Book Club is Thursday!!

Book Club is at Kristie's house Thursday night at 7:00.  

She sent out an e-mail with directions to her house.  If you didn't get the e-mail reply here and we'll make sure to get the info to you.

Oh & be sure to RSVP so she can plan food and post your book club picks... if you want to you can send me your choices and I'll post them for you.

See you Thursday!!!

my book nominations

First, let me say I second all of Heidi's choices, but I figured I better come up with at least ONE on my own since she stole all of her choices from my "to read" list. :)

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

SYNOPSIS:

Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he's still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And although he doesn't know it, that book also survived: it crossed oceans and generations, and changed lives." Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that book. She has her hands full keeping track of her little brother Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah) and taking copious notes in her book, How to Survive in the Wild Volume Three. But when a mysterious letter arrives in the mail she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family.

FYI -- In case you're interested, Nicole Krauss is the spouse of Jonathan Foer, author of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

One more from me...

A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

I'll start us out with some suggestions...

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book --- a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and with very little to go on, "Nell" sets out on a journey to England to try to trace her story, to fi nd her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. At Cliff Cottage, on the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, Cassandra discovers the forgotten garden of the book's title and is able to unlock the secrets of the beautiful book of fairy tales. (645 pages)

Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom 

Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.

In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.

Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others. (320 pages)

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated mountain village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes, we follow the story of the plague year, 1666, as her fellow villagers make an extraordinary choice. Convinced by a visionary young minister, they elect to quarantine themselves within the village boundaries to arrest the spread of the disease. But as death reaches into every household, faith frays. When villagers turn from prayers and herbal cures to sorcery and murderous witch-hunting, Anna must confront the deaths of family, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit love. As she struggles to survive, a year of plague becomes, instead, annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders." Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged mountain spine of England. Year of Wonders is a detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. (308 pages)

Choices... Choices... Choices...

It's time to select new books!!!

Post your choices and we'll vote next time.

Book Club at Shannon's House

We had another fantastic book club!!  

Thanks Shannon so much for the delish food! It was wonderful!

Now we ARE expecting Shannon to post some of these recipes!! Especially for this absolutely melt in your mouth delicious white chocolate bread pudding!  I mean it was to die for!! 

There just maybe a mob at your door demanding the recipe soon.

We all loved Major Pettigrew and since we discussed the book being made into a movie I thought I'd share Helen Simonson's answer to a question about just that...

 If your book were to become a movie, who would you like to see star in it?
"My family have been joking that it often takes so long to make a movie that maybe Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) will be old enough to play the Major.  I’m keeping quiet on casting, but I do think the Major is a great chance for a mature actor to play a wonderful romantic lead, and any movie made of the book would also offer strong, central roles for under-represented South Asian actors."  


You can read more from her interview here

Book club is so great because of the women who are in it

so with our further ado...

Kristie & Britney

Here is the picture you have been waiting for...

Drumroll please...

 The couple of the night... Robyn & Brenda.

Ok, so I'll offer a little explanation.  Brenda & Robyn were on the couch ready for their picture to be taken, & the way they were sitting (one on the arm of the couch the other leaning in) looked just like they were posing for an engagement photo. There was a little teasing and next thing we know they are on the floor making a bona fide engagement portrait -- in front of the fire and everything!  It is almost Valentines Day after all!

Needless to say there was some serious laughing.  I could hardly see through my tears to take the picture.  I love these girls!

Heidi, Kara & Iris

Bethany & Shannon

Kaley, Stephanie & Stella

We had a grand time and can't wait for book club in March at Kristie's house where we will review Mocking Jay -- see you there!

Happy Valentines Day!

Book Club is Thursday night (7:00) at Shannon's house!! 

Please let us know if your coming so Shannon can make plans.  Can't wait to see all of you to discuss...

"The real pleasure of this book derives not from its village conventions but from its beautiful little love story, which is told with skill and humor" -- Alexander McCall Smith

Recipes

Here are the recipes from book club...

Creamy Tomato Soup

Recipe by Our Best Bites,  
note: modified from original posting. Don't panic, I made it better! 

1 T reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes, or olive oil
1 C chopped onion
¾ C shredded carrot
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2/3 C sliced sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14oz) can chicken broth  (I added more because it was too thick)
3 oz reduced fat cream cheese
 optional: 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Optional: Parmesan cheese and fresh basil for garnish

1. Place oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion,  carrot, and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring often.

2. Add sun-dried tomatoes, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. (If you're adding red pepper flakes, add them now)
3. Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.  Cover pan and simmer for 30  minutes.
  

4. Remove from heat. Place soup in a blender (do this in 2 batches if necessary). Add cream cheese. Remove center piece of blender lid to allow steam to escape, but place a paper towel over opening in blender lid to avoid spills. Process for a few minutes until smooth.  You could also add cream cheese directly to the pot and use an immersion blender to combine.

5. Add additional salt and pepper to taste and then divide soup among bowls.  Garnish each serving with a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan cheese and a fresh basil leaf if desired.




Turkey Tea Sandwiches

Recipe adapted from the Barefoot Contessa

Scallion cream cheese:

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup minced scallions (white and green parts)
• Pinch kosher salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Sandwiches:

• 1 loaf dense raisin-nut bread, -- I used a cranberry bread and whole-grain nut bread
• 8 thin slices fresh or smoked turkey breast

For the scallion cream cheese, combine the cream cheese, scallions and the salt and pepper in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Do not whip.

Remove the crust from the bread. Lay out the slices of bread and spread them all with a thin layer of scallion cream cheese. Place a single layer of turkey on half the slices, cutting the edges to fit the bread. Top with the other slices of bread, cream cheese side down. Lay the sandwiches on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, cover with damp paper towels and wrap the sheet with plastic. Refrigerate until the cream cheese is cold and firm. Place the sandwiches on a cutting board and, with a very sharp knife cut each in half crosswise, and then cut each half diagonally to make  small triangles. Serve chilled.

January Book Club

Book Club was at my house this month.  Thanks ladies for braving the cold temperatures and making it a great night.

Unfortunately not everyone read the book -- OK, only Kara read the book -- but there were several of us that came super close to finishing.  This seems to happen with the book we read over the holidays.  We usually pick a longer book because we think we will have more time to read -- but really I think we have less.

Kara brought up some great points and told us about the metaphors though out the book.  She also brought a copy of a painting discussed in the book.  Thanks Kara for all you work.

We had homemade tomato soup and tea sandwiches...

and chocolate cheesecake...

Just for fun we took a quiz about some of the past books we have read.  Kara was the big winner -- remembering the most!  I am pretty sure Brenda was the "idiot" ha ha!

Britney & Robyn

Kristie & Christie

The always photographed together Shannon & Bethany

 

Brenda, Heidi, Kara & our current mascot Iris

We'll see you all next month at Shannon house to review Major Pettegrew's Last Stand

Another list...

Here is the list the editors at Amazon picked for the best Fiction in 2010:

   

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War
by Karl Marlantes

Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club) 
by Jonathan Franzen

To the End of the Land 
by David Grossman

The Imperfectionists: A Novel
by Tom Rachman

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel
by Helen Simonson

One Day (Vintage Contemporaries Original)
by David Nicholls

The Hand That First Held Mine
by Maggie O'Farrell

Skippy Dies: A Novel
by Paul Murray

The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel 
by Brady Udall

Memory Wall: Stories
by Anthony Doerr

Book Club Thursday!

Could there be a better way to start the new year?  I don't think so!

Book club is Thursday night @ 7:00 -- my house.

I can't wait to see all of you and and enjoy some good food and discuss The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Please let me know if you are coming so I can plan the menu - thanks & see you Thursday.

Favorites...

Here is a list from Reading Group Guides of their favorites for 2010.  

Best of List: New Favorites

31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Oxygen by Carol Cassella
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Perfection by Julie Metz
The Photographer by Didier Lefèvre and Emmanuel Guibert
Rainwater by Sandra Brown
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Testimony by Anita Shreve
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf


Maybe we should should vote on some of these next time?