Rhonda's Birthday Book Club Recap 12/17/15

Attendees:  Rhonda, Tina, Lisa, Alissa, Laura, Tania, Michelle S., Raven, me on Skype, and special appearances by Paige & David.

Tina hosted book club last night and it looked like it was very nice (Tina, your kitchen is to die for!).  After some technical issues with Skype they got it going and I was on the TV and only could see the group if they stood up by the couches or hung out in the kitchen.  The book that we discussed was After You by Jojo Moyes, which is the sequel to the book Me Before You, which we read last year and loved.  This book we did not love so much.  We thought that the book was just okay.  We thought that the writing was good and easy to get through, but it didn't compare to the first book.  We thought that Jojo Moyes should not have written the sequel because it didn't seem like the first book needed a follow-up.  We weren't that thrilled with Louisa's situation and what she was going through in this book.  I did think that this book seems like it needs a sequel because the author left it open ended, which was probably done on purpose for the third book in the series?  They are making a movie based on Me Before You and we thought that maybe the second book would also turn into a second movie?  Rhonda commented that she has read many of Jojo Moyes book and this was her least favorite, which I would have to agree with.

After discussing the book we talked about the books that we have read this year and we were trying to decided what was our favorite (mine was Station Eleven).

Here is the list of books that we read in 2014 (in reverse order from how we read them):

• -After You-Jojo Moyes (2015)
• -Go Set A Watchman-Harper Lee (2015)
• -To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee (2015)
• -Those Who Stay and Those Who Leave-Elena Ferrante (2015)
• -The Invention of Wings-Sue Monk Kidd (2015)
• -Missoula-Jon Krakauer (2015)
• -The Orphan Master's Son-Adam Johnson (2015)
• -The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls-Anton DiSclafani (2015)
• -Station Eleven-Emily St. John Mandel (2015)
• -Big Little Lies-Liane Moriarty (2015)

We celebrated Rhonda's birthday with some Bundt cakes and presents!  Everyone sang Happy Birthday and candles were blown out and then it was decided that it needed to redone because no one captured photos or video from the first go round :).  Rhonda got some pretty cool gifts, but the best present had to be the sweater that Tina got for Rhonda that was a tad too small, but at least the sleeves were long enough!  This sweater also zipped up all the way so that your face can be completely zipped up and you can't see anything! 

Michelle B. we talked about your surgery and how you were doing.  We hope that your recovery goes well and we look forward to having you back at book club!

Tina and Rhonda recently saw the movie The Danish Girl  and Tina is now fascinated with Transgender people.  We had a long conversation about transgenderism and Laura gave us some good insight as she has two friends that are transgender.  The movie was really good and Michelle is reading the book and seems to be enjoying it.  I recently read the book Becoming Nicole, which is about a transgender girl and the process for her and her family to become Nicole.  It was interesting and I learned more about Transgender people.

We talked about feet and it seems like the majority of the members of book club have had some sort of surgery on their feet.  I think that there was talk about some sleazy guy at Rhonda's holiday party (I couldn't catch all of the details except he was rubbing Tania's finger??).  

We talked about some books that we are not reading for book club, but that we should read.  I think that these are them:  Orphan #8 , The Midwife of Hope River, and Furiously Happy (I'm reading this book right now and there have been lots of laugh out loud moments for me).

It was Alissa's turn to pick our book and here are the details of the next book club:

When:  Thursday January 28 at 7pm

Where:  Rhonda's house

What we are reading:  The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende Unfortunately, Isabel was just in LA on 12/1 for her book tour of this book (she's a really fun author to listen to).

Lastly, Tina you are the one picking the next book!

Happy reading!

Heather

p.s. All of the links above are affiliate links, so if you click on the link and purchase the book I get a small commission from it :)

Book Club Recap 11/16/15

Well, due to a power outage at Michelle's house there was no book club for me :(.  Rhonda did fill me in on what went on so, here is here recap:

Attendees:  Rhonda, Julie, Tina, Lisa, Laura, Alissa, Tania, and Michelle.

Michelle wanted to host book club at her house because she had a new deck built in her backyard.  Not only was it too cold and windy to have it outside, but a transformer blew in her neighborhood, catching her tree on fire in the back.  Due to that there was no electricity for 90% of book club.  It was nice having it lit by candlelight though.

Michelle brought back a bunch of Middle Eastern food from her trip to Israel, which was delicious!  There was a ton of food.  Salads, kabobs, dips, rice, and wine.  Both the white and red wine was tasty.

There was a lot of discussion about Michelle's Israel trip and Laura's Indonesia trip.  A little about Rhonda's Italy trip (wow, we have a book club with some world travelers!).

Only a few of us read both books.  Michelle liked Go Set A Watchman more than the rest of us.  She thought it was well told from the perspective of an older Scout.  Alissa and Rhonda practically hated the Atticus character and felt short changed that there was no Jem or Boo Radley.  They did like the character of the uncle though.  We talked about how it seems like people took advantage of Harper Lee in her old age as we don't think she would have chosen to have the first book published.

The next book club meeting will be at Tina's house and she is hosting a special birthday book club for Rhonda (remember to bring a present for Rhonda! :) ).

Here are the details for the next book club:

When:  Thursday 12/17/15
Where:  Tina's house
What we are reading:  After You by Jojo Moyes

Alissa, you are picking the next book!

Happy reading and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

-Heather

Book Club Recap 8/20/15

Attendees:  Laura, Lisa, Michelle S., Rhonda, Tania, Tina, me, & Raven.

We discussed the book Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

I was the only one that finished reading the book and I had only finished it the night before!  This is book three in a series about friends Lila and Lenu.  Right now both of them are adults and are at the beginnings of their family lives.  All of us thought that there were a lot of characters in the book and we all kept referring to the glossary at the beginning of the book with the list of the characters and who they were.  We thought that if we had read the first three novels we would have been more familiarized with who everyone was and we wouldn't have to keep turning to the beginning of the book.  We all agreed that Elena Ferrante is a good writer and Tania said that she was reading the book in Italian and the writing was better and flowed more than the English version (I was wondering if there was anything lost in translation and it seems like there was).  Tania also talked about how bad of a place Naples is (this is where the two main characters grew up), which is something that I didn't know.

How the book ended I was actually curious to see how it would continue in the next book.  I think that the majority of the group that did not finish the book plan on finishing it.  I think that is about it for the book.  We didn't talk too much about it because most of us didn't get far.

Tina told us a hilarious story about her neighbor's niece Melissa!  Tina, I hope that she comes over again so that you have another funny story for us :).  We talked about Cotton Candy Grapes.  They are delicious and so expensive, which led us to a conversation of how some fruit is really expensive and how some of us have spent way too much money on fruit before.  We also talked about shitty family members.

As we were trying to come up with a date for our next book club we came into a lot of hurdles!  Rhonda is going on vacation and is gone basically until November.  I am going on vacation in September.  Laura is going on vacation in October.  We decided that we would read two books and meet in November.  If the group wanted to meet between now and then someone would set something up (you can email the group or just let me know and I can email the group).

Here are the details for the next book:

When:  Tuesday November 10 at 7pm
Where:  Rhonda's House
What We Are Reading:  To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

If you want to buy a hard copy of these books you can get a great used deal, or even the mass market paperback of To Kill A Mockingbird .  I saw that Costco had both of these books and they were the cheapest for Go Set A Watchman (hard copy).  The Kindle version is still just a tad cheaper than the hard copy.

Michelle B. it will be your turn for the November book club and by then the book will be out!

I hope to see everyone in November!!

-Heather

Book Club Recap 7/28/15

Attendees:  Rhonda, Raven, Tina, Lisa, Alyssa, Michelle S., Julie, and Laura.  If I missed anyone it is probably because I didn't see you :)

The book that we discussed was The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

I'm late in writing this update and I have a cold, so I am going to keep this post short and sweet.  We all really enjoyed this book!  If you haven't read it yet Kindle has it on sale for $6, which is a pretty good deal (the link above should work).  The only complaints were Oprah's comments on some editions of the book :)

Our next book was selected by Tania.  It is number #3 in a series of books, but Tania assures us that we do not have to read book #1 & 2 before this one!

Here are the details for next book club:

When:  I forgot...but at 7pm
Where:  Rhonda's house
What we are reading:  Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

The first book in the series, My Brilliant Friend is only $2.99 on the Kindle right now.  Also, if you are an overachiever some members are going to try and read Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee (Costco has the best price on the book :).  I think Kindle is a little cheaper).

Michelle B. you get to pick our book for next month!

Happy reading!!

Heather

p.s. There are affiliate links and if you order through them I get some pennies!

Book Club Recap 6/10/15

Attendees:  Julie, Laura, Lisa, Michelle S., Rhonda, Tania, Tina, and me.

The book that we discussed was Missoula by Jon Krakauer

We all thought that the book was a good read, but the subject matter was disturbing.  It made me thankful that I don't have a daughter and Tina commented on how she has always been on her boys so that they know that no means no.  Soon after I got on Skype my internet stopped working, so I called in with my phone.  I really couldn't catch all that was said, so I imagine that more was said about the book and what everyone thought.  I do know that we talked about how the community really turned away from the rape victims because they thought that they were out to destroy their football heroes, which was sad, especially since one of the girls had a confession from her rapist that he did it.  Michelle talked about a roommate that claimed she had been raped when she actually wasn't, but that statistically someone lying about it is really low (I think 3%).  Other than that I'm not sure what was said.  I did think that the story was a bit one sided because Krakauer didn't seem to talk to any of the accused or people that he didn't write nicely about, but I had a hard time believing that these girls would be lying about being raped.

Here are the details for our next book club:

When:  Wednesday July 15th at 7pm (Rhonda, is this right?)
Where:  Rhonda's house
What we are Reading:  The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (right now it looks like the Kindle book is only $6, which isn't too bad of a deal)

Tania, it's your turn to pick the next book! :)

-Heather

p.s. Just a reminder that the links in here are affiliate links, so if you buy through them I get like $.08-$.24 per purchase!  I'm making the big money :)

Book Club Recap 4/29/15

Attendees:  Alissa, Julie, Lisa, Michelle, Rhonda, Tania and me.

This meeting we discussed the book The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

I think that Julie might have been the only one that finished the whole book.  There were some of us that were about halfway through the book and then some that were still at the beginning.  I think one of the first comments that was mentioned was that the book was confusing.  It was confusing because it goes back and forth between time and then there is a lot of lying going on and I personally would get confused with what was real and what wasn't.  Julie said that towards the end of the book everything makes sense and you are able to understand the book.  She said that this is one of those books where if you read it a second time it will probably make more sense, but I don't think that any of us would read it a second time.

We talked about how crazy North Korea is and how much propaganda they have and how everyone just believes whatever Kim Jong Il says because if they don't they could be killed.  We talked about the kidnappings that North Korea does.  Here is the article that Tania mentioned about a Japanese chef that was kidnapped and then what went on living with Kim Jong Il.  We agreed that if this book was a movie we wouldn't want to watch it; lots of violence and senseless killings.

I think that is about the extent of our discussion with that book since almost all of us didn't get to the end.

After that book we talked about these things in no particular order:

Disney cruises, Michelle's trip to Ireland and her date on the plane, rats in Rhonda's attic and how she took care of them, Tania's wedding and co-living plans, bathroom remodels, Paige's New Zealand project, CA Mission projects, India, Rhonda's progressive lenses, and I can't remember what else.

Laura, everyone says thank you for the eggs!!  It sounds like they were delicious.

Here is the information for next book club:

When:  Wednesday June 10 at 7pm
Where:  Rhonda's house
What we are reading:  Missoula:  Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

Book Club Recap 3/26

Attendees:  Alyssa, Julie, Lisa, Michelle S, Rhonda, Tania, Tina, me (via Skype), and our new member Laura!  We also had a guest appearance by Raven :).

This month Julie hosted book club at her house and thank you very much for being the hostess!  The book that we discussed this meeting was The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani 

I think that the majority of everyone thought that the book was so-so.  We all agreed that the main character had no redeeming qualities and a lot of the other characters weren't that great either.  Michelle did say that Leona was a good character that she liked.  Things were a lot different during the Depression and some members understood why she would fall in love with her cousin.  I personally just found it disturbing.  We talked about the comparisons between her (the main character whose name I cannot remember) and her mother.  We talked about the affair between the headmaster and the main character and how he was technically raping her (although I don't if there were the same legal definitions of rape back then) even though she was the one that started pursuing him.  Julie thought that the writing wasn't great and someone pointed out that they felt like the author was writing as this teenage girl and that is maybe why the writing wasn't up to par?  We all felt bad for the brother and what he had to go through.  I think that there were about half of us that felt like the book wasn't one that we were excited to read every day and we didn't just want to pick it up.  Some other members enjoyed the book.

After discussing this book we started talking about more books that others have read that they recommended.  Honestly, I can't remember the names of them right now, but you can email the group them.

We learned that you don't want to ask Rhonda or Tina to pet sit for you because most likely they'll say yes, but then remember after you are gone that they too are going to be gone!  Lisa, we are glad that worked out for you!

We learned that Laura came from another book club that was really strict and I think that she saw in the first minute or two that we are not like that at all!

Raven stopped in and was talking about her trip that to India.  I look forward to hearing about that at the next meeting.

We saw pictures of Tania's cute puppy, but to me they looked all blurry and so did a lot of you during book club :).

I ended up leaving book club early because there were a bazillion conversations going on and it was hard to hear what everyone was saying.  Also, the video and audio wasn't the best for me.  I hope that I didn't miss some funny stories!

Here are the details for the next book club:

When:  Wednesday April 29th at 7pm
Where:  Rhonda's house
What we are reading:  The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Rhonda, it is your pick next!

Happy reading!

Heather

Book Club Recap 2/4/15

Attendees:  Alissa, Julie, Lisa, Michelle, Rhonda, Tania, and me via Skype.

At this book club we discussed my two picks:

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

and

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Almost everyone at book club read both of the books.  I credit that to some amazing book picking! ha ha.  Both of the books were really easy reads and fast to get through, plus we did have some extra time to read them.  It also seemed like everyone liked both books.  I think that more people liked Big Little Lies more than Station Eleven because post-apocalyptic novels are not a subject that is a favorite among our book club.  I think everyone agreed that they didn't have any idea about how Big Little Lies would end and they were very intrigued to find out how it ended.  Michelle did think that one of the main characters should have figured out a big part of the story, but never did.  I'm also being vague here because I know that Tania is still reading it.  We enjoyed how in Station Eleven all of the characters were in some way connected to Arthur and we liked how it flashed back to before the end of the world.  We were curious to know what happened to the prophet's mother.  I also thought that this book wasn't as depressing as The Road because at the end there is hope for things to get better.

After talking about these books we also talked about these books:

• The Girl On the Train  -- This is supposed to be similar to Gone Girl.  Also, if you have extra reading time you can read this book for next month along with our selection.
• Reconstructing Amelia 
• A Homemade Life
• Everything I Never Told You
• The Martian

I'm sure that I'm forgetting some books that were mentioned.  We talked about how Michelle is going to a casting for a reality tv show that is like Fear Factor, but without having to eat anything gross.  I think it is called Weekend Warriors?  Anyway, she is supposed to give us an update on how that went.

We discussed how Rhonda does not think that she has Alzheimers.  She wants to watch Still Alice, but I'm hoping that this doesn't cause her to start thinking that she has Alzheimers again :).  Tina, you probably shouldn't watch it :).

Lucy, Lisa's dog, got a horrible groom and her ears are basically gone.

Tania got engaged in Paris at the Eiffel Tower, congrats!!

I'm not sure how we got on the topic of 50 Shades of Grey, but we did.  Christopher and Rambo we're sure that both of you already pre-purchased your tickets and will be going opening night.  We were thinking that we would do a book club trip to the movie theaters for this book (just joking!).  The conversation always gets funny whenever this book comes up.

Ok, now on to the details for next month:

When:  Thursday March 19th at 7pm
Where:  Julie's house (she'll email everyone her address)
What we are reading (Lisa's pick):  The Yonahlossee Riding Camp Girls by Anton DiSclafani

Julie it will be your turn to pick the next book for April :)

p.s. I signed up for the Amazon affiliate program and if you click on the links I'll get a small commission out of it, which is going to help us buy homeschool stuff :)

2014 Recap

Happy New Year book clubbers!

I wanted to recap all of the books that we have read for 2014.

January -- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt  This was the longest book that we read at about 771 pages.
February -- Crossing To Safety by Wallace Stegner
March -- Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  Perhaps the group's most favorite book of the year?
April -- The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Klein
May -- Tinkers by Paul Harding
June -- The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
July -- I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
Aug -- The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand
Oct -- The Ghost Month by Ed Lin
Nov -- Beneath A Marble Sky by John Shors
Dec -- Manson by Jeff Guinn

We also decided to start over with the list of one person picking a book for the following year.  Here is that list again.

January -- Heather
February -- Lisa
March -- Julie
April -- Rhonda
May -- Michelle S.
June -- Tania
July -- Michelle B.
August -- Denise
September -- Alissa
October -- Tina
November -- (Maybe a new member or an old member will join the group and can pick?) 
December --  TBD