I went to undergrad in Los Angeles County and currently live in New York City, where we have an active alumnae book club to keep in touch with one another. The New York branch of the Scripps alumnae book club has been selecting books on the theme of New York. For August 2011, we decided on none other than J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye.
Oh, remember that teenage angst?! The desire to be a grownup even though all adults seemed like “phonies.” The distaste for classes. The devastating crushes! Holden Caufield, it gets better; I promise.
I hosted the book club at my apartment. Well, I love to plan a good theme party! Everyone was coming straight from work, but I made an extra effort to dress the part that day with a look that was prep-school chic — navy cardigan, red shirt, pleated skirt, and polished side part.
I served rye whiskey. Get it? Catcher-in-the-RYE whiskey? I also put out colorful lollipops, reminiscent of the swirl of a carousel, like the one Phoebe rides in Central Park in the novel. It was a pot luck and everyone brought such delicious foods!
So where do the ducks go in the winter?
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 
Has anybody ever answered that ‘Duck’ question? Good choice, but for me it’s strictly a pre-Xmas book, I have been reading it once every December for the last 15 years or so.
They fly south. Interesting — I would never think of it as a book to read around the holidays, but now that you say it I can see why.
For me it was summer reading .. end of summer actually. That was when I first found it in the library. … and yes I was a kid who liked to read Even in the summer!!
Great idea. I love party planning too, and I really like the idea of a literature themed party.