Thanks for the Rushdie recommendations. I'll have to add them to my ever-growing list of books to read... Part of the reason I've never read anything else by him is because I didn't really know of anything other than The Satanic Verses, and I was kind of intimidated by all the nonsense surrounding that book. Pretty silly of me.

As for book clubs, I'm afraid I can't really be of much help. I do live in Philly, but I really don't know anything at all about the world of book clubs. You could always start your own, of course, although I wouldn't really know how to go about that either. Hmmm. I've never really thought about joining a book club before, but if you find a good one (or start one!) let me know 'cause I might be interested...