Black, White & Read All Over

I have to go to my book club meeting today and I'm terrified. Yes, I read the book...

Or did I?

I didn't so much pick up the book and sit down with a cup of tea, turning the pages eagerly to advance the story. In fact, I never turned a single page.

OK, OK. You got me. I listened to the book on CD, in my car, to and from work!

Am I a cheater? Can I even qualify for membership in this book club? I do not know the proper book club etiquette. I have never been in a book club and probably would have never joined one had my friend Carrie not mistaken me for a scholar.

One day mid-conversation she proclaimed, "Oh, I'm creating a book club, and obviously you'll want to join. I have you down as one of three people I was certain would be interested."

"Oh, yes of course. I am a lover of all things literature," I fumbled.

OK, don't get me wrong, I'm not just some uncultured reality TV junkie, (...well sometimes I am). I do like to read, I just never have the energy to anymore. By the time I get home from my 60-hours-per-week job, I just want to plop on the couch/in bed and tune out.

So I listened to the book to and from work. Is that so wrong? Carrie says it is cheating! I am worried I will be outed in front of the other members and judged mercilessly.

Is reading really reading if you never actual read anything but the title of the book on the box and disc numbers? You tell me.

Oh, and the book we read was The Secret Life of Bees for those inquiring minds out there.

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Now playing: Chicago Public Radio - This American Life #154: In Dog We Trust