended in his normal clothes, wearing blue worsted stockings. This started a trend. The husband of one of the group members was Admiral Edward Boscawen, and he derisively referred to the meetings as the "Blue-Stocking Society". "Bluestocking" then became a term to describe literary/intellectual women.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Brentwood City Read

Wanted to let you all know Brentwood holds a City Read every year and basically that means they choose a book, pass it out to anyone who wants to read it and then invite the author to come do a reading and answer questions about the book.

The book, The Samuri's Garden, is available, free of charge, at Peets and the Starbucks or the library in Brentwood, you read the book then pass it on. I thought it would be fun to read the book and attend the reading in November as a book club. :) We could substitute it for our November meeting, we can discuss in October.

Happy Reading!