Hi everyone!
Just a little reminder that book club is next week (Tuesday 2/2) at Rhonda's house. We are discussing the books The Hunger Games and Push. If you haven't read the books they are both very quick reads! We hope to see everyone there even if you haven't read the books!
-Heather
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Did you get my recap?
Hi all,
I did a recap of our last book club, but it appears as though some of us didn't get it. I am hoping that this email goes to all of us. If you are interested in what happened at our last meeting and would like to know what books we are reading for our next meeting and when that meeting is you can go to www.rhondasbookclub.blogspot.com (it will be the post before this one).
-Heather
I did a recap of our last book club, but it appears as though some of us didn't get it. I am hoping that this email goes to all of us. If you are interested in what happened at our last meeting and would like to know what books we are reading for our next meeting and when that meeting is you can go to www.rhondasbookclub.blogspot.com (it will be the post before this one).
-Heather
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Book Club Recap 12/1/09
Our last book club of 2009!
Attendees: Callah, Christopher, Denise, Heather, Julie, Lisa, Rambo, Rhonda, & Tina.
First, I must say that Rhonda is on the ball this year! She had all of her Christmas and Hanukkah decorations up and she had TWO Christmas trees! Her place looked really good. She said "this is what happens when you don't have a job!"
Callah, Rhonda, and I were the only ones that read Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving. We all three liked it, but all of us are Irving fans and we all recognized that if you are not an Irving fan you may not like this book. Some members said that it was hard to get into the book. We all did not think that it was our favorite Irving book, but we liked it.
Rhonda had a hard time with the big time lapse of the characters. The main character Danny starts off in the book at 12 and at the end of the book he is in his 60s.
I thought that it felt like this book was John Irving's autobiography. So much of the book seemed to be about him. To me, it felt like he sometimes made fun of himself and his style of writing. A similarity that I pointed out was that Irving and Danny Angel both wrote stories that went on to receive Academy Awards for the screenplay in the same year. There were many times when I knew what was in the book was something that happened to Irving. It made me question what was real and/or true in this book and what was not.
We all thought that Irving tied up the book really well and there were really no loose ends. We talked about how Irving ties up his books really well and the reader doesn't feel like they need the story to continue on. Callah wasn't so sure she liked the ending about Lady Sky (I liked the story of Lady Sky when we were first introduced to her). Callah and Rhonda also wished that Irving told us who was driving the Blue Mustang. We also discussed how the themes of the bear, New Hampshire, cutting off of a hand, and other stuff I can't remember that seems to be in many of his novels.
Keo did not make it to book club :(, but he said that it wasn't his favorite book. I would have to agree, but I liked it. If anyone wants to read an Irving novel you should read The World According To Garp.
Valesca had suggested the book The Hunger Games at the last book club as another selection after LNITR. She had said that it was a great book. Rhonda and Tina read the book and they said that it was great! They said that they couldn't put it down. It took Rhonda a day to read and Tina three days, which is a record for her. They really loved the book and couldn't praise it more. They didn't want to talk about it since they wanted all of us to read it. That means that this book will be one of our next books for book club!
Our next book club is going to be on Tuesday February 2, 2010 at Rhonda's house 7pm. We will be reading TWO books! The first one is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259822212&sr=8-1 If you get your books from the library you will have a long wait. I went to put a hold on it the other day and I was #100 in the hold list, yikes! Rhonda and Tina have a copy and if you want to borrow the book I am sure that they would lend it out. The other book is Push by Sapphire http://www.amazon.com/Push-Novel-Sapphire/dp/0679766758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259822367&sr=1-1 This book is what the movie Precious to based off of. I went and saw the movie last weekend and I really liked it. I suggested that if you want to watch the movie and read the book you should go and watch the movie first. The performances were so well done and I think that it will enhance the characters in the book. Also, most books are better than the movie and since the movie was good you should watch it first so that you won't be disappointed :)
After we discussed the books we talked about other stuff, which I am drawing a blank on now :) We talked about Rhonda's new spin bike and the trapeze class she took with Denise. We talked about running and if anyone is interested Denise is going to be doing the LA marathon next year!
See you at Rhonda's party or in the New Year!!!!!
-Heather
Attendees: Callah, Christopher, Denise, Heather, Julie, Lisa, Rambo, Rhonda, & Tina.
First, I must say that Rhonda is on the ball this year! She had all of her Christmas and Hanukkah decorations up and she had TWO Christmas trees! Her place looked really good. She said "this is what happens when you don't have a job!"
Callah, Rhonda, and I were the only ones that read Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving. We all three liked it, but all of us are Irving fans and we all recognized that if you are not an Irving fan you may not like this book. Some members said that it was hard to get into the book. We all did not think that it was our favorite Irving book, but we liked it.
Rhonda had a hard time with the big time lapse of the characters. The main character Danny starts off in the book at 12 and at the end of the book he is in his 60s.
I thought that it felt like this book was John Irving's autobiography. So much of the book seemed to be about him. To me, it felt like he sometimes made fun of himself and his style of writing. A similarity that I pointed out was that Irving and Danny Angel both wrote stories that went on to receive Academy Awards for the screenplay in the same year. There were many times when I knew what was in the book was something that happened to Irving. It made me question what was real and/or true in this book and what was not.
We all thought that Irving tied up the book really well and there were really no loose ends. We talked about how Irving ties up his books really well and the reader doesn't feel like they need the story to continue on. Callah wasn't so sure she liked the ending about Lady Sky (I liked the story of Lady Sky when we were first introduced to her). Callah and Rhonda also wished that Irving told us who was driving the Blue Mustang. We also discussed how the themes of the bear, New Hampshire, cutting off of a hand, and other stuff I can't remember that seems to be in many of his novels.
Keo did not make it to book club :(, but he said that it wasn't his favorite book. I would have to agree, but I liked it. If anyone wants to read an Irving novel you should read The World According To Garp.
Valesca had suggested the book The Hunger Games at the last book club as another selection after LNITR. She had said that it was a great book. Rhonda and Tina read the book and they said that it was great! They said that they couldn't put it down. It took Rhonda a day to read and Tina three days, which is a record for her. They really loved the book and couldn't praise it more. They didn't want to talk about it since they wanted all of us to read it. That means that this book will be one of our next books for book club!
Our next book club is going to be on Tuesday February 2, 2010 at Rhonda's house 7pm. We will be reading TWO books! The first one is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259822212&sr=8-1 If you get your books from the library you will have a long wait. I went to put a hold on it the other day and I was #100 in the hold list, yikes! Rhonda and Tina have a copy and if you want to borrow the book I am sure that they would lend it out. The other book is Push by Sapphire http://www.amazon.com/Push-Novel-Sapphire/dp/0679766758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259822367&sr=1-1 This book is what the movie Precious to based off of. I went and saw the movie last weekend and I really liked it. I suggested that if you want to watch the movie and read the book you should go and watch the movie first. The performances were so well done and I think that it will enhance the characters in the book. Also, most books are better than the movie and since the movie was good you should watch it first so that you won't be disappointed :)
After we discussed the books we talked about other stuff, which I am drawing a blank on now :) We talked about Rhonda's new spin bike and the trapeze class she took with Denise. We talked about running and if anyone is interested Denise is going to be doing the LA marathon next year!
See you at Rhonda's party or in the New Year!!!!!
-Heather
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Book Club Tuesday Dec 1st
Hi everyone!
Just a reminder that this coming Tuesday we are having book club at Rhonda's house. We will be discussing Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving.
-Heather
Just a reminder that this coming Tuesday we are having book club at Rhonda's house. We will be discussing Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving.
-Heather
Friday, November 20, 2009
Interview with John Irving
Hi all,
I found this interview with John Irving and thought that some of you may want to read it. http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/375.John_Irving?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Nov_newsletter
-Heather
See you on 12/1!
I found this interview with John Irving and thought that some of you may want to read it. http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/375.John_Irving?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Nov_newsletter
-Heather
See you on 12/1!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Book Club Recap 10/27/09
Attendees: Callah, Christopher, Denise, Heather, Julie, Lisa, Michelle, Rambo, Rhonda, Tina, & Valesca. (Sandra and Nathan were also there briefly)
The book that we discussed was The Help by Kathyrn Stockett. Since the book takes place in the south we decided to have a Southern food theme for the evening. We had black-eyed pea soup, biscuits & gravy, collard greens, fried chicken, hush puppies, mac & cheese, fruit crisp, & a caramel cake. All of the food was very delicious!
The evening started with some of the members saying that they have a friend that is very similar to Hilly! Not someone I would want to be compared to :) We all LOVED the book and commended Valesca on her great choice for a book. We talked so much about the book, which is rare for us to do. I think that all of our favorite part was about two-slice pie that Minny made for Hilly. We especially loved the fact that it was Hilly's mom that was the one that got her the pie in the auction. We thought that Hilly was a horrible character, but Valesca made the point that even though she wasn't a good character she did love her children very much, which we all agreed. We thought that the stories that Aibileen told Mae Mobley were great and we loved how Mae Mobley retold those to her brother. We all loved the relationship between Celia and Minny. Some of us wondered what Celia was up to in the rooms and most of us didn't expect it was a drinking problem (which it turned out not to be). We also thought that Celia's husband was a great guy, especially when he told Minny that she had a job for life. Julie was impressed by how all of the meals were made from scratch by the maids! I decided that I want a maid (I can do the raising of Nathan, but all the other stuff I wouldn't mind a maid doing and I would even let them use the same bathroom!). There were various stories of housekeepers that we have currently and how we treat them (we all treat them well!). Lisa told us how they had one housekeeper that was like a part of the family and she wishes that she could have talked to her about her feelings towards her family. Christopher couldn't believe that our country was like this only 40 years ago and made a comparison to the Middle East and what is going on over there.
There was a lot said and I don't remember it all. It was a great book and everyone loved it. If you have not read it, you should. We thought that it will probably be made into a movie.
Oh, Rambo and Julie listened to the book and they both said that it was one of the best books to listen to. For the characters of Minny, Aibileen, & Skeeter they had three people read the parts. So each person had their on unique voice. I listened to part of the book when we were taking Julie home and what a difference that made! It was very interesting to hear how the the book is supposed to be read! The voices were great and had more of an accent then what I gave them when I was reading it. We also discussed how in our book club it is alright by all of us if you listen to a book instead of read it!
Our next book will be Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving. http://www.amazon.com/Last-Night-Twisted-River-Novel/dp/1400063841 Rhonda and I are big fans of John Irving and we already got this book. The next book club will be on Tuesday December 1, 2009 at 7pm at Rhonda's house. If you finish the John Irving book Valesca recommended Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Again, we missed everyone who could not make it and we hope that you will be able to join the next book club!
-Heather
The book that we discussed was The Help by Kathyrn Stockett. Since the book takes place in the south we decided to have a Southern food theme for the evening. We had black-eyed pea soup, biscuits & gravy, collard greens, fried chicken, hush puppies, mac & cheese, fruit crisp, & a caramel cake. All of the food was very delicious!
The evening started with some of the members saying that they have a friend that is very similar to Hilly! Not someone I would want to be compared to :) We all LOVED the book and commended Valesca on her great choice for a book. We talked so much about the book, which is rare for us to do. I think that all of our favorite part was about two-slice pie that Minny made for Hilly. We especially loved the fact that it was Hilly's mom that was the one that got her the pie in the auction. We thought that Hilly was a horrible character, but Valesca made the point that even though she wasn't a good character she did love her children very much, which we all agreed. We thought that the stories that Aibileen told Mae Mobley were great and we loved how Mae Mobley retold those to her brother. We all loved the relationship between Celia and Minny. Some of us wondered what Celia was up to in the rooms and most of us didn't expect it was a drinking problem (which it turned out not to be). We also thought that Celia's husband was a great guy, especially when he told Minny that she had a job for life. Julie was impressed by how all of the meals were made from scratch by the maids! I decided that I want a maid (I can do the raising of Nathan, but all the other stuff I wouldn't mind a maid doing and I would even let them use the same bathroom!). There were various stories of housekeepers that we have currently and how we treat them (we all treat them well!). Lisa told us how they had one housekeeper that was like a part of the family and she wishes that she could have talked to her about her feelings towards her family. Christopher couldn't believe that our country was like this only 40 years ago and made a comparison to the Middle East and what is going on over there.
There was a lot said and I don't remember it all. It was a great book and everyone loved it. If you have not read it, you should. We thought that it will probably be made into a movie.
Oh, Rambo and Julie listened to the book and they both said that it was one of the best books to listen to. For the characters of Minny, Aibileen, & Skeeter they had three people read the parts. So each person had their on unique voice. I listened to part of the book when we were taking Julie home and what a difference that made! It was very interesting to hear how the the book is supposed to be read! The voices were great and had more of an accent then what I gave them when I was reading it. We also discussed how in our book club it is alright by all of us if you listen to a book instead of read it!
Our next book will be Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving. http://www.amazon.com/Last-Night-Twisted-River-Novel/dp/1400063841 Rhonda and I are big fans of John Irving and we already got this book. The next book club will be on Tuesday December 1, 2009 at 7pm at Rhonda's house. If you finish the John Irving book Valesca recommended Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Again, we missed everyone who could not make it and we hope that you will be able to join the next book club!
-Heather
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Book Club Tuesday October 27th
Hi all,
Just sending out a reminder that book club is in two weeks! We are reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I have heard rave reviews from Valesca, Tina, Rambo, and Rhonda and I am excited to start reading it! Valesca had suggested that we do a Southern food theme and I think that is a great idea, but what does everyone else think? If we decide to have a Southern food theme we can then organize who will make what :)
I also wanted to let you guys know of this website that I was recently introduced to. It is goodreads.com and it is a site where you log in all of the books that you have read, are reading, or want to read. You can rate the books from 1-5 stars and give your own reviews of them. You can also be friends with your friends (like Facebook) and get notified of what they are reading and if they liked it. So far I am liking the site :)
I think that is it for now. I hope to see most of you in two weeks!
-Heather
Just sending out a reminder that book club is in two weeks! We are reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I have heard rave reviews from Valesca, Tina, Rambo, and Rhonda and I am excited to start reading it! Valesca had suggested that we do a Southern food theme and I think that is a great idea, but what does everyone else think? If we decide to have a Southern food theme we can then organize who will make what :)
I also wanted to let you guys know of this website that I was recently introduced to. It is goodreads.com and it is a site where you log in all of the books that you have read, are reading, or want to read. You can rate the books from 1-5 stars and give your own reviews of them. You can also be friends with your friends (like Facebook) and get notified of what they are reading and if they liked it. So far I am liking the site :)
I think that is it for now. I hope to see most of you in two weeks!
-Heather
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