January Book Club

The book for this month was entitled Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It was written in 1970 so be prepared for some serious meaphors to seagull life. Tommiann did a great job leading the discussion - I think she may have parts of this book memorized from reading it so often! We learned in our discussion that this book can be relevant to a person at different phases in life and the characters may even switch places to fit your life each time you read it.

We dined on picnic food to go with our seagull/beachy theme. Thanks to Kari for delicious bbq chicken paninis and Deena for croissant sandwiches. Patti and Kristie/Erin brought chips and dip. Heather a yummy spinach pasta salad and Debbie's potato salad. We had tasty lemonade to drink and ice cream cones for dessert. What a feast!

Here are all the ladies at the dinner table. They just love it when I bust out the camera while they're eating!

As always the food and company were great. We are so lucky to have such a fun solid group of ladies in our ward that enjoy reading and getting together to discuss good books.

Is anyone else involved in a book club? And please feel free to share any titles that sparked good discussion from your group. We're always on the hunt for good ones.

It is finished

Well, I finally did it. I feel like I'm the last person in the world to read this book - it's been out for almost a month now - but everyone's already read it! I'm also sure that those of you that have read it are already done talking about it and have moved on to more important things in your lives, but I'm going to take my turn to share my 2 cents.

I had to re-read the entire series just to make sure I hadn't forgotten any of the details. Then the book club book - A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Kahleed Hossenei - needed to be read (this book was beyond excellent and I recommend it to all adult readers). And so finally I reached out for that 4th book in the series and read all 756 pages in short spurts over 5 days. I'm sure it took most people less than 2 days to read, but hey, I like to take my time and enjoy a good story.

I thank Kelly Amanda for shoving these books into my hands as I rolled my eyes, "Books about vampires? Really?" She promised they were SOOOOO good and SOOOO addicting. Well, I hate being wrong, but yes. I WAS WRONG. So sorry for rolling my eyes and all my sarcastic comments. I loved these books. Yes, I even liked this last one. There are so many mixed opinions I just don't understand what everyone was expecting? They were romantic, thrilling and entertaining. Just what I like.

So, I want to know...

1. Did you like Breaking Dawn?
Yes, I did.

2. Do you think there should have been a MATURE rating on this 4th book like me?
I heard that Stephenie Meyer wanted the publishing company to put some sort of warning on the cover, but they wouldn't do it. I don't think I'd want my teenager reading all those intimate scenes - even as clean as they were...

3. Did the "straw cups of blood" gross out anyone else?
I was literally gagging through these parts.

4. Which book was your favorite?
Twilight, book 1.

5. Who's your favorite? Edward or Jacob?
I love the intensity between Edward and Bella, but I thought Jacob was so great in the New Moon - can't decide.

6. Will there be a book 5?
I thought she sort of set it up for one.

7. Any other random thoughts on the book?
I liked how Stephenie gave a little shout out to her pal author Shannon Hale when one of the vampires exhibited the same characteristics as some of the characters in Shannon's Goose Girl books. (The vamp that could control wind, fire water and earth. If you haven't read the Goose Girl - go get it - I loved that one too.)

OK people. That's enough. Jeremy is going to roll his eyes at this silly romance novel post - I just know it.

And if you haven't read any books from this series - run to the bookstore, the library, amazon - wherever - and start reading. Twilight is first - you'll figure out the rest from there. If you're a sucker for CLEAN romance, a little adventure and some fast entertaining reading then you will love these books. Enjoy!

Book Club with the Ladies

Book Club was at our house this last week. I love to host the ladies.* They all come happy and ready for a nice evening out. The food was delicious (complete with baklava for dessert to go with our Middle Eastern theme), the conversation wholesome yet entertaining, and we all left feeling renewed and ready to appreciate life a little more.

*Special thanks to my most awesome super-amazing husband that helped with the set-up, clean-up and kid care without complaint. What a great guy... thanks babe, you rock.

Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families by Andrew Carroll was our title this month. I have to admit that I did not get through the entire book - not even the first section. It wasn't for lack of interest - I just never made time to sit down and read this month - sad excuse, I know. The whole book is narratives of those that have served in the military and some of their family members' experiences. The few stories I read were very real and gave a great perspective for what our U.S. troops must endure in service for our country. It is not pro or anti-war as both sides are represented but not pushed upon the reader. And I'm told that it contains some graphic scenes and hard language - obviously, this is what to expect with war. I do recommend this book to adults.



All the book club ladies that read this book gave it a thumbs up. They all agreed that it gave them a greater appreciation for our troops and for those loved ones they hold dear.

"Bee" is for Book Club!

The book for this month's book club meeting was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. We met at our house this time and had a surprisingly great turn out. 20 ladies showed up! We had a lovely dinner with LOTS of potatoes, cornbread, fried chicken and sweet potatoe pie. MM-mmm! We ate from pie tins, drank from mason jars and had Coke with peanuts as a tribute to the southern setting in our book. After dinner Kari led us in a discussion that got all the ladies talkin'. The only two you cannot see in the picture are Stacey and Tamera Clarke (they were hiding from the camera - silly girls!).


Good book. Good turnout. Good night!