I'm Jane's Domain. And I Belong to a Book Club.

About a year ago I joined the neighborhood book club. It seemed to be a good fit – I like to read and I’m not shy about sharing my opinion about any book I’ve read.

My only hesitation about joining the group was I didn’t want to feel like I had to take notes in order to participate fully in a discussion about the plot and characters of any book. It has been a while since my last college literature course and my study habits are a little rusty. Okay, a LOT rusty.

But I’m glad I joined because we’ve read some pretty interesting and varied books. I tend to stick to one genre and follow a select group of authors. And I realize that life is made up of more than the typical James Patterson “whodunit”!

And, even though there are two former teachers in our group, I’ve never felt like anyone was taking a mental red pen to my words or grading me on my participation.

So this month’s book was Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run.  A little different than the other books we’ve read, but something I was eager to read. After all, I was a big fan of The Boss in my younger years and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about him.

Because my mom broke her hip on New Year’s Day and has been in the hospital and in rehab, my schedule has been off and I had difficulty reading the book in a timely manner.

So with the Tuesday book club meeting quickly looming, I did what I used to do in that long-ago college literature course. I crammed and pulled an all-nighter.

Well, sorta. “All-nighters” to me these days mean waking up at one in the morning and reading ‘til about three.

Close enough.

Once I got up in the morning, I read feverishly until I finished the last page, which was about an hour before the meeting started. This was fortunate as it left me enough time to shower and make myself presentable before showing myself in public. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing everyone there was grateful that I’d showered. Ha!

But I found the book surprisingly readable. Maybe it was a little slow getting into it at first because Springsteen wrote a LOT about his very early years and then a LOT about his first bands and about his bandmates.  And I’m not necessarily talking about the E Street Band guys, either.

Reading the book – and consequently re-watching his videos and listening to his music again – reminded me of an earlier time in my life. It made me remember the people with whom I listened to Thunder Road and Tenth Avenue Freezeout in Animal House during my Ohio State years.

And it made me remember the time some coworkers and friends and I won a contest on one of the local radio stations at the time (anyone in Columbus remember 92X?!) We walked away with six tickets to the Springsteen concert in Pittsburgh. My memory is a little faulty these days and I can’t remember if this was back in ’84 or ’85, but it was at the height of the Born in the U.S.A. era and we were so excited to take our road trip and attend the concert.

I even took the time to paw through some old photos and unearthed the picture of three of us on our way to the concert. Fun memories!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band did not disappoint back then. His concert was more than three hours long and we were thoroughly entertained and sang along to every word. Well, except for certain songs. Like who knows what he’s singing on the song, Blinded By the Light? 

(And, okay, so I looked it up: “Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night.” Ah. THAT’S what he’s singing!)

So I got a little nostalgic and my life got tangled up with his life – and so I had myself a little walk down memory lane while learning more about The Boss. (Although I read somewhere that he doesn’t like that nickname…)

Springsteen may be 67 years old today, but from all signs, he’s still going strong and his concerts are still more than three hours long. That takes a lot of dedication and perseverance.

And after reading his autobiography, I understand. 

If you were ever a fan, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Meanwhile, I’m hoping I get a chance to read next month’s book selection in a more timely manner. I don’t think I can pull another “all-nighter.” I still haven’t recovered from the last one.