To Kill a Mockingbird :: RtK Book Club December

With this post, my friends, we introduce our last book club read for the year 2014. The plans for 2015 are in the works and will be announced in the next few weeks. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. First, let's check in with Annette from This Simple Home who chose To Kill a Mockingbird for this month's reading selection.

Here are her opening thoughts:

***** I became enchanted by Scout and Jem when I was in seventh or eighth grade. My homeroom teacher for grades 7-12 was also an English teacher. Sitting on her shelves were 25 or so copies of To Kill a Mockingbird. To kill time during homeroom, I read the book. I loved it, though at the time I didn't appreciate as I do now. Every year I read the book during homeroom, though never with a group to discuss it.

When I went to college, I bought an inexpensive copy. Though I didn't continue with my annual reading of To Kill a Mockingbird, I did read it several times. Once I married, I began listening to the audio book or reading the book each year. Several years ago, I even upgraded my copy to a beautiful hardcover edition.

If you don't know the story, Scout Finch tells of the time her little Alabama town changed forever. She's finally going to school for the first time, along the side of her brother Jem. She starts hearing things about her daddy. As an attorney, he is defending a black man accused of rape. Not just any rape: the rape of a white woman. Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill find their lives interrupted and changed forever.

Justice, class, and race are heavy topics, but Harper Lee tells this effective story through the eyes of a child.

If you have ever watched the movie, please note it follows the book quite well. However, the movie focuses on the courtroom and Atticus Finch, and the book focuses upon the children. If you have recently read To Kill a Mockingbird and are eager to learn why Harper Lee never published another book, I highly recommend Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. For Christian enthusiasts, I also highly recommend The Mockingbird Parables. Feel free to join in with the book club with either of those titles, too.

I recently shared a quote from To Kill a Mockingbird that speaks about dying with dignity.

Would you read along with us this month? December may be a bit busy, but you'll find if you read just one chapter a day, you'll finish before the new year!


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We do hope you will read along with us this month. If you are, of course, we always like to know. Please leave a comment below.