Christmas Party!

The Christmas Party is Thursday!!

Shannon's House @ 7:00

**Bring a dish to share and a white elephant gift!**

November Book Club at Kristie's

Kristie (otherwise known an Nurse Nancy) hosted a fantastic book club for us last month.  We devoured treats galore. Here is a sampling of the goodness

The best treat of all was having Christie join the group again! We were so happy to see her and happy to hear her good news (she is expecting baby number four!!)

We played where in the world is Christie as we made her pose in each picture. It really was a fantastic night and it was so much fun to be all together again!

Bethany, Shauna (holding Bethany's baby Oscar) Christie , Kara & Stephanie 

Christie, Shannon & Kristie

Christie, Brenda, Heidi & Britney

See you next time at Shannon's house for the Christmas Party!!

Book club FHE

Book club is Monday night 

Kristie's house

8:00 PM

We will have a special guest!

See you there!

Bookclub at Kara's

We had a great time at Kara's (a few weeks ago) for bookclub.

She made amazing food (as always). And yes, I did have seconds.

On the menu (and I'm sorry there aren't photos b/c it was delicious and beautiful) was:

Butternut Squash Soup with a yogurt sauce drizzle (heavenly)

Tossed salad (bacon, tomatoes,....great vinaigrette,...so delicious!)

Crusty bread with cheese

and....

Avocado Ice Cream with toasted coconut, nuts, and a honey drizzle. You must try it.

Kara will you please put your recipes on here? Everything was so incredibly good.

We talked about "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet." We were small in numbers so the conversation was limited. It got mixed reviews....no one hated it, but some loved it, others thought it was okay.

We got to see her new and fabulous kitchen and talked about all sorts of other "good stuff."

Thanks for hosting Kara. I had a great time!

Book Club at Kara's

Come one, come all.

Eat some food.

Discuss the book.

It's at my new house, so let me know if you need directions.

I would love to know who can make it so I can plan accordingly.

Cheers!

Bookclub @ Stephanie's

I'm sorry we don't have any photos to let you know exactly what you missed out on, but we had a really good time and even better food!!!!

I will try to fill in as best I can....

We started off munching on these...

roasted chickpeas. I don't even know what was on them but they were a little sweet and a little spicy and a lot delicious. I'm officially addicted. I think I'll make some tomorrow.

We then imbibed in Brazilian Lemonade...

only served in adorable glass jars and served with these...


Then we ate fabulous Asian Lettuce Wraps


I won't even tell you how many I ate, but let's just say...more than one, or two.....or.....that's good enough.

We also had fried rice (which was delicious) that I can't find an adequate picture of......dang.

And then this incredibly delicious fruit salad.


and then topped it off with these bad boys...


That's right....homemade Almond Joys. I'm considering popping by Stephanie's more often in hopes that there will be another platter of these waiting for me. I will admit....I did not eat just one.

I hope I'm not forgetting anything, but everything was fantastic and Stephanie hosted like the true professional that she is.

We had some hilarious conversations,...most of which were not about the book. I'm not sure that anyone even finished the book, but the consensus was that there were a lot of unnecessary words. I think. I apologize for not having actually read it. Please forgive me.

We had a great time and missed all of the lovelies that couldn't make it.

I had a much needed night out and was able to catch up with some of my favorite people in the world.

Thanks Stephanie!

p.s. These are not the legitimate pictures. I just filled in with as much as I could find on Pinterest to give you a taste of what you missed. :)

p.s. again -- Happy Baby Bethany --- we hope all goes well. (Unless it has already happened, in which case....where are the photos????!!)

Book CLub ay Shauna's

As usual we enjoyed the most delicious food and conversation at Shauna's house.  I can't tell you how grea tthe food was.  In fact I have recreated this menu twice and my family loved it too!

Book Club is Thursday!

Come to Shauna's Thursday @ 7:00!

Book Club at Brenda's

We had a lovely time at book club last night! Thanks Brenda for all the good food and thanks everyone for the good conversation and the great list of books.  I am excited to read our upcoming list as well as the ones that didn't make the top six.

Her are the pictures for the festivities...

As you can see the food was wonderful and Brenda we want the recipes!

When i saved this picture to the blog for some reason the couch above Stephanie was all orange...weird! So i just tried to fill it in gray for now. When I get back from camp I'll fix it so it looks normal! :)

Everyone have a good June and July and we'll see you in August at Shauna's house!!

And the winners are...

July

Summer break!

Read a book in the sun

August

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern

Hosted by Shauna

Reviewed by Heidi

September

Canada

By Richard Ford

Hosted by Kara

Reviewed by Shauna

October

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

By Jamie Ford

Hosted by Stephanie

Reviewed by Kristie

November

Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Ray Bradbury

Hosted by Kristie

Reviewed by Stephanie

December

Christmas party

Bring your favorite dish to share and white elephant gift

Hosted by Shannon

January

Unbroken

By Laura Hillenbrand

Hosted by Bethany

Reviewed by Kara

**Vote on new books**

February

The Rules of Civility

By Amor Towles

Hosted by Heidi

Reviewed by Brenda

Stephanie's nominations

In honor of Ray Bradbury, who passed away last night:

Few American novels written this century have endured in th heart and mind as has this one-Ray Bradbury's incomparable masterwork of the dark fantastic. A carnival rolls in sometime after the midnight hour on a chill Midwestern October eve, ushering in Halloween a week before its time. A calliope's shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two inquisitive boys standing precariously on the brink of adulthood will soon discover the secret of the satanic raree-show's smoke, mazes, and mirrors, as they learn all too well the heavy cost of wishes -- and the stuff of nightmare. 


Or a little non-fiction...

Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters?*

The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. THE DISAPPEARING SPOON masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery--from the Big Bang through the end of time.
*Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.

Sarah suggested these:
 
Wild Swans by Jung Chang

 Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love. Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.



  Precious Bane by Mary Webb

 The story is set in rural Shropshire shortly after the Napoleonic Wars. It is narrated by the central character, Prue Sarn, whose life is blighted by having a harelip. Only the weaver, Kester Woodseaves, perceives the beauty of her character, but Prue cannot believe herself worthy of him. Her brother Gideon is overridingly ambitious to attain wealth and power, regardless of who suffers while he does so. Gideon is set to wed his sweetheart Jancis, but he incurs the wrath of her father, the cruel and scheming self-proclaimed wizard Beguildy. An act of vengeance by Beguildy makes Gideon reject Jancis and tragedy overwhelms them both.


  And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

 For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when Emily's dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek. Emily's intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband's favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve the crime, her search leads to more surprises about Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated.


  Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien

 It is 1887, and Henry Ward Beecher lies dying. Reporters from around the world, eager for one last story about the most lurid scandal of their time, descend on Brooklyn Heights, their presence signaling the beginning of the voracious appetite for fallen celebrities we know so well today. When Henry Ward Beecher was put on trial for adultery in 1875, the question of his guilt or innocence was ferociously debated. His trial not only split the country, it split apart his family, causing a particularly bitter rift between his sisters, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Isabella Beecher Hooker, an ardent suffragist. Harriet remained loyal to Henry, while Isabella called publicly for him to admit his guilt. What had been a loving, close relationship between two sisters plummeted into bitter blame and hurt. Harriet and Isabella each had a major role in the social revolutions unfolding around them, but what happened in their hearts when they were forced to face a question of justice much closer to home? Now they struggle: who best served Henry -- the one who was steadfast or the one who demanded honesty?


 And if we are up for another Juv Lit, my niece suggested


  The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart


 When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all? Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.

Brenda's Picks

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

 Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later."

When Fifteen-year-old Dell Parsons' parents rob a bank, his sense of normal life is forever altered. In an instant, this private cataclysm drives his life into before and after, a threshold that can never be uncrossed.

A true masterwork of haunting and spectacular vision from one of our greatest writers, Canada is a profound novel of boundaries traversed, innocence lost and reconciled, and the mysterious and consoling bonds of family. Told in spare, elegant prose, both resonant and luminous, it is destined to become a classic

My Nominations

The Kitchen House

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. 



The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern’s dark, enchanting debut takes us to the black and white tents of Le Cirque des Reves, a circus that arrives without warning, simply appearing when yesterday it was not there. Young Celia and Marco have been cast into a rivalry at The Night Circus, one arranged long ago by powers they do not fully understand. Over time, their lives become more intricately enmeshed in a dance of love, joy, deceit, heartbreak, and magic. 




Rules of Civility

Set in New York City in 1938, Rules of Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year- old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.

The story opens on New Year's Eve in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, where Katey and her boardinghouse roommate Eve happen to meet Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a ready smile. This chance encounter and its startling consequences cast Katey off her current course, but end up providing her unexpected access to the rarified offices of Conde Nast and a glittering new social circle.

Nominations

Kristie's Nomination:

Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.




Britney's Nomination:

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

It's time to vote!

It's that time again!

At book club next month we will vote on what to read next-- so post your choices or email me and I'll post them for you.

I can't wait to see what will be on my summer reading list!

We enjoyed another night of book Club!

Here are the pictures from our night.  First here is the gang...

Heidi,
Shauna, Behtany, Mariana, Kara
Kristie & Britney

 We enjoyed good food and had a great discussion about The Glass Castle.  Everyone really liked the book and we shared a lot thoughts about the wacky family and how some people see to thrive regardless or in spite of their circumstances.  If you haven't read it you should.

Here are the food shots...

Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps

Veggies

Fruit

Lemon Cookies

 We missed those of you who weren't there!

Next month Brenda is hosting and Shannon is reviewing The Great Gatsby.

Book Club Thursday Night!

Book Club is Thursday night

Heidi's house

7:00 PM

Be there or be square!