Welcome!

Dear friends,

I have long wanted to join or begin a book club.  My enjoyment of reading may be surpassed only by my enjoyment of tea.  Or kittens.  Or snuggling.  Or oven warmed baked goods.  Or a good belly laugh.  Oh, I don't know.  There are so many happy pleasures of life, but surely reading is one of the best of all.

I'm glad you've decided to read with me.  The first book on my Book Club list is one of my very favorites:  Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.  Of course I knew that I would want to include this masterpiece classic at some point, but when it was recommended to me as the starting book, it made perfect sense to me.  I am rereading it (for perhaps the tenth time) at the moment so that I may be fresh to discuss it with you.  If you are embarking on this adventure with me, please keep in mind that the novel Peter Pan is over 100 years old and British and so there may be some phrasing or situations that are foreign to you.  I find it helpful to read the footnotes and endnotes included in my copy, which is a Barnes and Noble Classic with an introduction and notes by Amy Billone and illustrations by F.D. Bedford.  I also like to research little things, such as Michael's "getting into shirts" mentioned in chapter I: Peter Breaks Through."  Michael is the youngest of the Darling children and only just growing old enough for schooling, thus he will no longer be dressing in the traditional pinafores of his young boyhood, but on his birthday, he'll begin wearing shirts and trousers. 

I believe that any version of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan will do for the purposes of our reading pleasure and discussion.  However, be aware while making your selection that it is, indeed, Peter Pan, and not an earlier edition by Barrie such as Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens or Peter and Wendy (or The Little White Bird, though that is a bit of a stretch), while also being mindful that there are more recent Peter Pan tales by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, such as Peter and the Starcatchers or Peter and the Shadow Thieves. 

I would also advise that you keep in mind that the novel is always different from the movie adaptation, no matter which of the adaptations you may be thinking about!  Pan has been picked over and put back together for the silver screen so many times that it is hard not to imagine the elf-eared, redheaded cartoon from the beloved Disney classic (or, in my case, Mary Martin from the stage production), or Dustin Hoffman as Captain James Hook after watching Hook several hundred times.  I implore you, try to separate yourself from preconceived notions of Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, Smee, Captain Hook, or any of the Lost Boys.  Barrie's novel is pure imagination at its finest and I hope that you will enjoy this read as much as I always do. 

I will be posting my opinions, snippets, and thoughts on the book when I finish it.  Please feel free to post yours as you read or when you finish, too!  I am looking forward to starting this club together!