Here is the list of names of who gets to pick our monthly book!
Lisa -- September
Rhonda -- October
Michelle -- November
Tania -- December
Alissa -- January
Tina -- February
Laura -- March
Heather -- April
Julie -- May
Then we start all over!
Monday, August 1, 2016
July Book Club Recap
Attendees: Alissa, Julie, Laura, Lisa, Raven, Rhonda, Tina, and me via Skype.
The books we discussed were:
and
The books we discussed were:
and
Since I am way behind on this recap I think that the general consensus was that we liked the books, but they were not our favorites. We didn't talk about the ending of The Nest because there were still a couple of people that didn't finish and I think that would have been a good topic to discuss. Furiously Happy made Rhonda more anxious, but I think that for those of us (myself and Raven) that have anxiety it was nice to read about someone that has it worse. It was also felt that the first part of Jenny's book was funny, but then it just became a lot of the same thing over and over again.
Here are the details for next book club!
When: Wednesday August 4th at 7pm
Where: Rhonda's Casa
What we are reading: All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
It is Lisa's turn to pick next!
Happy Reading!
If you click on the pictures it will take you to an affiliate link. Thanks for the support!
Saturday, March 19, 2016
March Book Club Recap
Attendees: Alissa, Julie, Lisa, Laura, Michelle, Rhonda, Tina, and me via Skype :).
First, I have to say that seeing you all outside and some of you in short sleeves made me very jealous! I look forward to the sun and heat coming this way (although it was sunny and warm today!).
The book that we discussed this meeting was The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty.
Everyone in book club had read this book! Julie and myself previously read this book and we needed a refresher on what the book was about since it had been awhile. Michelle did an excellent job summarizing the book and all of the characters. We all really enjoyed the book and like Liane's writing. Michelle said that she figured out the secret right away, but there were others that didn't know what the secret was right away. We all felt really bad for the Colin (I can't remember if that name is right) character because he really got the short end of the stick for the whole book. Some members thought that the story of woman that left her cheating husband and went back home didn't fit that well into the book and could have been left out. We figured that Liane put her in because she likes to weave different stories together and that was one that she could do.
I read this book soon after reading two of her other books and it was too much for me. I think that her books are very similar and kind of remind me of Jodi Picoult's novels and one should read them spaced out, so that they don't get burned out on them :). Rhonda did mention that she thought it was really shitty that the one lady that gets pregnant at the end and doesn't know who the father could be didn't tell the PE teacher (Colin?) that it could be his.
We talked about Rhonda's new company, Tuscan Women Cook and it sounds exciting! Michelle talked about a vacation that her and Tania will be going on together. There was Girl Scout cookie talk, Julie talked about visiting her daughter after she has the baby, which is very exciting! At about this time I disconnected so I'm not sure what other fun conversations were had!
Here are the details for the next book club:
When: Wednesday April 13th, 7pm
Where: Rhonda's house
What we are reading: A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
Laura and I are currently reading this. It is a Swedish book that has been translated and I believe that you pronounce "Ove" as "Ooo-va" (at least that is how I think the audiobook pronounces it).
First, I have to say that seeing you all outside and some of you in short sleeves made me very jealous! I look forward to the sun and heat coming this way (although it was sunny and warm today!).
The book that we discussed this meeting was The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty.
Everyone in book club had read this book! Julie and myself previously read this book and we needed a refresher on what the book was about since it had been awhile. Michelle did an excellent job summarizing the book and all of the characters. We all really enjoyed the book and like Liane's writing. Michelle said that she figured out the secret right away, but there were others that didn't know what the secret was right away. We all felt really bad for the Colin (I can't remember if that name is right) character because he really got the short end of the stick for the whole book. Some members thought that the story of woman that left her cheating husband and went back home didn't fit that well into the book and could have been left out. We figured that Liane put her in because she likes to weave different stories together and that was one that she could do.
I read this book soon after reading two of her other books and it was too much for me. I think that her books are very similar and kind of remind me of Jodi Picoult's novels and one should read them spaced out, so that they don't get burned out on them :). Rhonda did mention that she thought it was really shitty that the one lady that gets pregnant at the end and doesn't know who the father could be didn't tell the PE teacher (Colin?) that it could be his.
We talked about Rhonda's new company, Tuscan Women Cook and it sounds exciting! Michelle talked about a vacation that her and Tania will be going on together. There was Girl Scout cookie talk, Julie talked about visiting her daughter after she has the baby, which is very exciting! At about this time I disconnected so I'm not sure what other fun conversations were had!
Here are the details for the next book club:
When: Wednesday April 13th, 7pm
Where: Rhonda's house
What we are reading: A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
Laura and I are currently reading this. It is a Swedish book that has been translated and I believe that you pronounce "Ove" as "Ooo-va" (at least that is how I think the audiobook pronounces it).
Happy Reading!
p.s. All links are affiliate links and if you purchase the book through it I get a small percentage :)
Monday, February 29, 2016
February Book Club Recap
Attendees: Michelle, Tina, Lisa, Laura, Julie, Raven, Alissa, and Rhonda.
The Japanese Lover was liked by all. We all really enjoyed the twist it took with the husband turning out to be gay.
We also liked all the little love stories in the book, the sister and her American guy, the grandson and Irina. A couple of us didn’t care for the sexual deviant part of Irina's story however, it felt sort of gratuitous.
Otherwise we talked about Alissa’s daughter selling girl scout cookies and the best news of all is that Julie’s daughter (who lives in NY) is pregnant! Julie has been waiting patiently for that news since they’ve been married like 5 years now.
Here are the details for the March book club:
When: Wednesday March 16th, 7pm
Where: Rhonda's House
What we are Reading: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Here is a list of who will be picking our books for this year:
March--Laura
April--Heather
May--Julie
June--Rhonda
July--Michelle S.
August--Tania
September--Michelle B.
October--Alissa
November--Tina
December--New member or we start over with Laura :)
Friday, December 18, 2015
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):
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 :)
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
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
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
Saturday, August 22, 2015
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
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
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