August Book Club

Well, it was a small summer crowd this time but we still had some great grub and picked out some promising books. We also managed to do a little send off for Melissa as she prepares for motherhood.

The four attendees were Emily, Melissa, Shell and Meredith. We dined on mom's version of mac-n-cheese and mashed potatoes. And dessert was a total hit - Melissa made Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Bombs. I almost licked my plate.

We talked only a little bit about the book. Melissa had done a little informal research (aka probing) about Jennifer B. from her former students at Colby. Consensus was we enjoyed the book, not our favorite, but an interesting read.

Meredith won the Book Club Baby Shower Quiz of classic children's books. And everyone managed to come up with different Dr. Seuss books!

Having only a couple people tonight made the book selection a bit easier. Because three out of four of us are declining to read the Sea (I promise I attempted, I read the first 8 pages like 3 times), we decided to put in an alternate for September.

For September we will be discussing The Sea AND

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (Which is a book in Shell's top 10 all time favorites).

YOU PICK WHICH ONE (OR BOTH) that you want to read.

For October it was between Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Breakfast with Buddha won - so go ahead and track down your copy!

Meredith will be hosting at her beautiful new home in Pepeekeo for September. The date is Monday September 14 at 6:30. As the date grows closer, check your email for directions to her house.

Challenge - Are you really a book worm?

Can you find the technical name of this peculiar bug that is often found on books in Hilo? It creeps out of its casing to show just a little skin every now and then.

Winner gets to vote twice on the final round of book selection next month!

Happy New Year! January Book Club Review

Tahnee lives in a luscious, cozy and very zen wood loft in Honomu. We could hear the river babbling from the kitchen! Despite our group being comprised of many liberal, environmentally minded type folks - none of us carpooled to her house or bothered to fully read her email before coming that encouraged carpooling! Well, our karma caught up.

As we were beginning to nest in Tahnee's perfect abode, she got a call from her landlord stating that ALL OF US needed to move our cars into town. So, as understanding book clubbies who fully can understand why she wants to keep her current housing (we also know she needs a secure love den for when her Italian man comes to visit next month), we trooped out and moved our cars into town.

What I thought at first was a crazy, aggressive drunk lady trying to flag us down in town, ended up being Tahnee's very nice landlord who was offering to give us a ride back to the house so we didn't have to walk. She explained that there is a neighbor who is a bit lolo about parking and such. Anyway, most of us were happy to take the ride. Some of us (including me) didn't want to impose and thought the walk would be refreshing. Kim of course came prepared with her headlamp so she was ready to go! As the landlord's car passed us, it began raining...so then we really got some refreshing running back to Tahnee's safe hideaway.

Not only did this event make the night a bit more memorable, but it was also the first time NO ONE in the book club read the nominated book, Slaves in the Family. The holiday season I think made it especially difficult for us to read this 500 something page book about plantation life. Melissa swears she is going to read it at another time. Maybe she can give us a summary of the highlights.

The food was pupu heavy, which was fine since we all seemed to be ravenous. The feature dish this time was byMeredith (I'm beginning to be suspicious about her proclamation that she hates to cook). She made Artichoke Dip from a super top secret recipe. It was tangy, not too creamy, not too oily, but just right! Tahnee made a hearty spinach cheddar quiche, perfectly congealed. (I am now realizing I would make a terrible food critic).

We had five books nominated:

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud

The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates

House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport

And the last one, I can't remember but it was an unusual love story written in the fantasy genre by a female author...was it Anna Quindlen? Help somebody!

The final selection was between White Tiger and The Emperor's Children. The writing styles of both authors grabbed us, but I think the shorter page numbers of White Tiger won us over (February is a short month!).

Katie will be hosting our discussion about the Tax Inspector in February. Wednesday work best for her so the date is WEDNESDAY February, 11th at 6:30.

Also mark on your calendar - February 22nd - Oscars Night at Melissa's! :) Formal dress wear is mandatory (silly formal dress wear that is!). So start watching those movies and head out to the Goodwill to pick up your rhinestone backless gown. Partners are invited to this party, so go ahead and arrange for a babysitter if you need to so you can let loose!

Night in Review - Time Traveller's Wife

Good food, good book and FUN elephant exchange!

Meredith was the hostess with the mostest. Though self-admittedly she hates to cook, Meredith created a yummy veggie pasta for us all to feast on. There was a bit of a salad competition going on between Kim's organic tasty salad with calamata olives and Rebecca's salad with fresh Korean pears. We had roasted rosemary potatoes, fresh honey biscuits and carrot cake. (I was really happy about the left overs).

There wasn't too much discussion on the book. Some people found the writing a bit corny, others didn't like the ending or certain parts that were left unexplained...but all of us that read it whizzed on through the book and found it entertaining. We all felt bad for poor Ingrid.

As usual Meredith had some great books to nominate, but in the end I think it was Katie's reading excerpt that used the word "arse" repetitively that sold the winning book.

Here were the most tempting books:

Out by Matsuo Kirono

Beautiful Children by Charles Bock

Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

The Tax Inspector by Peter Carey

The winner was...

the Tax Inspector by Peter Carey

The highlight of the night was of course the White Elephant Gift exchange.

Most coveted items? a white lacy, vinyl table cloth; Smart Women postcards; and a wind up mouse that flips (which Moses later had fun with...poor mouse.)

However, Katie by far received the gift of the night:

Next Book Club is Monday, January 5th at Tahne's house in Honomu. We will be discussing Slaves in the Family (at least those of us who aren't reading Twilight).

Book Club Gift Exchange

During our December 8th get together we will be doing a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Bring a regifted, silly or otherwise wrapped package for our 3rd lively gift exchange!

Origin
The name "White elephant" originates from an old Burmese cultural reference to the value of an albino elephant, which is considered sacred and must be well taken care of, despite the financial burden that it may bring to its owner. Therefore, the gifts exchanged may be large, delicate and/or utterly pointless for the recipient (e.g., a huge stuffed animal for someone who lives in a small apartment).

Notes from November

We had a rich discussion trying to figure out why we were all so engaged in this depressing book about an old man in Norway who moves to a cabin on a lake. Turns out many of us had different interpretations on what happened in the book and differing levels of difficulty recalling plot facts and inferences. But, this was a very well-written book...steeped with all the mind blowing stuff that you learned about in A.P. English class...Motifs, themes... I don't think we really reached consensus on the main message or purpose of the book, but its definitely one to reread.

The food can pretty much be summarized with two words: Pizza & Desserts. It was a sweet lovers paradise - brownies, chocolate fudge pie, krumkake (Norwegian cookies)...I think I'm forgetting something.

Shelley was the hostess this time and I think we'd vote her living room furniture as the most comfy furniture owned by our group. She had quite an eclectic assortment of book nominations for us...

One from her mom, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon, about the emotional world of farm animals. One from her friend who works on Mauna Kea at an observatory, called Space.

(these two didn't make it through the first voting round).

Quote of the Night:

"Those are not exactly my favorite animals."
- Melissa, in response to the introductory blurb of The Pig Who Sang to the Moon

The final nominees were:

1. Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball


2. Welcome to My Country by Lauren Slater


3. The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

And the winner was:

Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball

Next Book Club:

December 8th at 6:30

Meredith's House

Sometime in October Book Club

The blog is a little behind! Sorry everyone!

Before I move on to the most recent Book Club fun, here is a reminder about our October gathering...

Miss (almost Mrs.) Melissa hosted. The food was so so good. Melissa made polenta rounds and Rebecca made fresh cornbread with honey butter. Yummers.

There wasn't too much indepth discussion about But Enough About Me. The consensus was that it was a fun read and they we adored her father that worked at Sears.

Melissa had a stack of good nominations but then a couple of us rabble-rousers requested that The Time Traveller's Wife get put back in (Melissa has been trying to get the group to read this book since we started meeting 3 years ago!).

Guess what won - Time Traveller's Wife!!