“A reader has lived a thousand lives before he dies,” George R.R. Martin once said.

For those who are in Notre Dame Academy’s Book Club, the life they are living now is that of Louisa Clark, a 26-year-old girl in Jojo Moyes’ book, Me Before You.

Me Before You is the story of Louisa  when she gets a job working for a man named Will Traynor, who was put in a wheelchair by an accident.

“It was one of those books that it seemed like ‘everyone’ was talking about; it kept coming up in conversation, and it got great reviews. It’s a good story that seems to be unique in a number of ways. It’s also supposed to be a movie coming out this summer,” said Mrs. Katie Gelb, librarian and adviser of the book club.

Mrs. Gelb is a graduate of Notre Dame Academy, has an undergraduate degree in English Education, and a Master’s Degree in English. Her first teaching job was in the English department of NDA.  She has also been an English teacher at Ashwaubenon High School.

“I participated in a few book clubs when I was younger. Sometimes I didn’t think they were very well organized. But, overall, I liked some of the books we read, and I was encouraged to read things I probably wouldn’t have chosen…or to read, period, at a time I thought I was too busy, or had other things to do,” said Mrs. Gelb.

The Book Club will meet on February 24 at the Daily Buzz coffee shop to discuss the book. A new book will then be chosen, and the club will meet again in April.

Any student can join the club provided he or she gets a permission slip from either Mrs. Gelb or Mrs. Treena Leonhard, who also serves as an adviser.

“We started the book club because we thought it would be a fun way to get interested students together, outside of school, to talk about books,” said Mrs. Gelb.  “Because,” she added, “we here in the library like books!”