The women of Gallagher Mansion read a great variety of books. Most of the women
named the Bible as the most important book on their reading list. As Flora put
it, “if I only read one thing a day, it’s a verse from my Bible.” Religion in
general was a very influential aspect of reading for the women. In addition
to the Bible, other books focusing on religion were read, such as Pamela McQuade’s
The Top 100 Women of the Bible.
Rosa was also interested in poetry. She had mentioned John Keats one day, so we read a few of his poems together at a subsequent meeting. When we read poetry we often read the poem to ourselves and then had someone read the poem aloud, as well. With many opinions analyzing the poem at once, our discussions were rich and unique. Our discussions of John Keats led into discussions of Max Rubin. We read his poems aloud too, enjoying the words both on the page and off.
Novels aren’t the only books Baltimore is reading!