I’m lucky. My gal-friends are intelligent, thoughtful women. When we get together, we don’t talk about the latest Kardashian mess or other celebrity scandals. (Side note: I am mildly horrified that I spelled Kardashian wrong while writing this post and my spell check picked it up and corrected it. OK, I’m not even mildly horrified. I’m just downright horrified. When did Kardashian get added to the dictionary? Alas, this is a topic of exploration for another day.)

My friends, like me, probably can’t spell Kardashian on the first try either. When we get together, we talk about politics and movies and the ups and downs of raising children. And we talk about books.

During a recent Galentine’s Day (the day before Valentine’s day touted as ladies celebrating ladies) brunch, I was struck by how much books dominated our conversation. We were five ladies huddled around a table sipping mimosas and…