yoyo, I first had to look up cilantro and find it is Spanish for coriander a plant I cannot eat; the taste is truly horrible for me!

Re book clubs. I have never joined one and when I was told about one that meets at our local library I was put off by the woman telling me they locked themselves in . . . and didn't even choose a book to read. They just chatted about whatever they had recently read and probably gossiped about the 'members' not present. So not for me.

Years ago I was in a book club in Virginia. It met in a book shop run my my employer at that time. I was really turned off because after the wine was poured the entire conversation deteriorated. I never went back to it. Shortly thereafter, the bookshop closed.

I have never joined a BC because I like to read what I want, when I want and IF I want.

I'd hate to be on a time schedule to finish a book and then perhaps have to discuss one I didn't enjoy at all.

Re: cilantro....did you know that the like or dislike of it is a genetic ? There are some people who love the taste and heap it into a recipe. There are the rest of us who have the "cilantro gene" and cannot tolerate even one tiny leaf in a recipe and are repulsed . My son and I both have that gene.

I am simply not a "joiner". Like Vee...I abhor gossip and with very few exceptions...I found that to be the main course of any group offered to me. And I replicate YoYo's position completely. I'm too much of a free thinker to be led to read a book chosen by a majority of other readers. The offering up of an interesting book is one thing. Requiring it be read is an entirely different situation.

Although...I like Cilantro for some ethnic dishes...in moderation. ☺

I have never wanted to join a book club. I like to choose my enjoyments to my own taste.

I did play reviews for a newspaper once and had to sit through some awful productions!

I don't know about tolerating cilantro or coriander as it is called here. I don't think I have ever tried it but my daughter grows it and likes to include it in her cooking so I might have.

Not sure what this says about me, but I LOVE cilantro. I love to add fresh leaves to my salads, salsa, and everything else. I love the taste, and the smell. I grow it in as a potted patio plant in the summers. There are actually supposed to be quite a number of health benefits attributed to the plant... although I am sure other herbs could possibly offer similar benefits.

I belong to a book club, and have been in the same one for 20 years. Members come and go, but by and large, we've stuck together. There are plusses and minuses. I do read titles I would not normally choose which pushes me out of my comfort zone. Since we've been together so long, I can honestly voice my opinions, and other members can do the same. The commitment to read stuff for the club does sometimes take me away from my own choices, but the social aspect of the club makes it worthwhile. We have conversations, we don't gossip and talk negatively about people. We have different backgrounds and political perspectives which means we learn from each other. Book clubs are not for everyone. Many times, I have considered leaving mine but I would miss them.... for as much as I hate some of the books, I love my book clubbies more.

PAM

This from the Cleveland Clinic website :

Some people possess a gene that makes them super-sensitive to the aldehyde component found in cilantro and other foods and products. One study noted a very specific genetic link near the olfactory center of DNA in about 10% of those with cilantro aversion.

What’s even more interesting, according to the study, women are more likely to detect a soapy taste and dislike cilantro. And African-Americans, Latinos, East Asians and South Asians are significantly less likely to detect a soapy taste when compared with Europeans.

Well...I'm none of the above ethnicities but I do have a rather odd history where cilantro is concerned. For most of my younger and mid life years, I couldn't tolerate it. It did seem to have that soapy taste referred to above. I kept it in my spice supply cabinet and used it for dishes that I prepared for others but I didn't partake of it. It's only been in these last several over-the-hill years that I've liked it and used it in some dishes. Like Pam, I even sprinkle it on some salads rather than the parsley I so often use.

I mostly lurk here to get book recommendations, but I had to comment on this. I recently joined a small group book organized by a woman I like a lot. But she invited one of her friends I am not crazy about. We've met via zoom during the pandemic. The first meeting, as we introduced ourselves and gave a little info about ourselves and our reading preferences, this woman started her intro with, "I'm not much of a reader." !!! Oh, great. And it turned out to be true. She couldn't figure out how to find books to select when it was her turn (we alternate choosing books). After about 8 months, she said, "I really don't like that our book selections are just all over the place. I think we should select one type of book to read...like women's biographies...so we know what we will be reading." Seriously, my head nearly exploded as I explained that is exactly why I join book clubs/groups - to expand my horizons and read books I may never select for myself. She just couldn't get on board with that concept and left the group the next month. Whew!
And I love cilantro.

Olychick, that made me laugh so much. Talking to her must have felt like hitting a dud note on an old piano and only hearing a dull thud!

Ann.....LOL.....great analogy !!

Olychick, you need to post more often , your insights are great.

I once served on a grand jury ( one month long and ultimately vote to send the person to trial ). One woman , who apparently never bothered to read the booklet given to each of us on day one titled " What is a grand jurist ? " blurted out at the end of the month that she just wasn't comfortable voting to send someone to prison.

I flat out asked her " Did you even READ the booklet ?! "

I have only been on a jury once, got to the court late and was elected to Foreperson before I had seen the information video.

It was an unpleasant case and I was so unhappy about the outcome although just, that I spoke to a friend who was the Court's religious adviser. The young man who was on trial was deemed mentally fit but really was obviously borderline. The friend said he would look into the circumstances.

I moved overseas not long after so never found out what happened to him.

I'm in a book club but was lucky enough to join a group that is perfect for me. They are very nice women, a number of whom I have known at least casually for years. The same two women almost always pick the book and never something I would ever read myself. Some I have really enjoyed, others I just skim to get the gist, a few I really dislike. When I have picked the book, it doesn't seem to be a huge hit, for whatever reason--'Brooklyn' by Colm Toibin, for example. Or 'The Ninth Hour' by Alice McDermott. Both brilliant, in my opinion.

The discussions are usually brief and then we move on to catching up with each other's family news or maybe a major news event. In 20 years, I have heard no gossip. Usually we intentionally avoid hot-button issues. Our camaraderie is too important. They are a lovely group and I was fortunate to join. I do my preferred reading on my own but really wish I could discuss such books with at least one other person.

ginny, I understand your desire to discuss deeper books. Sometimes that requires a group of serious readers. Does your area have a university reading group? Years ago B&N used to have special discussion groups for a given book and they'd meet one evening at the store. In my opinion that would be a great solution since no one knows each other and the book , therefore, becomes the focus.

I just did a quick look at The Ninth Hour and it seems that would have a lot of issues in it that would be excellent for a group sharing and discussion.

Not sure if this applies to your current group, but most of my closest friends are not avid readers and many a surely not deep-thinkers ! Consequently trying to discuss a book like The Ninth Hour would be like teaching a pig to sing.......frustrates you and irritates the pig.

Olychick, like you, I appreciate use of language and will sometimes utter a "Yes!" when I have come across something I have liked especially.

When I write I try to get the words to fit well and am bothered if I can't find exactly what I need, to the extent of getting out of bed to look something up when I am composing in my head at night.

Since I developed a palsy, my sleep pattern has altered so that I am awake half the night, with plenty of time to develop stories, some original and some are extensions of other author's efforts. Those are tricky as I have to attempt the same style!

yoyobon_gw, Your suggestions are good and thoughtful, thank you. I have seen a few non-fiction book groups around and have thought about joining. The problem is that I don't like arguing and non-fiction--history, current events--almost inevitably leads to that, especially in the current climate.

Regarding 'The Ninth Hour', yes it was probably too challenging for most of my book club, tho I didn't think so when I recommended it. I know they did not like the moving back and forth in time--too hard to keep track, they said.

ginny...The best part about groups you don't know is that you can leave as soon as you feel the discussion has gone off the rails ! Never complain, never explain !!

I enjoy stories that go back and forth and seem to find more are being written that way.

I've been in a book club for several years. I was invited by my best friend, and the group (all women unknown to me at the time) took me in like a long-lost sister. As we take turns choosing books and there's no overarching theme to our reading, I've definitely read a lot of things that I would never have chosen on my own. Some were just meh, a few were awful, but most choices have ranged from solidly good to simply amazing.

I do find that when I "have to" read something by a certain date, even if I chose the book myself, the closer we get to book group night the less interest I have in reading it. Human nature is fickle, I guess. That said, I have finished all but two of the books my group has chosen over the years, so I almost always get things read in time.

Count me in as a lover of cilantro.

In my book club we take turns selecting each month's book, and every member picks at least one book a year. There have been books I dislike but also sometimes books I came to love that I never would have thought to choose for myself. If there is a book I actively despise, I simply don't read that one. True crime, for example, gives me nightmares, so I have stopped reading that genre altogether. A book club is also a way to interact with people who share a common interest. As we get older, it is very easy to become socially isolated. The pandemic made that worse. I saw how lonely my parents became in their later years as their health and that of their remaining friends declined, and I swore that I would do my best to never let that happen to me.

Oh, and I like cilantro. Apparently I have the right gene for it. Vee, in the US we call the leaf cilantro and we call the seed coriander. They are from the same plant, but taste quite different.

My book club met in my church parking lot in 2020 and into 2021. We all brought beach chairs and masks of course. This is New England but we were lucky with warm days in spring and fall so we met that way for many months. What a pleasure to have some socializing in the worst of the pandemic.

I guess I should comment on cilantro. Thanks to Rosefolly for mentioning the two different names for leaves and seeds in the US. I can eat both of them too. Speaking of which...did you know that the ability to digest milk and milk products after infancy and very early childhood is also genetic? On one of my genealogy newsletters, there was a link to a scientific study about that. It's called 'lactase persistence' and it increases the further northwest in Europe you go. In Ireland, it's almost 100%. Also seen in some other areas of the globe. I am mostly of Irish descent and I still drink three big glasses of milk a day--now I know why! If you Google 'lactase persistence' you can read all about it. Note, lactase, not lactose.

Ginny, how interesting about lactase persistence something I had never even heard of! I knew that people in S E Asia and parts of Africa, even babies, drink little milk once weaned. I don't know if they can compensate so they get enough Vit D. I used to worry that our granddaughter who's mother is Japanese never seemed to drink milk, even when a toddler. She certainly appears fit and healthy and drinks almost nothing but water.

Ginny......'-ase' being the enzyme which digests milk for us....if I'm not mistaken !

I always remember from Food Lab in college that '-ose' is always a sugar .

Vee, I never knew it either til I read this study. I'm sure there are other ways to get vitamin D but am not a nutritionist so won't guess. And yoyobon, I didn't know that about -ose and -ase--very interesting info. I had wondered about the difference. The study said lactase persistence was an evolutionary advantage as it offered more food options if crops fail or similar.

Milk isn't naturally a source of Vit. D, but has it added.

Our skin produces it if we spend a LOT of time in the sunshine.

But neither are sufficient , as it turns out.

About 10 years ago a study came out suggesting that everyone be tested for their Vit. D during their yearly physical.

That is when most began taking Vit. D supplements !

It is a good idea to be tested to see if you are within the accepted range.

The supplement is inexpensive and comes in a small capsule.

Food sources of vitamin D are mostly fish. I eat fish but I also take a vitamin D supplement. I have been told by a friend who knows a lot about such things (a microbiologist who anaylzes drug trials) that it is probably not a good idea to take the whopping big supplements unless advised to do so by your doctor. My own doctor said that probably just about everyone would benefit from a 1000 IU supplement daily, so that is what I take. I am very fair and am outside a lot, but I usually use sunblock, which prevents your skin from making vitamin D from sunlight.

I realise this has nothing to do with the original thread title but . . . along with food intolerance I wonder at the huge increase in food allergies (or is that the same thing?)

Back in the day we never heard about people having a reaction to eating chocolate, peanuts, other nuts, milk products and so on. Obviously there must have been cases but what has given rise to this significant increase?

Yoyo, did you come across this in your college 'training'?

Vee, I think the language around allergies was simpler.

You "came out in spots" from eating, or "couldn't abide" certain foods and that was that!

I noticed in "Foyle's War" there was a mention of a restriction to one serve of protein to a customer by a restaurant manager. I don't recall that word being in general use in 1946. Surely it was meat, fish and eggs that would be referred to in a normal conversation?

"We are only allowed to give one serve of protein." That sounded wrong to me!

On the other hand it could be a reflection of Ministry of Food official-speak!

Vee......I took several Food and Nutrition classes/labs while in college, none of which makes me an authority ! As new studies emerge we learn more and more about how food affects individuals and it appears that it's not a "one size fits all ",

I had never heard of "lactase persistance" and found that really intriguing.

The more we learn about our DNA the more we realize how amazingly complex we are.

I have often wondered about food allergies today too. When I was growing up, I never heard of such allergies, including peanuts. We all ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all the time. I wonder if the widespread use of chemicals in agriculture and elsewhere has played a role in allergies. Although heaven knows my generation had lots and lots of DDT exposure.

Yoyobon, consumer DNA testing has led to a huge amount of information, tho I don't know how available it is for scientific research due to privacy laws. There are some interesting books about people's experiences with DNA surprises, such as 'Stranger in My Genes'. Good topic for a book club discussion. See, I got back on topic!

Annpan, the word 'protein' wouldn't have been part of my vocabulary until I did O level Biology, nor 'calories'!

I just 'looked up' a long official article of 1951 produced by the Min. of Food looking back on the rationing from 1940 and still on the go until 1954. The discussion of 'food groups' is interesting with much emphasis on meat/eggs/milk/cheese etc then veggies including the importance of potatoes as a source of 'bulk' and minerals (easily overlooked today) and fats . . . butter, marge, suet and so on. Virtually no mention of cooking oils which are now already in short supply owing to the terrible situation in Ukraine.

An article in the Telegraph claims we will be going back to cooking with lard and dripping and pointing out their forgotten benefits.

What goes around comes around . . .

The food pyramid had it wrong....of course ...because it was created by the government.

People need to eat far less protein than originally stated.

2/3 of a plate should be veggies and grains.

Vee, thanks for that info. I loved beef dripping on toast with salt to season. Years ago, olive oil was only used for a sore ear and a small bottle would be sold at the chemist for that purpose. No idea of dipping bread in it or a use for cooking!

I don't know if we will be in difficulties with cooking oil in Australia as I think we produce our own but apparently petrol is already going up in price. I don't have a car so I barely notice excepting when chipping in some cash for rides.

We have more problems from Covid affecting fruit picking and the ambulance service.

I was fortunate when I had my medical emergency that there were so many staff that I had two male nurses and two doctors looking after me! They were brought in from all over the world for a crisis which never came then.

We are having it now the borders are open but the local population are well vaccinated.

Now we should return to book clubs, sorry!

Re Vitamin D, I take a calcium supplement that also contains Vitamin D, and my doctor once told me that I have more than any of his other patients. He never indicated that it was too much, though.

I have heard the idea that allergies are more prevalent now because we introduce new foods to babies at a much slower rate and are too careful about what we feed little children; hence, they don't form natural immunity to harder to digest foods. I have no idea if that has any science behind it.

On subject, I have never belonged to a book club. I just like to read stories, and then some more, and then some more.