Missing February - Room

Missing January - Dead Until Dark

December 2011 - Heaven is for Real

Heaven is for Real

by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

December 3rd, 2010

Of course, as we haven't had any snow, it decided to snow on the night of our Christmas book club.  Go figure!  However, it wasn't enough to deter us from getting together.  We gathered in our pajamas once again for a comforable Christmas gathering.  It was a nice evening for eating, chatting, discussing, and sharing.

Rather than serve a large dinner, I had decided to serve appetizers, as I had 2 new recipes I wanted to try: Terriyaki Chicken Dip and BLT Bites. I think that the consensus was they were very good.

I took a few pictures during dinner...some of the guests were cooperative, and others were not...

Here are some comments about the book: 

• A great Christmas book
• I hope it's true.
• Too much of the Dad's story, as some wanted a bit more on the kids.
• Like the thought that we would look young in heaven.
• Very hopeful.

Ratings:

• Jody - 4.25
• Elena - 4.25
• Kelly - didn't read
• Debbie - 3.5
• Andrea - 4.0
• Laurie - 3.0
• Karen - 4.0
• Jacki - 4.25

Ornament Exchange

Once again, we did our annual ornament exchange where we all bring a wrapped ornament, line them up, and draw numbers to see which ornament we get to open...

The ornaments we opened... 

Cookie Exchange

We also did our annual cookie exchange, where we all pick a cookie, and bring a dozen for each one of us.  Here was the delicious outcome of our baking...

 

 It was a fun, relaxing evening, as we have now completed our 8th Christmas Book Club together!!!

November Book Club: The Girls from Ames

The Girls From Ames

Jeffery Zaslow

November 6, 2010

It was another fun night. We missed a few members but life is busy and it's hard to do it all!  As a matter of fact, some months it's hard to even schedule a day we can all get together.  Our kids are busy, we are busy.  It seems as the years go by, every one of us has felt the crush of over-commitment.  That's why its so fun to gather to talk about the book, a lot or a little, depending on the month.  This month was hard to find a date so we ended up meeting on a Sunday afternoon, some of us in our yoga pants!  We had warm soup and warm cider to off set the chill of November.  Comfort food starts tasting good in November so I made and simple meal with minimal fuss.  Just the way I like to entertain!  As promised, I served my caesar salad with my high quality "canned" dressing!  Tasty!

The Menu
Raspberries and Brie appetizer
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Caesar Salad
Pumpkin Bars

This book was special because it was recommended by my mom, who thought our book club might enjoy reading about another set of friends adventures and life experiences.  There were obvious differences but many similarities that could be found in lasting friendships.  We all agreed that it's great for our girls to see long and lasting female friendships.  It's important to all of us that our children recognize the value and importance of family and friends.  Most of our members didn't like the girls or the way the book was written.  It was too difficult to follow the story line and remember the characters.  Some readers couldn't relate to the girls experiences or the way they treated others. However, we all agreed that if we wrote a book we all have some interesting story lines to explore.  Some day maybe we'll tackle that novel!  Until then, it's nice to gather ideas.  

The overall ratings were low, especially when I consider some of the books we've read in the past.  

Laurie 4

Debbie 2

Elena 2

Jody 1.5

Andrea 2

Jacki 2

Kelly DNR

Karen 3

Our Girls

Missing but represented, Karen and Kelly

Thanks again for another night of laughter and good conversation.  

xoxo,

Laurie

October Missing: Helen of Pasadena

The Implosion of Aggie Winchester

Book Club was different this month for several reasons.

1.  We had book club at my in-laws house-- where it started out REALLY cold but turned out to be just fine after we turned ON the furnace and fireplace.

2.  We were very fortunate to have Lara Zielin the author of The Implosion of Aggie Winchester visit us to discuss the book.  Here is what Lara had to say after her short book tour.

3. We didn't officially rate the book.

Kelly and Elena really loved how real the book was.  Teenagers have angst.  Teenagers are jerks to their parents.  Little things are a big deal to teenagers.  All of these things were depicted in this book.  Not everyone agreed about the realism.  Most found the book to be unbelievable and difficult to swallow, especially in light of their own parenting.

It was great to have Lara there to tell us some back story and reasoning behind her characters!  It was also great to have her bring a gift pack of YA books-- she happily promoted YA authors depicting strong female characters.  Jody was the lucky winner of the prize pack-- the rest of us hope she is sharing! (hint hint)

Lara's next book The Waiting Sky is described:

"Seventeen-year-old Jane can’t quite face her mother’s alcoholism even though it sucks to spend all her time and energy keeping them afloat—making sure her mom gets to work, that the bills are paid when there’s money to pay them, and that no one knows her mom is so messed up. But when Jane’s mom drives drunk almost killing both them and Jane’s best friend, Jane can no longer deny her mom is spiraling out of control. Jane has only one place to turn: her older brother Ethan, who left years ago to go to college. A summer away with him and his tornado chasing buddies may just provide the time and space she needs to figure out whether her life still includes her mother.(2nd Aug 2012/Hardback/Putnam Junvenile)

 ."

I'll be waiting along with the sky because I'm looking forward to the book being a great excuse for Lara and her awesome husband, Rob, to come visit us again!  What a great time we had with them!!!

Half & Half

Well this month's book selection was met with maybe the greatest percentage of incompletion in the history of book club. Sorry ladies, I thought it would be an easier read.  


The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory was the August book selection, and while only four of us read the book in its entirety, the discussion was enjoyable nonetheless. The ratings were as follows:

Jacki 3.75
Andrea 3.25
Elena 2.50
Jody 3.25
Kelly, Karen, Laurie and Debbie were unable to finish

Many thought the historical perspective of the book was interesting and detailed, we agreed that the author had a tendency to repeat her self often..."I am the Infanta, I am the daughter of the two most powerful monarchs in the whole or Christendom." We get it - you are important!

We were unfamiliar with the term infanta, so I looked it up it is a Spanish or Portuguese princess: the daughter of a Spanish or Portuguese king. So there you have it. She was right, she was the infanta.

It was mentioned that a little background information on this era would have been helpful. This may be one of those times that reading all the bodice rippers that I have, played in my favor; I was pretty familiar with the customs of this era. Go figure.

As for the other parts of the night - it was a talkative bunch. We had appetizers on the deck (but that is only because it was so beastly hot in the house), dinner inside and I made my first ever bunt cake. I am pretty sure a good time was had by all, but it wasn't until the picture taking took place that cheeks started to hurt! My daughter definitely does not have a career waiting for her in photography (it took 7 shots to get this one!).

Oh, and did I mention the best gift in the entire world...Andrea brought me a pillow just like the ones she had at her house!  Andrea, you are the best!