Once Upon A Book Club

Missing January - Dead Until Dark

2012-02-02T06:47:00.002-06:00

December 2011 - Heaven is for Real

2011-12-29T06:22:00.098-06:00

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

2011-11-30T06:42:00.005-06:00

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

2011-10-31T06:53:00.003-05:00

The Implosion of Aggie Winchester

2011-10-17T06:41:00.004-05:00

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

2011-08-27T09:11:00.001-05:00

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!

July Book Club 80's Flashback

2011-08-13T16:24:00.000-05:00

July book club took us back in time to the best decade ever - the 80's! We read Jen Lancaster's book If You Were Here.I know it had only been a month since our last book club, but it felt like we hadn't seen each other in forever. Everyone was talking all at the same time in an effort to catch up. Everyone had a lot of news and life changing events to share during appetizers and dinner. Given the heat wave we have been having dinner was pork lettuce wraps, fried rice and I can't remember what else. For dessert we had individual caramel cheesecakes. The top of the cheesecakes were supposed to be browned with a kitchen torch, which I ran out to buy. However it did not come with butane and so I couldn't use it. Creative person that I am (HA!) I used a lighter which wasn't as exciting and didn't give the desired browning effect I was hoping for.

The book was a very nostalgic read for us since most of us were in high school and college in the 80's. Kelly gave us the top ten John Hughes movies of all time:
10. Pretty in Pink
9. Uncle Buck
8. Home Alone
7. Mr. Mom
6. Sixteen Candles (can't believe that's not closer to #1)
5. Weird Science
4. National Lampoons Vacation
3. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
2. The Breakfast Club
1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
We had a great time revisiting 80's movies that were referenced in the book. For the most part everyone liked the book. There were parts that made people laugh out loud .Even those that thought the book was just okay enjoyed the stroll down memory lane. I lost my notes so I don't have the ratings and funny things everyone said about the book (bummer)! And yes, I know that if I had posted right away I would have those ratings and all the funnies people said during book club.
One final note:

What book did we read?

2011-06-19T17:11:00.001-05:00

This month we read the book "A Slice of Murder" by Chris Cavendish. It is a mystery about a widow who owns and runs a pizza place with the help of her sister. The owner is a suspect in a local murder which threatens her business so she decides to solve the mystery herself.
OOPS! Wrong book!
Ok, so we really read "Catering to Nobody" by Diane Mott Davidson. This is also a mystery where the main character, a caterer, is suspected of murdering someone (her ex-father-in-law). Her son, who is into dungeons and dragons and IS NOT autistic (like the boy in House Rules) is a quirky 11 year old.
Overall the book was VERY memorable (no one would ever get it confused with another book) and was well received by the book club. The book contained recipes but none were tried for this book club.

Ratings:
Jody: 4
Karen: 3.5 so far
Kelly: no rating
Andrea: 3.5
Laurie: 3
Debbie: 3.25

We missed Jacki and Elena!!!

One of the highlights of the rating process was the comment from Kelly that, "I actually have no idea what book you read." That goes a step beyond not reading the book, eh? To Kelly's credit she actually came even though she was in the midst of studying for finals.

Dinner was Cuban sandwiches and a few sides. The sandwiches were made to order and some book club members were not as picky as I would have thought.

Once we began discussing the book Andrea announced that she was "in a food coma."
Jody pictured "Trina" (really Trisha) as a "hulked out 'roid junky." Marla seemed obscenely fat but that didn't seem completely fitting with her character. Hmmm....

The discussion moved on to librarians and it was agreed that through our experience it seems that many of them were required to pass a "pious b exam" to become a librarian. Food for thought....

Many members thought they would try the next one in the series or at least would be willing to do so.

Overall a great time was had by all. We laughed, shared ups and downs, and ate a lot!

Oh, how nice and relaxed we look!

What's wrong with this picture?

And if you liked this book, you may like the Hannah Swenson mysteries by Joanne Fluke or the Chris Cavendish mysteries mentioned earlier. Another suggestion is the Finlay Anderson Tanner mysteries.

Enjoy!

May 2011 - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

2011-05-31T06:59:00.002-05:00

So, I don't remember what we ate, or much about what we did.

However, we did have a special guest for the evening:
Mr. Book Club 2010 himself...

He gobbled down his food, and then hung out while the Moms ate and visited.

The majority thought the book was ok. I personally really liked it. However, Andrea thought it was 'horrible', and only got through the first 50 pages. Sorry Andrea! I think you should give it another try! : )

Ratings:

Elena - 3

Debbie - 3

Andrea - 1 (for the first 50 pages)

Laurie - 3

Jody - 1.25 (...for the entire book, not the first 50 pages.)

Karen - 2.5

Jacki - 3.5

Group Photo:

April Missing - House Rules by Jodi Picoult

2011-04-30T06:37:00.000-05:00

Little Bee by Chris Cleve

2011-03-31T06:36:00.013-05:00

The Ratings:

Jacki- 4.0
Jody-3.75
Kelly 4.0
Debbie 4.0
Elena- 2
Andrea-2
Laurie 3.5
Karen- DNR

The Recap:
It was a fun night even though we were missing a few members. Andrea had an event at Karl's school and Elena was missing her husband. Elena is a better wife than most of us because we were escaping ours! JUST kidding!!! Life gets hectic and everyone needs a little extra time now and then.

We all agreed this was a well written book. We loved the 2 perspectives and despised the weak husband! The events in the book were heart wrenching and haunting but worth the read.

I made fish tacos and everyone seemed to love them. I also made some chicken tacos for those who were not feeling fishy or Catholic that night. Dessert was cake made with love by the Bakery at Target... I love my new SuperTarget and it's fondant confections.

Always a fun night with girlfriends, beverages, food, stories, and of course a great read.

The Photo

The girls and my consistent stand ins....

Thanks for a great night!

Laurie

February 2011

2011-03-30T14:21:00.010-05:00

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

I had high hopes that Falling Angels was going to be a great read. First, it was written by Tracy Chevalier who wrote Girl With a Pearl Earring, which I loved. Second, It was set in Victorian England around 1900, which for whatever reason is a time period that is fascinating to me. And third, the story starts out in a London cemetery which becomes a playground for the kids in the story. That's just cool!

However, as it turned out, I thought the book was a bit disappointing. The beginning was the fun part of the book. The Colemans and the Waterhouses met because they had family gravesites next to each other. Each thought the other's site was tacky - one with a giant urn, the other with a marble angel. The parents didn't really care for each other, but the two little girls became best friends. Lavinia was the girl who was overly dramatic. She fainted at the drop of a hat and was obsessed with learning the proper way to do things, especially mourning the dead. Maude was the girl who was smart and well educated in a time when that wasn't considered necessary for girls. Lavinia and Maude met a boy named Simon at the cemetery. He worked as a gravedigger with his father. He and the girls had a lot of adventures exploring the cemetery. In my opinion, the scenes at the cemetery are the best part of this book. Unfortunately, the parents of these children also get to be part of the story. Again, in my opinion, the Waterhouses (Lavinia's family) were not that interesting, and the Colemans (Maude's parents) were too morally awful to like. When Maude's mom (Kitty) stops taking care of her daughter and becomes involved with the women's suffrage movement the story was all downhill for me. The suffragettes spend a lot of time preparing for a march to promote women's right to vote. This part of the book left me feeling a little conflicted. I had an instant dislike for all the characters involved in the women's rights movement. That however made me feel guilty because maybe those were the personalities necessary to bring about such a big change in society. So, maybe I should be thankful for women like that, or maybe I can just be thankful for the fun women in book club!!

As always the evening for me was more about having fun with friends. This month we were missing Karen, who was on mom duty. But, we added Jody's friend Patti - who despite being called "Chicago Patti" by Jody for years, turns out to not actually live in Chicago anymore! Thanks for joining us Patti!

The first thing I learned during the evening was that choosing wine because you think the name is funny is not always the smartest purchase. I'll just say that Sweet Bitch is actually really heavy on sweet and not so much on

bitch.

The second thing I learned is I have really talented friends. I'm not sure who the artist was, but just look at the beautiful aluminum foil (bird, goose, guitar)???? One of you has a very promising career wrapping leftovers at the finest restaurants in the city!

The third thing I learned is that when your friends sit really close to each other on the couch, it does not always mean they really like each other. Sometimes it just means they're really cold! Sorry guys! Next time I will have lots of blankets sitting out!

Thanks for the fun evening everyone! Here are our ratings:

Jody: 3.75

Kelly: 3.5

Andrea: 3.0

Elena: 3.0

Debbie: 2.5

Laurie: 2.0

Patti: 2.0

Jacki: 1.5

The Help!

2011-03-25T19:08:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd come and update this here post before some more HELP is needed.

Help would be required because I would be kicked out of book club for disregarding the importance of blog posts and documenting the good times and great discussions we always have.

So... 4 months later... allow me to give a quick summary of The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Amazingly, I managed to keep all the ratings. Aren't you all so proud?!

Jody: 4.25
Kelly: n/a
Karen: 4
Andrea: 5! (Woot!)
Jacki: 4.5
Debbie: 4
Laurie: 4
Elena: 4.5

It is clear that we liked the book! That is only the second 5 our book club has ever given. Way to go, Kathryn Stockett in writing a GREAT book!

One of the greatest quotes of the night came when Karen mentioned that she had not read the jacket of the book. It too her about 50 pages until a "light" went on and she realized why the book is titled The Help. It's not a self-help book after all.

Andrea, who rated the book a 5, was impressed by all the emotion the book provoked-- there was stress and happiness, and all the feelings were so real. It gave a real picture of what it would have been like to be living in the south in the early 60s.

It's amazing and unbelievable to think that we are actually not that far removed from that period of time but that society has changed so much in that time.

The menu for the evening consisted of pork chops, mashed potatoes and southern style green beans.

Due to the theme of the book, I also thought it would be a good idea to service caramel cake (Minny's specialty) and chocolate pie (Minny's other specialty and, ummm... Hilly's favorite?!). The caramel cake was a huge success, but the chocolate pie? Well, it kinda looked like it came straight out of the book. If you don't know what I mean by that then I suggest you pick The Help up at your earliest convenience and start reading!

The last thing I'll say is that I expect each of you book club women to put August 12 on your calendars! The Help is going to be a movie and we're all going. I'll bring the pie!

Books of 2010

2010-12-31T22:04:00.007-06:00

January 2010
House at Riverton
By: Kate Morton
Host: Jacki

February 2010
My Name is Asher Lev
By: Chaim Potok
Host: Debbie

March 2010
Dream Man
By: Linda Howard
Host: Andrea

April 2010
Growing Up Moffett
By: Sarrah E. Moffett
Host: Jody

May 2010
Peony in Love
By: Lisa See
Host: Elena

June 2010
Prada and Prejudice
By: Mandy Hubbard
Host: Kelly

July 2010
First Comes Marriage
By: Mary Balough
Host: Laurie

August 2010
Sarah's Key
By: Tatiana de Rosnay
Host: Karen

September 2010
Heartbreak Hotel
By: Anne Rivers Siddons
Host: Jacki

October 2010
Redeeming Love
By: Francine Rivers
Host: Debbie

November 2010
Solitude of Prime Numbers
by Paola Giordano
Host: Andrea

December 2010
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
By: Stieg Larsson
Host: Jody

PJ’s, Plants, Presents and Pasta! Oh yeah and we read a book too!

2010-12-09T06:30:00.033-06:00

Well our 7th Book Club Christmas has come and gone. We were all sad when one of our own could not make it (I think this snow may have rivaled the one from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!), snowy roads kept her away – Karen we missed you!

It is nice to know that even with our busy schedules of Christmas pageants (do they even call them that anymore?), shopping, traveling and decorating we were able to get together for book club. How most of us read a 600+ page book is beyond me.

This month we read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. We talked about the book and felt that the first 80-100 pages could have been cut out. But overall we liked it – Debbie even went so far as to say “I think it is by far the best mystery we have read”. Here is what everyone else thought:

Debbie: 4
Jody: 4
Andrea: 4
Jacki: 3.5
Laurie: 3.5
Kelly: 4.25
Elena: thought the movie was good!

There were times that you thought the book was going to be predicable, but then the author just up and surprised you. But enough about the book – we have pictures to share!

I think Laurie really liked it!

And for the "Where's Jacki" portion of the night:

There she is!

Merry Christmas!!

Prime numbers, and Bimbo's (pronounced beem-bo)

2010-11-17T18:35:00.010-06:00

November book club was just what the doctored ordered after a long week! As I look through my notes about book club I am left wondering how much I had to drink because I am having trouble deciphering them. This can only mean one thing...I had a great time at November book club! I hope it is safe to say that everyone else had fun too. The book for November was The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paola Giordano. The theme for the night was Italy, therefore, I served wine......oh, and we also had Chicken Parmesan with Caesar salad (bagged Caesar salad), and cannoli's and gelato for dessert.
During dinner we all caught up on each others families and work. According to my notes Jody's husband is now working for a Bimbo. I looked it up and the pronunciation is actually Beeem-bo! (stress on that long e sound). Dinner also produced some interesting video (which has been deleted) but did cause me to practically pee in my pants when I watched it. Of course I have to mention that Jacki did get her baby fix and hogged Zachary all night!
Now for the book discussion. Everyone was pretty much in agreement about this one. While everyone seemed to agree that it was extremely well written it was not a favorite. The book was about Mattia and Alice. Mattia is a math genoius and a misfit, and Alice is an anorexic misfit. They meet in highschool and though they are both "primes"-destined to be alone their lives intertwine. Both have had childhood tragedies-Mattia's twin sister disappears and is never found and Alice is involved in a tragic skiing accident that leaves her crippled and she becomes anorexic. Everyone agreed that it was very dark. Here are the ratings and a few insights:
Andrea:2.5 It was very dark and I didn't really like it but I couldn't stop reading it.
Jacki: 2.75
Jody: 1st half of the book 3.5, second half 1.2 for an average of 2.35
Kelly: 2 because it was short
Debbie: 2.25, it was one of the most difficult books of the last 2 or the ones that I remember
Karen: 2.5, "I did read it!!!!!!!!"
Elena:2.25
Laurie: 2
There are several insights into the book that I would like to share and I apologize because I do not know who said them as my notes are unclear but here are a few:
" As soon as she peed in her snowsuit I didn't like it"
"hated the story"
" hated that the parents made Mattia take his sister to the party"
"thought it was strange that they kept referring to Mattia and his sister as identical and that's not possible"
"How could people not know that Alice was anorexic."
"Andrea , you always have cute liquids" I think that was a reference to the V8 I served to Jody and Elena not the book. Laurie and her HAPPY FEET

Redeeming Love and Wonderful Friends

2010-11-08T19:04:00.006-06:00

This month we read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. The book was well -recieved and is the first book that I picked that the bookclub liked.

This is a story of listening to God's call above all else. When Michael Hosea is called by God to rescue Sarah, a prostitue, it is the beginning of a rocky road to true love. Although there were truly characters to hate in this book, Duke and Paul to name two, the power of God and love shine through to make this a worthwhile read.

The highlight of the evening was the addition of baby Zachary. He was delightful and many peoople got a small baby fix. Unfortunately for her (and fortunately for all those other baby-hoggers) Jacki was not able to be at bookclub. We definitely missed her (although it was noted that others did get to hold the baby more than they would have if she had attended).

The evening started out a bit hectic with everyone pitching in to help me finish the last minute parts of dinner. Some helped with salad and others with cheese and crackers. This took a huge load off of me and made me realize how great all these women are. After a couple of glasses of wine, my pace slowed a bit and I became a small lump and everyone else helped clean up so we could get to the discussion.

It was noted that this book contained some great imagery and that Michael had so many qualities that were wonderful (loving, forgiving...). Some thought that it was incredible how he was able to let her go and wait

Ratings:
Elena- 5 (yes, a 5. As she said, why not give it a 5?)
Kelly-3.75
Andrea-4.5
Karen- 3 (Not finished as of this printing)
Jody-4.5
Laurie-3.5
Debbie-4.5

My personal recommendation is that people should read this book. (Writer's note: my husband read the book and couldn't put it down at the end. He was ready to bust some heads when she was brought out to sing and the young girls were in that brothel)

My other recommendation is that everyone should get a group of friends as great as mine. They are able to help you push away the stress of life and really enjoy yourself.

September 2010 - Heartbreak Hotel

2010-10-28T13:25:00.006-05:00

We started with night of our September 2010 book club with 2 of our members missing, which is always a bummer!!!

However, we made do, ate, drank, discussed the book, and chatted.

Menu:

Apps: Vegies & Curry Dip

Dinner: Paella

Our pregnant one took out some paella before the seafood was added, and the rest was enjoyed by all. My husband was very jealous of the meal (as it is one of his favorites), but he was able to enjoy some leftovers.

Book: Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons

I picked the book because our old volleyball trainer in college, Higgs, works for the author's husband. No, it isn't Dan Drol, but thought I would toss a reference in there for him...
Most of her books are extremely long, so I picked this one based mostly on the length of it. This was the first book she ever wrote, so I was a little nervous, but was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Unfortunately, the rating have disappeared into the depths of my desk; however, if I recall correctly (which may certainly be incorrect...), I think the majority liked the book. It was about a southern sorority girl during a time of widespread prejudice when schools were mostly still segregated. We have not read books on this topic, so it made for an interesting discussion.

If I recall, we had a hard time keeping Debbie awake for part of the night, but she made it through once we started talking about the book. The rest of the evening went well, as we visited and caught up with each other.

My only regret of the evening was that I didn't get a last month belly-shot before Book Club Baby 2010 was born! Sorry!!

A Little Book Club Humor

2010-09-28T18:08:00.001-05:00

Confucius say:
"If you are in a book store and cannot find
the book for which you search, you are obviously
in the

You Miss it !!!

2010-08-19T07:49:00.010-05:00

July book club 2010
a small but fun crowd!!
Missing: Jacki, Kelly, Elena - pick your animal!

First Comes Marriage
Mary Balough

What a fun night!!!

Somehow I ended up with July book club ... Once again...Jody and I teamed up and found a fun series of books about love and romance. Just what a girl needs to spice up the summer. Although some of you thought this series was too tame...Take note: July host 2011...more spice is needed!

First, hat's off to Jody who works all week and hosts book club after a long day working for the STATE! I found out first hand how hard that is to do. I managed to arrive home from grocery shopping for food and quickly "clean" my house. The clean is in quotes because I just met the basics...wipe down toilet from 4 year old boy spills, swifter floor from Clover's bountiful hair, clear and wipe kitchen counter. Doesn't sound like much does it... nearly took me out! After that... I decided that I was going to cheat and take advice from the pros... Make a little... Fake a little... (by the way, Debbie did not give me this advice so it really just applies to activities in the kitchen ;) So in the spirit of keeping it simple, I grilled chicken and threw together a caesar salad...dressing from the can and all!! Of course we were all starving by the time we left the patio for food after 9:00.... Note: I had appetizers and offered food before we sat down but everyone was full!!! Then......Lemonade Helper kicked in and I was having too much fun to think of providing food...beverage yes....food optional :) Anyway, the food was Fabulous!!! Awesome presentation too!!

So we talked about SEX but not so much about the book.... And we also decided to write a romance book. We all think we could easily follow the formula... we have a great group for a series and Jody promises to take care of the steamy sections! So, ladies we have changed our goal from just writing a novel to writing a romance novel...
Andrea offered to pose for the bodice ripper shot!

Ratings:
I wrote the rating down on a pink cupcake and now I can't find it :) Seriously!

Laurie 3.5
Jody 4
Debbie 3.5
Andrea 4
Karen ??
Elena
Jacki
Kelly

I "made" lemon cake with fresh berries with delicious whipped cream... Everyone loved it! Well one member may have said something like I don't like fruit and then threw food across the table at me. Feeling defenseless I tossed a fork full back...at least that's what I recall ;)

For the record.... It was a great night!!! I laughed until I almost peed my pants!! I may have actually been able to count some of the night as an abdominal workout...hope others did too!!

Girlfriends are great!
xoxo
Laurie

June Book Club

2010-08-19T07:48:00.001-05:00

Kelly..... Your post goes here :)

That's What She Said

2010-05-27T20:34:00.002-05:00

Book Club for May was a ton of fun, in my completely unbiased opinion.

We read Peony in Love by Lisa See. The book itself was historical fiction. This genre is usually a big hit with our book club, but not this month. The opinions were varied and divided, as were the ratings.

Jacki- 2-2.5
Karen - n/a
Jody- -4 (that's not a typo... it's negative)
Debbie- 1
Kelly- 4
Andrea- 1
Laurie- 2-2.5
Elena- 3.5

Our discussion ranged from beliefs being so different from our own that it was too hard to grasp to those beliefs being part of what made the book interesting. And real. Unbelievable, actually. You see, we went back and forth about all of this. It was hard to buy into a book where the belief system was so vastly different from our own. Thoughts emerged from ridiculing those who believe in ghosts (and the manipulation of sperm) to an appreciation for learning something new. The differences in thought made for a lively discussion which is always welcomed.

I think we could all agree that as with most books, the part that was the most appreciated is that everyone has a story. Hearing the stories of the mother and grandmother were the richest and fullest parts of the books. The theme of people's stories always seems to be the glue that holds our book club together- as does the telling of our own stories. The snippets here and there that we share make our time together that much more meaningful. (I'll stop with the sap...)

On top of all of that, may had such a difficult time focusing on the book and details: lily feet, fragrant, foot binding, and blood lake all become so much to keep track of. If there is one thing we all learned it is how to say PEONY. Pee-uh-nee. Or is it Pee-OWN-Nee. I'm fairly certain that whatever you all them you can buy them at the GaSmart.

Debbie was on a roll with her references from The Office and f r i e n d s. This is not hard (that's what she said) to believe, I'm sure.

Let's talk about the FOOD. I may not have been able to choose a book that everyone liked, but I did manage to serve some food that everyone could find a little something they liked (even it was purely grapes and pretzels).

Going for a theme to coincide with the book... I served Chinese food.
Appetizers: Spring Rolls, Gyoza (also known as pot stickers), pretzels and grapes
Entrees: Chinese Chicken Salad and Chinese Chicken (didn't use chow mein noodles)
Dessert: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

** Note on the spring rolls: Those are not the veggies I used but those are the dipping sauces I made. I used carrots, alfafa sprouts, cucumbers, red peppers, romaine lettuce, and green onions. You can basically use whatever veggies you have and love.

May Top 10- Outsourced

2010-05-27T20:24:00.002-05:00

I had a busy month so I improvised a bit on the top 10.

How?

Well, I outsourced it.

No, not to India much to the chagrin of a spouse or two.

I used the ever wonderful Facebook.

I posted this as my status:

"I'm hosting book club tonight (Peony in Love by Lisa See) and I need the most recent top 10 bits of celebrity gossip. I'm going to go cook and clean, and when I come back... I hope you've all helped me out with the top 10."

And this is what came of it:

Chris Alexander

10. Aren't there rumors that Kristen Stewart is pg with RPatz kid?

Danielle Barron
9. No...RPatz just likes to make ppl gasp, that was a lie. he also said that he had to shave his head b/c of a bad case of nats (?) but really it's for a new movie.
8. LiLo missed her court date because she couldn't get out of France in time, she claims her passport was stolen by someone her dad hired, so their was a warrant out for her arrest.
7. Brett Michaels said he was watching porn when he had his brain hemmorage...LOL!
6. Umm...Jesse James is moving to TX
5. Kim K had her camera stolen by a company that claimed they would bling it out for her if she mailed it to them.
4. Miley Cyrus is making a song with Lil John.
3. Miss USA might be dating Paris Hilton's ex D. Reinhardt (OMG, I have no life!! LMAO!)

Jill Bergeman Contreras

2. I did hear that Kendra Wilkinson has a sex tape. Not sure how old or new that news is.

Lara Zielin
1. Since it's for book club, you can announce that Tyra Banks has a new young adult book deal. Her title is Model Land or something. Puke.

THE REST ARE ALL BONUSES!

Danielle Barron or...Nick Jonas and his wife sleep in seperate rooms because he snores too loud? she didn't know it until they were married since he had the whole purity ring and all.

Pam Hulstrand Lance Armstrong crashed on his bike in the Tour of California and Linsey Lohan missed her day in court by claiming her passport got stolen in Europe.

Crystal B-Wolfgram

Jon Travolta and his wife are expecting. Not too exciting, but news she is 47 or so.

There you have it. Celebrity gossip at its finest.

Book Giveway

2010-04-30T16:52:00.000-05:00

This seems an appropriate venue to let you know that I'm giving away a book over on my blog.

Go enter!

Driving in Cars with Andrea

2010-04-20T06:56:00.009-05:00

Thanks to the wonderful ladies of book club another fun night was had by all, well almost all - we missed you Jacki! I don’t know what was in the water that night, but it seems that when we come to my house – crazy ensues. Last spring it was a trip to the “scary house” and now this year we decided to pool our money and buy lottery numbers for the BIG drawing (if lunch ladies wearing hairnets could win…so could we!) This was the maiden lottery journey for Kelly – welcome to the gambling dark side!

Eventually we moved on to dinner and some sort of book club normalcy kicked in. After catching up and eating our fill Elena shared the top 10. The only point of contention was who is Cambell Brown married to? Debbie and I had a heated debate and I think for the first time in my life – I was right. (I personally think Debbie knew who Cambell was married to, she was just trying to give me a personal victory – thank Heavy D).

Okay, okay, now on to the book – I almost forgot we read one, we were having such a good time. This month we read Growing up Moffett by Sarah E. Moffett. The ratings were pretty slim:
Debbie 2
Kelly 3.75
Laurie did not read
Karen did not read
Elena 2
Andrea 2
Jody 2.75
If this was a news program and not a blog the following sounds bytes would have been heard: “After the 1st page I stopped reading the footnotes”, “Can’t stand arrogance. I just couldn’t get over it”, “Didn’t like the story – not connected” (I wonder how Sarah would feel if she had to listen to our life story…hmmmm). Overall, the book was just a short easy read, nothing more, nothing less. Hopefully, I pick a better book for December!

And now on to our public service announcement. Andrea shared a story from school – I am not sure how the story starts, but the bottom line is that there were these goggles that when you put them on simulated how it would look at different drug alcohol levels. Here is a picture of Andrea, driving in her car and rolling down the window – the rest of us just push the button! LMAO!

April Top 10

2010-04-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

1. Neil Patrick Harris is going to guest star on GLEE. YAY!

2. Mel Gibson and his piano playing pop singer girlfriend Oksana Grigoriev have parted ways six months after the birth of their daughter.

3. Diablo Cody is pregnant-- third trimester.

4. Mel Gibson and his piano playing pop singer girlfriend Oksana Grigoriev have parted ways six months after the birth of their daughter.

5. Lady Gaga claims abstinence and is promoting the same to prevent spread of HIV.

6. After nine years together and seven years of marriage, rocker/lesbian icon Melissa Etheridge and wife actress Tammy (née Michaels) split. The couple has been through breast cancer, the birth of one child and adoption of another, and both the legalization and banning of gay marriage in the state of California.

7. The legendary CNN talk show host, 76, and his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick King, 50, each filed separately for divorce Wednesday after 12 ½ years of marriage. Dated younger sister, Shannon, for 5 years.

8. Christina Applegate and musician Martyn Lenoble are engaged.

9. Daytime television queen Oprah Winfrey announced the launch a new primetime series on her new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The channel will launch January 11, 2011. "Oprah's Next Chapter," an hour-long program hosted by Winfrey. Meanwhile a man, Nohr Robinson (84), claims to be Oprah's dad. He has not received any response from Oprah on his claim.

10. Rickey Minor (from AI band) is leaving AI for "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.

March Top 10

2010-03-27T15:06:00.000-05:00

1. Beyonce and Jay-Z are rumored to be having their first baby

2. Sandra Bullock will not be attending Kids Choice Awards. Jesse James husband of five years to Sandra Bullock cheated on her with Michelle McGee (at least 3 other alleged mistresses). Sources say they are not talking to divorce lawyers.

3. Jennifer Aniston is likely to make an appearance on Cougar Town with Courtney Cox. She'll be playing the part of a lesbian.

4. 18-year-old Alicia Guastaferro is suing ABC based on her appearance on the reality show, "Wife Swap." She is suing for a hundred million dollars because she says the show "ruined her life."

5. White House party crasher Michaele Salahi cast on Bravo's reality TV series, 'Real Housewives of DC'

6. 'House of Payne' actor Lance Gross and former 'America's Next Top Model' winner Eva Marcille split.

7. Only weeks after denying reports that she was in a lesbian relationship, "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kim Zolciak is finally coming clean about her sexuality.

Others who have recently come out: Sean Hayes (in April issue of The Advocate) and Meredith Baxter in December 2009.

8. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure park to open June 18.

9. TLC gets reality show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" for $1 million plus per episode.

10. Kim Kardashian and her New Orleans Saints Football player, Reggie Bush split up again. The source says that the couple, who only just recently reconciled, broke up because Reggie just “wasn’t feeling it anymore.” And he didn’t want to get married, something Kim has been pushing for as of late.

11. “American Idol” contestant Michael “Big Mike” Lynche has been winning fans over with his performances and his family back story - but there’s one family member who isn’t welcome. According to sources, Mike’s dad, Marque Lynche Sr. has been estranged from his children for about five years. Of course, this didn’t stop him from blabbing to the media about his son making the top 24 - violating the show’s confidentiality agreement and almost getting Mike booted from the show.

HEY BABE!

2010-03-27T11:35:00.003-05:00

Spring has spring and Book Club sent March out with a roar of laughter! It was so great to see everyone. Since book club was so early in the month of February it has been almost 2 months since we have gotten together. We had a lot of catching up to do: February and March found everyone busy with work and kids. Two new cars have been purchased one in racy red and one metallic blue. Karen announced that we will welcome a new book clubber in October! Congratulations, we are all extremely happy about having another book club baby! We caught up on all our favorite TV shows (too many to list here) and of course Elena provided our celebrity top 10 and we all agreed that we could be Sandra Bullock's support group!
We were short one book club member this month-Kelly is busy sunning herself in Florida.Kelly we missed you and can't wait to see you next month.
This months book was Dream Man by Linda Howard. Needless to say for most of the group it wasn't their dream book.The ratings were as follows:
Laurie:2.5
Elena:N/A
Jody:2.5
Karen:2.5
Jacki:1
Debbie:4
Andrea:3
Jody who has read other Linda Howard books said that it is the worst Howard book she has read and was disappointed because she loves the "Rom Com." You know it's a bad book for Jody when it takes her three weeks to finish it! Debbie on the other hand loved this book and said she is a sucker for the sappy romance. Jacki and I couldn't get past the fact that Dane kept calling Marlie "Babe." Most of us enjoyed the psychic aspect of the book and wished that the psycho killer character would have been examined a little more. We felt like Howard teased us and didn't develop that character enough. Oh well, maybe our dream man will be in our next book!
As with most of our book clubs the best part was simply sitting around drinking some fine Menage A Trois wine and laughing! Love you all! See you next month!

My Name is Josie Cuervo and I like Margaritas.

2010-02-16T10:17:00.002-06:00

Even though we missed Laurie, the evening was full of laughs and fun. We started off with Margaritas (some started with more than one drink)

which clearly made everything a little warmer and funnier.

Sadly, as we know, alcohol can also make some people more hostile, right Andrea?

And the drinks surely did not make anyone extra helpful...don't worry, I'll get it.

The book was a hit, which was truly a surprise to me. It contained every quality that annoys me in a book, words in italics (note: they really weren't in italics but they should have been), a sad ending, and A LOT of description. But, even with three strikes it was a homerun for most of us.
Laurie: 2.75
Jody: 4
Andrea: 3.5
Elena: 4
Kelly: 3.5
Jacki: 3.75
Karen: 4
Debbie: 3

Surprisingly, Laurie did not like the book because it "had too many words I didn't know." In fairness to Laurie, there were many Jewish words that none of us knew, but the comment still sounds funny to me. Andrea pointed out that you could just feel the torment. We all agreed but many found Asher's passion for art difficult to understand. Is there anything you could be so passionate about that you would give up your family?

Dinner was a bit boring...apologies to all...we had chicken wings and deli rolls for appetizers. This was followed by a broken apart taco salad with root beer floats for dessert. Margaritas were the highlight of the evening and may be on every menu from now on (especially at Jacki's...to help us beat the cold).

February Top 10

2010-02-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

1. Brittany Murphy's ultimate cause of death was pneumonia and anemia, which was exacerbated by...wait for it....multiple prescription and over the counter drugs intoxication. 115 pounds, 5'3' at time of death.

2. Casey Johnson, it appears her final cause of death was insulin shortage, because she couldn't remember to take her medicine.

3. Dr. Conrad Murray is being charged for administering the sleep aids to Michael Jackson and then leaving him alone on the night of his death.

4. Taylor Swift won album of the year at the Grammies-- controversy and criticism abound due to her being out of tune. She was backed by record label and Kelly Clarkson. There are rumors about her and John Mayer being a couple.

5. Idol producers want Howard Stern to take over for Simon Cowell.

6. Nicci Nix -- who impressed the "A.I." judges with her helium sounding, Italian accented voice -- has appeared on at least 4 other reality shows before she got to "Idol," including "Fear Factor," "Next," "Making the Band and "Date My Mom."

7. Sheryl Crow, 47, has scored a role on the ABC comedy as the love interest of Courtney Cox's character's recently divorced neighbor, Grayson, played by Josh Hopkins.

8. Jamie Lynn Spears has split from Casey Aldridge, with whom she has a 19-month-old daughter. Rumors that Jamie Lynn, 18, has moved on to 28-year-old James Watson, a well-to-do Louisiana businessman.

9. Kirstie Alley is going to have a new reality show, Kirstie Alley's Big Life. It premieres March 21 at 10 p.m.

10. Carrie Underwood is heading to the big screen. The movie is about 19-year-old champion surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack.

* Bonus* Remake of "We Are the World." Celine Dion, the Jonas Brothers, Akon, Wyclef Jean and almost 80 additional celebs gathered at Jim Henson Studio to remake the 1980s classic -- this time to raise money for Haiti relief. (Dion recorded her solo Lionel Richie stood by.)

January 2010 – HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! - The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

2010-01-28T13:41:00.014-06:00

The evening started with some appetizers and wine. I tried a few new menu items (new for me), which included heating some brie cheese to eat with fruit/crackers. This was followed by dinner, which also included a new recipe for tomato pie. I knew Jody wouldn’t try it (sorry Jody!), but just wanted to try something new. I think most people liked them both. This was followed by a NEW TOP 10 PERSON: Elena. (You did a great job, and I’m not just saying that so that I don’t have to do it! ) I was actually thinking I would know a few more of the people, but there were still some I didn’t…oh well…

Then, we chatted a little while Jody worked on her knitting…I think she is addicted!

I had to get a sitter for the night, so after helping get the kids settled upstairs, we moved into the living room to talk about the book.

Here are the ratings:

Andrea – 3

Kelly – 3.75 (2/3rds done)

Debbie – 3.5

Laurie – 3.5

Jody – 4

Karen – Didn’t have enough of it done yet…

Elena – 3

Jacki – 3.75

It seemed like it was a pretty well-liked book. The girls commented on how to some of them it was similar to The Thirteenth Tale, because it was being retold by an elderly dying lady, but nowhere near as dark. I only have a few comments written down by people. Jody said she loved Grace and her story, but was a bit puzzled by the amount of time that elapsed at Riverton. Debbie said that it was one of those books that she thought was ok while she was reading it, but when it was done, she thought it was good.

The discussion was good, but not overly long. I think it was more fun for everyone when I went to take the sitter home… As I already said, I had to get a sitter for the evening, which seemed to work out fine, but maybe not so well for the sitter after the heckling he got taking pictures at the end of the night. Poor guy…All he wanted to do was help take some pictures, and everyone kept trying to tell him multiple things about how to take the picture…I have to admit that the pictures were very far away and off-center, but how would he know??? BTW...Nice mask, Debbie!

Then, I had to drive the sitter home (less than a mile away), and all hell broke loose… I’m not sure what got into everyone, but I ended up with some very strange pictures on my camera:

Nice lounge picture!

The mask...???

No explanation for the termostat...except it probably relates to the blower switch picture below...

OK...This one has an explanation...I didn't know the blower on the fan was on during book club...I thought the furnace was running the entire time...oops!

When Paul came to pick up his lovely wife, he took another picture for us:

It was a fun night, although I’m hoping I won't have to get a sitter for the next one!

Better Late Than Never-- January Top 10

2010-01-24T17:03:00.000-06:00

1. A-Team is going to be a feature length movie.

2. Dennis hopper is close to death (10 years fighting prostrate cancer) and filed for divorce from death bed to his wife of 14 years.

3. Lady Gaga passed out and had to cancel show in Lafayette Indiana. Cause: dehydration.

4. Michael C. Hall, 38, has cancer. Hodgkins lymphoma

5. Deaths
- Teddy Pendergrass, 59, due to colon cancer
- Casey Johnson, 29, cause unknown.

6. Nick Pitera -- YouTube sensation -- on Ellen -- 3 open spots on glee! Will he be the next Glee cast member?! He's from MN!

7. Rumors that Miley cyrus is engaged to Liam Hemsworth.

8. Holly Madison getting reality show on E! called Holly's World.

9. Idol news
- Simon leaving to do X Factor American version
- Skiiboski is our first with law troubles-- quite a rap sheet

10. Jon Gosselin and Michael Logan to box. $120,000 contract in the works-- scheduled in May in Philly

December Book Club~Fabulous

2010-01-14T21:04:00.002-06:00

"Fabulous...I loved it." Sophie Kinsella

Sophie Kinsella's endorsement on the cover was a factor in my choosing Going Home by Harriet Evans for December's selection. I envisioned a fun, lighthearted read which I thought would be perfect for the busy holiday season. I have been told, and have even told others, to not judge a book by its cover, and this was a time when I perhaps should have followed my own advice. Although no one's ratings were terrible, there was not a lot of interesting discussion about the book. Many thought that the story line was a little weird, it took a long time to actually get into the book, and overall, it seemed a bit disappointing. It was not wrapped up with a tidy little bow, as some of us tend to be fans of, and it certainly did not live up to the expectation of fabulous. Our ratings were as follows:
Elena - 2.5 so far with approx 2/3 of the book finished
Laurie - NA
Debbie - 3.5
Andrea - 3
Jody - 3
Kelly - NA
Jacki - 3.75 so far with about 1/4 of the book finished
Karen - 3

There were some fabulous parts of the evening though, like hearing about the embrace of new family members that were just discovered, celebrating a good score on a new gymnastics routine, marveling at the amazing hand-knit Christmas stockings, and admiring the work of a hand-made tree ornament. The sharing of the day to day goings on in our lives and enjoying good food and good company make book club fabulous. And of course, being that it was December, ornaments and cookies add to the fabulousness of December book club. It is always so fun to see the unique ornaments that people find (and make!). Having book club early in the month and being able to enjoy the yummy cookies all month at holiday gatherings was fantastic, too.
Looking back at the evening, a good time was had by all. Perhaps Sophie Kinsella was right....it was fabulous.

Books of 2009

2009-12-31T13:27:00.002-06:00

January 2009
Friday Night Knitting Club
By: Kate Jacobs
Host: Jody

February 2009
Heat
By: Mike Lupica
Host: Karen

March 2009
Down River
By: John Hart
Host: Kelly

April 2009
What Would Emma Do
By: Eileen Cook
Host: Jody

May 2009
Animal’s People
By: Indra Sinha
Host: Jacki

June 2009
The Duke and I
By: Julia Quinn
Host: Laurie

July 2009
The Murderous Urges of Ordinary Women
By: Lois Metzer
Host: Andrea

August 2009
Mindset
By: Carol Dweck
Host: Debbie

September 2009
Donut Days
By: Laura Zielin
Host: Elena

October 2009
The Thirteenth Tale
By: Diane Setterfield
Host: Kelly

November 2009
The Mermaid Chair
By: Sue Monk Kidd
Host: Laurie

December 2009
Going Home
by Harriet Evans
Host: Karen

December Top 10

2009-12-07T06:40:00.001-06:00

10. Tiger Woods is a low down creepy man whore.

9. Billy Joel’s daughter attempted to kill herself.

8. Miley Cyrus got a tattoo that says “Just Breathe”. Apparently it is in memory of her friend Vanessa who passed away due to Cystic Fibrosis – Just Breathe is the slogan for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

7. Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label.

6. Contrary to reports made earlier this week Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon have not broken up.

5. Amy Adams is pregnant.

4. Heidi Klum is finally changing her name to Heidi Samuel (Seal’s last name).

3. Lindsay Lohan supposedly lip locking with Cash Warren (Jessica Alba’s husband).

2.Jude Law and Sienna Miller are supposedly back together.

1. The new Glee soundtrack comes out Tuesday!

November Book Club

2009-12-05T21:26:00.005-06:00

The Mermaid Chair
by Sue Monk Kidd

It happened so long ago.... Once again, I find myself posting much later than a blog implies...Oh well, it's here for all to read whenever you find the time to sneak a moment to read. As I type, I'm waiting for my Christmas cookie dough to chill... yes, tomorrow is Christmas book club and I'm making my cookies tonight! I guess we know my New Year's Resolution again this year! Stop procrastinating and do things ahead of time! I must admit tonight isn't stressful, actually more peaceful. It's quiet, the tree is lit, soft music playing, dog nestled close, husband pecking away at his computer, me at mine...it's practically a 21st century Norman Rockwell scene here!

But let's talk about the November book. The Mermaid Chair was a book that connected with many of us. Jesse is 42 and feels she has lost herself and her identity in marriage, kids, and domestic life. Hmmm does this sound familiar? Well most of us could relate to at least some of her feelings. Maybe not her choice to have an affair with the HOT MONK but the real life aspect of her story as well as the discovery of her own history. It was a strong story about mothers and daughters, your family of friends who surround you, and the yearning to seek yourself in the midst of marriage and family. I think most of us agreed it was a good read and most of the controversy stemmed from the affair and the yucky imagery of her mom chopping off half her finger. Just writing the finger thing makes me want to say "ewhh". Here's our ratings....

The Ratings:
Jacki- 1
Karen- can't rate yet but 3ish
Elena-3
Debbie-3
Kelly-3.5
Jody-3
Andrea 3
Laurie-3

Some fun comments...

Jacki- it was painful, creepy, finger thing....I didn't like this book!
Debbie- looking back on the book I hated it. Reading it, I really enjoyed the book. The affair was really horrible, but the good thing about the book was that she wrote truthfully and was realistic that the affair would not work.
Andrea- this book had me at puffing! ....(I thought of you when I read those lines in the book! I love the that you said this!! ) ... I could relate to the lack of identity in a marriage when you're raising children.

Jody- Monky Sex! and Seriously... I liked the real-life component of it.

Elena- I loved the circle of friends for Nelle.

Of course we had much more to say but I didn't write it down so I can't remember...It was a fun night with simple food (pasta, salad, bread, pumpkin bars and wine) and good friends. Now I'm off to finish COOKIES for our annual Christmas cookie exchange. I'm crossing my fingers that some else isn't making tea cakes. Yummy little balls of butter to be consumed with coffee in the early morning when calories do not count!!!

They Say It's Your Birthday!!!!

2009-11-10T08:58:00.000-06:00

Hope your day is splendid!

Important News from our Foreign Correspondent

2009-11-06T18:52:00.001-06:00

Debbie,

Downloading the bookclub site with it’s photos on dial up access was a nightmare, so having a moment now here are some notes/thoughts to share with the girls and copy to the website.

Let me begin with a huge thank-you for the hospitality and friendship extended by the whole group last month. I was great for Donna to be out with a group of diverse and interesting women and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone that I read about each month. The book was okay but was far surpassed by the laughter and conversation. We did see the psychic and I would highly recommend meeting her if you have ever wondered about such an adventure. Joanne “practices” downtown Stillwater, I believe her storefront was Crystal Psychic. She appeared to be somewhere between 30-40 perhaps “gypsy” heritage, dressed in regular street clothes. Her “office” was small and had just the right mystic type ambiance without being weird. We did a complete psychic reading (neither Donna or I had ever done anything like this), she only asked our first names, touched our arms lightly occasionally, addressed each of us separately but with all three of us sitting together. We were allowed to ask questions. I will not try to tell you all the things she talked about but I can say that both Donna and I were blown away with how accurate she was about our personalities and events in our lives. She made some predictions about the future and actually said very little about our pasts but the things she did comment on were spot on! Her comments were not those vague, could apply to anyone, comments, they had enough personal insight to be more than a little amazing! We both enjoyed the experience and made a pact to go back in about two years, just to hear what comes next. I admit to being so fascinated that I forgot to ask if she would come to homes or do groups. Her number is in the book and on her window on main street in Stillwater, On a scale of 1-5, I would rate the experience as a 5! If any or all you ever plan a get away to Lake of the Ozark or Branson, please know that my home is open to you and your families for a rest stop, meal, overnight, anything! Thank you again for a wonderful evening. Your foreign correspondent --- A

Aileen Kelley

October 2009

2009-10-18T09:23:00.005-05:00

Book: The Thirteenth Tale

Author: Diane Setterfield

Host: Kelly

I chose the Thirteenth Tale for our October book after reading reviews of different books I was interested in. It was said to be written in the style of classic literature and was also a mystery. Since that is a combination of my two favorite categories of books, I really wanted to try it. A couple chapters into the book, I knew it would be a controversial one with our group. And that it was!!

Our group was pretty evenly divided between liking the book and hating the book! Not a lot of middle ground with us this month! The half who hated the book was definitely the most vocal. There were many different reasons given for this not being a favorite. First, the story is pretty dark. It is told by a reclusive writer, Vida Winter, to her biographer. It starts as a confusing series of events and characters, but the more of the story you read, the more disturbing and creepy it becomes. The families are very dysfunctional. There is an incestuous relationship, a man living in his own filth, young girls raising themselves, ghosts, violence, and the list could go on and on. Other complaints in our group included not liking the character Margaret. She is the biographer in the story, but was not a very interesting character. I personally think she was written as a dull character so we don’t focus on her when reading the book. We can concentrate on the story Vida Winter is telling to her. Anyway, Margaret’s frequent comments about seeing her “twin” each time she saw her reflection was annoying to some.

Now for the other side of things! Half of us really enjoyed this book! The writing style is fantastic. It is descriptive and suspenseful and creative. The mystery was interesting because it wasn’t easy to guess all the twists and turns in the story line - definitely not predictable. We also liked the message that “everybody has a story”. All families have stories and secrets and not everything is as it appears on the surface.

This month we had two of Debbie’s cousins, Aileen and Donna, join us for book club. We had so much fun sharing our evening with them! I am so appreciative that they were with us because they mentioned an upcoming visit they had scheduled with a fortune teller. This was a fascinating topic for everyone, so we were soon speculating about auras and palm readings and tarot cards and our disagreements about this book were soon forgotten!!

Thanks to everyone for a fun evening! Here is how we rated the book:
Andrea 1.0
Karen 1.0
Debbie 1.5
Jody 2.5
Jacki 3.25
Kelly 3.5
Laurie 3.5 or 4
Elena 4.0
Aileen 4.0

Donna (did we pique your interest or scare you off from reading this book??)

Now for some non book-related thoughts about the evening. First, there were no babies at book club this month. How long has it been since we have been without a book club baby? With Finn on the move now, who is going to be providing our next baby fix? Come on ladies, someone is going to have to step up to the plate! FYI – I am not volunteering for that position!

My second observation of the evening is that I clearly need to learn better time management skills. There is just no way I could keep up with the amount of TV shows some you are watching! It is impressive! I will try harder to follow along next month, but I am not sure I can live up to the high standards. I’d better stop typing and find the remote!

October Top Ten

2009-10-15T05:34:00.003-05:00

10. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore may be experiencing trouble in paridise.

9. Jon G. has to pay back the $180,000 he took from the couple’s joint account.

8. Tori and Dean are taking the show on the road! For the upcoming season of Oxygen's Home, Sweet Hollywood, Spelling and McDermott will embark on a road trip with the entire fam!

7. Conservative hoo-ha Rush Limbaugh has placed a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams.

6. Reports claimed that Michael Jackson's kids, Prince, Paris, and Blanket, would be appearing on the new Jackson reality show, The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty. But, thankfully, that's not the case.

5. Britney Spears' latest single "3" from her upcoming collection The Singles has debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart!

4. Glee is set to release a CD – if you are not watching this show – you should!

3. Spice Girl reunion!

2. Lamar Odom (L.A. Lakers) married Khloe Kardashian.

1. Courtney Cox and David Arquette are gearing up to try for baby #2.

September Top Ten

2009-09-28T13:38:00.002-05:00

The September Top Ten was composed by a rookie...Debbie. Contrary to one person's opinion (don't worry, I won't say your name, Lara) it is not a true false game. The top ten was inundated by television since that is what is closest to my heart (or foot) at this time.
1. Katherine Heigl is adopting a special needs child...nice job.
2. Sienna Miller has a clothing line coming out. Does it cater to the husband stealing crowd?
3. Kanye West. Seriously. Way to ruin Taylor Swift's night and then cry on Jay Leno. Thank goodness for Beyonce's grace later.
4. Goodbye Patrick Swayze. We will all do a dirty dance just for you.
5. Nicole Richie had a boy...Sparrow. Who will be the next? Robin?
6. The Emmy's were awesome. Way to go Neil Patrick Harris.
7. Ellen is the new judge on American Idol. Yes, old news to some of you. Sorry.
8. The Duggar's had their 19th kid. Can they seriously still think of names?
9. Donny Osmond rocked on Dancing with the Stars.
10. This spot was filled with a variety of TV show news. Big Bang rocks. Biggest Loser is great...Tracy, time to go. and so on.

All Choked Up!

2009-09-25T20:13:00.005-05:00

Y'all! Book club this month was completely awesome. Completely.

You see my very good friend and college roommate, Lara Zielin, recently had a young adult novel published, Donut Days. It only seemed fitting that we not only read her book, but invite her to join in our discussion. The stars aligned and (apart from breaking the no hardcover rule) everything worked out. All 8 of us were present and Lara came all the way from Mitten Land (aka Michigan) to be with us.

I do not say this lightly: It. Was. Awesome.

Just so you know I planned my meal around the beverage I wanted to serve: beergaritas! (They are so good! 12 oz Limeade concentrate, 12 oz sprite, 1 can/bottle beer, and ~ 9 oz tequila. And if you don't care for tequila, substitute rum and call it a daiquiri. They both taste equally fantastic!)

We had cowboy caviar, crab pinwheels, guacamole, and fly flavored salsa (no worries, nobody partook of the salsa) as appetizers. We topped it off with taco salad. Our normal routine consists of our celebrity top 10 during dinner. If you've been following along then you know this is a time where Jody, our resident celebrity expert, shares 10 juicy bits of celebrity gossip. Two things made this month's Top 10 a bit different. The first is that Debbie compiled the list and the second is that Lara tried to change it into a true/false game.

Debbie: "Katherine Heigl adopted a special needs child."
Lara's very emphatic response: "TRUE!"

We always have a ton of fun during the Top 10. We all add our snarky and witty comments. We laugh at who knows, or rather doesn't know, the celebrities talked about. It's always a fantastic time. Add Lara's element of True/False and Debbie's opinions thrown right into the juicy bits and you have a lot of laughter. Who knew the top 10 could get any better? Seriously, who knew?!

Moving on.

Our discussion of Donut Days was so fun! Lara led the way with great questions that were thought provoking. It was fun to hear how people responded emotionally to the characters in the book. I always enjoy that we bring different perspectives to the table. Those differences are especially exacerbated when talking about the rearing of our children. I'm thinking specifically of the discussion of the relationship(s) between Nat, Emma, and Molly in the book. Good stuff.

Inevitably, we talked about some aspects of religion and the church. We talked about people in our lives who actually embody some of the negative characteristics of church leaders in the book. We talked about how forward thinking appearances can be while the theological belief system can be so backward. It seems that no matter the church, no matter the issue, good people can be jerks. At the same time, the unchurched can be full of love and kindness. I think that is the whole point of the book. You can believe what you want to believe, but the route each individual takes to figure that out varies.

Other interesting tidbits from the discussion include how it was enlightening for Lara in regard to parental perspective of what characters are doing in the book and some liked that it wasn't your typical scripted, coming-of-age young adult novel. You never knew where it was going next. Fittingly, our discussion concluded with a choking incident. Lara brought donuts for dessert (so that I wouldn't forget) and they proved to be so good that one of us almost needed the Heimlich. While we're glad that nothing serious happened, we thought it would have been great book publicity if during the Donut Days discussion there was a death by donut. Lara would have soared to the top of the bestsellers list and Vineeta Sawkar totally could have covered the spread. A book club can dream, right?

Truth told, we didn't need any further injuries as we already have an injured member. See?

Can you tell who it is? The iced soda is a giveaway. It's Debbie. She ruptured her Achilles tendon and has a lot of healing ahead of her. Much of her healing consists of time spent watching television. This made her our resident expert on any and all fall television. This is also why she had the honor of the compiling the top 10. She's had a lot of time on her hands. A lot. We wish her fast healing, but we'll continue to use her injury to our TV news advantage.

Our book club baby was, of course, in attendance. The poor little man was beyond tired. You can see it in his eyes, but here is my sweet little man, Finn. I have to post this because it may be his last book club. The boy is so close to crawling. And there'll be none of that at book club. There are rules people, non-mobile children rules.
Thank you amazing book club! Thank you for a wonderful night! Thank you for welcoming Lara with open arms! It was so fun for me to have my worlds overlap. It was really fun to see Lara in her element and to watch her dreams coming true right before my very eyes. And Lara, THANK YOU so much for coming to our book club, participating fully in every aspect of fun, signing all of our books, dubbing Jody your new BFF, and for being YOU. You totally rawk!

So glad for her success! And we can't wait to have her back summer 2011 for Promgate!

What's your Mindset?

2009-09-20T16:55:00.003-05:00

This month we read Mindset by Carol Dweck. Contrary to prevailing opinion, Mindset is not a textbook. Many of us agreed that it would be much better in small doses instead of being read cover to cover without other books in between.

Mindset was met with mixed reviews, from a very sad zero to a four. The discussion, however, was lively and enjoyable. All of us agreed that we see ourselves as a mix of both fixed in growth mindset...some more growth minded than others. We had some difficulty agreeing on whether the growth mindset is always the best mindset to hold.

The highlight of the evening was clearly the story that Laurie shared about a time when she definitely held fixed mindset. Laurie shared how she got an exam back in psychology class and looked at the grade (without looking at the name) and seeing that it was far lower than she expected she would get she handed it back to the professor and said, "This is not my test." The professor cleverly looked at the name and said, "Aren't you Laurie?" Ok, so nothing like assuming we are going to do well, eh? That brought us all to the floor laughing.

For dinner we had pork roast that I worked on for days...ok, I bought it from Sam's club but it was a big hit. We also had romaine salad with strawberries and poppyseed dressing, corn on the cob, and sundaes for dessert.

I really enjoyed having a book that was different and a discussion that gave everyone a chance to express their likes and dislikes for the book. We agreed that the first two chapters were quite repetitive but the chapters on sports and business were very interesting. The difficulty was calling this research when she needed to make assumptions after the fact based on the way people acted. Some people, even though they didn't necessarily love the book, do think that they look at the way they parent and the way others react to different situations with a new lens after reading the book.

Since the book did not create a book-burning from those that didn't really care for it, maybe next time I will pick a textbook...my dissertation? Oh, maybe two years for that one!

Elena- 3.5
Kelly-0
Jacki- 2.5
Karen-2.5
Jody- 1.5
Laurie-3.0
Andrea-4
Debbie-3.5

Pictures when my legs get home!!

August Top Ten

2009-08-28T21:57:00.002-05:00

10. After dating nine months, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are tying the knot!

9. Chris Brown was sentenced to 60months probation. Oh and by the way he has a history of domestic violence.

8. Michael Jackson’s death is ruled a homicide.

7. Chris March, of Project Runway fame, is planning to sue Beyonce' for failure to pay him for the tour costumes he created for her.

6. Khloe Kardashian is pregnant.

5. Kendra (Girls Next Door) is having a boy.

4. LeAnn Rimes is now dating Eddie Cibrian – they are both getting divorces.

3. Insiders are saying that Meg Ryan is messing around with a married man! She has supposedly been secretly dating big-time movie producer Graham King for the last six months and no one has been none-the-wiser until now.

2. In what can only be described as an attempt to show the world how truly and entirely idiotic she is, former Project Runway contestant Kenley Collins. Remembering how absolutely irritating and awful she was on PR, you can absolutely hear her insipid guffawing as she explains to the interviewer that “Jail was really funny”.

1. Lindsay Lohan claims that $2 million in jewels that were loaned to her were stolen from her home.

July Top 10

2009-07-20T06:42:00.001-05:00

10. Walter Cronkite passed away Friday – he was 92 years old.

9. Mischa Barton was apparently in the middle of a three-day coke binge when friends called the cops because they believed she might take her own life if they didn't intervene!

8. Kate Gosselin has rehired bodyguard Steve Neild, a man rumored to be having an affair with Kate, but known to be disliked by Jon. In fact, the rumors about Kate's affair were supposedly fueled by Jon!

7. Fred Durst, of the band Limp Bizkit, has married his girlfriend, non-celeb Ester Nazarov

6. Janet Jackson and her music-exec boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, have ended their relationship of seven years.

5. Oprah may be slipping In the last five years, the talk show queen's viewership as gone down 32%, nearly a third. Plus, her ratings for the week of July 4th were the lowest the show ever had since 1983! I think Ellen is giving her a run for her money!

4. The custody hearing for Michael Jackson’s kids has been delayed…again.

3. Very sad news – Demi Lovato may be a cutter. I stress the maybe!

2. The oldest living man is now dead – Henry Allingham he was 113 years old.

1. Ivanka Trump is engaged to millionaire fiancé Jared Kushner. She has also converted to Judaism for him.

Happy Birthday Andrea!

2009-07-03T02:29:00.005-05:00

Wishing you a bodice ripper of your own!

Do we need to forward this to your husband?!!!
Hope you had a great night! We love you!

Hot Summer Nights!

2009-07-02T22:40:00.030-05:00

Hello Ladies...

It was a perfect night. We all made it! It's been much too long since we were all together. We had a very fun pink drink, that helped all of us, mostly me, relax! I was so worried that you would be skewering me for my choice, I needed an extra glass to ease into the evening discussion. It turns out, I was wrong, you all loved the book. And, if I wore a corset, I'd faint, because some of you have already finished the second of 8! books in this series. I am sure it's making quite the hot summer for the boys as well ;)

But enough, it was so much fun I think I will let the ratings, quotes, and pictures tell the story.

The Duke and I
by: Julia Quinn

Ratings - which I have been quietly protesting for-EVER, but now find more palatable.

Debbie 4.0
Kelly 4.0-
Andrea 4.5
Jacki 3.5
Karen 3.5
Laurie 3.5
Jody 4.5
Elena 4.0

A few fun quotes!

"The first half of the book was Jane Austen sweet and the second half was 21st century slutty."

This was a G-rated Romance!

What is the throbbing manhood???

Bodice Ripper! Boobs! cleavage!

Real? Fake? Can you tell?

The back cover!!!

The last paragraph...this is "good stuff"..." 'Now' doesn't even compare to tomorrow. And tomorrow couldn't possibly compete with the next day. As perfect as I feel this very moment, tomorrow is going to be even better.." "every day I'm going to love you more. I promise you that. Every day..."

I think this is why we decided in our elated/well lubricated state to kick off our summer book with a romance. So mark your calendars... Next June should prove to be steamy.

The Pictures!!

A few fun pictures of everyone relaxing on the patio....

Perhaps one of these people has sipped too much LEMONADE?!

What's going on here????? Step away from the grill!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How cute are these two? ....This is the first half of the night, wait for the second half pictures and you may understand a few quotes better.... let's just say... think Jane Austen sweet here...and .....later, well you'll see!

******************************************************************

The only Rake amongst us....

Sweet baby Finn!

Giggles!!!!!

And of course, top GIGGLES go to Jody! I called her desperate one day at work, a total "no-no", but bless her, she took the call and gave me excellent advice. "Go for it! A girl needs a bodice ripper every now and then!" I can only image the little office-sized fist pump as she hung up the phone and ordered the entire series off amazon.
Well done, Jo!

LATER....

adjusting the girls.... wondering about the girls... and proud of the girls....

Group photo....notice anything different??? I think I'm missing a few feather balls!

I forgot to change the camera setting so we had 7 fast shots on the timer... I've included a few for the precious facial expressions...

Poor Finn.... he really didn't like the flash!--- 'Dre you are hilarious!!

Girlfriends are great!
It was exactly what I needed...
I couldn't get enough!
Thank you !!!
xoxo,
Laurie

June Top Ten (or otherwise titled - boring gossip that everyone already knew)

2009-06-30T07:26:00.000-05:00

10. Ed McMahon died.

9. Farrah Fawcett died.

8. Michael Jackson died.

7. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick had twin girls.

6. Jon and Kate are divorcing.

5. Nick Lacey and Vanessa Minnillo have split up.

4. Lou Diamond Phillips wins “I’m a Celebrity”.

3. Miley Cyrus and Nick Jonas are supposedly back together.

2. Emma Watson (Harry Potter) is planning on attending Columbia University this fall.

1. Worst Top Ten Ever – too much death, not enough gossip!

June Book Club

2009-06-25T18:15:00.000-05:00

Well Hello Ladies......

This has been quite the month for me.... I changed my mind on Case Histories by Kate Atkinson after I learned it was about the abduction and murder of a little girl. Let's face it, for me, the world is ugly enough to process. I don't need my leisure reading to leave my mind churning. So, instead, I picked, for the first time ever... a romance novel recommended as a light summer read on Barnes and Nobles' website. I now know, why the staffer only left her first name! Ahem... Let's just saying I looked at the front cover and thought, ok, not too bad...pink with the historically romantic title of "The Duke and I." I self checked out at the library (thank god) and then found out after removing the book from my bag that the back cover was ohhhh so revealing. I almost turned pink myself thinking of Debbie and Andrea reading it on the plane to Disney. I couldn't even read it at the lake by my family. I knew it would be instant ridicule. So, romance it is... let's just say I thought this book would be more "Gone With the Wind" and less....well you all know if you read it! It's a summer romance, and I have a good friend who says..."Everyone needs a good bodice ripper every now and then." So, check, you've completed your summer romance read for 2009! If you loved it it's the first in a 4 set series!

See you tomorrow for fun-pink drinks for a very pink book!

xoxo,
Laurie

May Dinner and Night Out

2009-06-02T00:47:00.001-05:00

Dinner and Night Out
********************

OK. As everyone has gathered from the entry below, the night simply turned into Dinner and a Night Out. There were 6 of us present, as the month was incredibly terrible to schedule, and we couldn't find a date where 2 ladies would not be present. We were serving up some Chicken Caesar Salad when Elena broke the news to me that she didn't think anyone had read the book, which makes it difficult for a book discussion, being that I was the only one who read it. Now, Laurie had read the most of everyone, but still not enough, so the evening changed from a Book Club meeting to Dinner and a Night Out.

We did a top 10, and sat around and chatted most of the evening. Here is the group picture from the night.

*****************

One bonus was that we got to admire sweet little Finn, who fell asleep by the end of the night.

**************************************************
Online book discussion - Animal's people by Indra Sinha

**************************************************

For those who are interested, I'm going to write a brief little summary of the book, and what I thought of it. However, I haven't quite gotten to it yet. So, I'm going to post this, simply so that it's done before the next meeting. : )

MAY BOOK CLUB - WAS THERE A BOOK???

2009-06-01T10:05:00.002-05:00

Don't worry fellow bloggers, the May post is on its way...

I'm just trying to figure out the best way to write a blog about a book club, where THERE WAS NO BOOK DISCUSSION....yes, ladies and gentlemen, I could not believe it when 5 lovely ladies showed up to my house, and NO ONE had completed the book...I truly did not think it was that bad, but maybe it was...

Andrea, Jody, any help from you 2? Did either of you finish it so that I can at least include more than 1 rating???

Of the lovely ladies, did any of you finish it after that night???

OK...I will be posting something soon....

May Top Ten

2009-06-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

********************************************************************************* OK...The top 10 survived without Jody being present. We hope this is up to par...
*********************************************************************************

10. There is speculation that Nicole Kidman is pregnant.

9. Kanye started "Loop Dreams" : teaches kids about hip-hop and music engineering.

8. Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plain is #8 on New York Times Best Selling List.

7. John Cryer's ex-wife arrested for felony child abuse.

6. Octomom is getting a reality show.

5. Susan Boyle gets second in Britain's Got Talent.

4. Leno's last night on the Tonight Show was Friday, May 29th.

3. Riana is going to testify against Chris Brown.

2. Brett Favre and Fran Tarkenton - Ex-Viking quarterback Tarkenton thinks Favre is despicable and hope he comes to Minnesota and fails.

1. Jon, but not Kate, plus 8, as Jon and Kate seem to be having marital differences.

Honorable Mention from Greg, who couldn't believe this was not on the list...
Phil Mickelson's wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

*********************************************************************************
OK, Jody, we do have a confession. No one prepared a top 10, so being the resourceful group of women that we are, having a computer at our fingertips, and being that NO ONE READ THE BOOK, we had plenty of time to create a top ten once dinner was over...
*********************************************************************************

Another Year Goes By...

2009-05-28T09:53:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, Debbie!

What Would Book Club Do?

2009-04-29T06:25:00.010-05:00

God, this month we read "What Would Emma Do" by Eileen Cook. It was a quick, easy read but the ending left us empty. What about Todd, what about Northwestern, what about eternal damnation? These are questions we wanted answered.

We learned a few things during the discussion - there were some of us that were confused by the Wheaton in the book - we were thinking Illinois, not Indiana (who knew)!

The ratings were close (except for Jody who usually loves an easy read). We were missing two of our group - what they usually add to the discussion was deeply missed:

Kelly 4
Elena 4
Karen 4
Andrea 3.75
Laurie did not read
Jacki 3
Debbie 3.5
Jody 2.5

Finn joined us - what a cute baby! (He obviously likes Jody most of all)!

Karen thought the read was simple, easy to read - she literally giggled out loud when she saw the big print. It reminded her of an After School Special.

Jacki - loved when she was trapped in the locker - this brought up a quick discussion about paring knives in the schools.

Kelly viewed the painting the church sign as an excerpt right out of Karate Kid.

Then the discussion turned to other things and let’s just say you had to be there for the first one. Jacki was checking her calendar and instead we got a detailed medical lesson (with sketched image) on her sister’s uterus. Interesting, but weird.

We also figured out that it is not Tim McGraw or Phil McGraw that Laurie is confused by it is:

It is Quick Draw McGraw! I think we have it all cleared up now.

Oh ya, we ate, we drank and we laughed. Good times!

April Top Ten

2009-04-27T19:20:00.001-05:00

10. Seal and Heidi Klum are expecting baby #4.

9. Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montage married – again. For real…maybe.

8. Bea Arthur passed away – she was 86 and battling cancer.

7. Sarah Michelle Geller and Freddie Prince are expecting their first baby.

6. Sarah McLachlan’s all female music festival from the 90’s – Lilitth Fair is due to return in 2010.

5. Twilight – the star that played Emmet Cullen, Kellen Lutz, in the movie is set to star in the remake a Nightmare on Elm Street.

4. Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson are back together – for now.

3. Miley Cirus is rumored to be dumping current boyfriend (underwear model Justin Gaston) to go out with Nick Jonas.

2. Mel Gibson and his wife are divorcing – too much carousing for Mel!

1. Jen Lancaster’s new book “Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, Or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase” comes out May 5th. And she will be at the Borders in Rosedale on Tuesday, May 26th at 7pm!

How about this...

2009-04-19T06:48:00.002-05:00

How about you just publish the ratings and maybe the group pic. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

We are trying to maintain a historical perspective here people! Please!!!

Your wish is my command

2009-04-01T21:12:00.001-05:00

David Letterman's family - including photo of Regina Lasko

March Top 10

2009-03-28T11:10:00.003-05:00

10. Tom Hank's latest flick, Angels & Demons, based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, is receiving strong opposition from the Vatican. Another Italian newspaper claims the Vatican will soon call for Catholics worldwide to boycott the flick.

9. Nadya Suleman (Octo Mom) could be losing her kids soon? Well, if she's broke she might be! Suleman is about to start experiencing some money issues. Due to her recent craziness - many sponsors are dropping. According to an interview Nadya gave recently, Huggies and Pampers diapers already dropped their support. And diapers are pricey!!!

8. Twilight is now on DVD. And Twilight mania is alive and well, only in Iowa would a 13-year-old boy at a school in Des Moines bit 11 students! When authorities got in touch with the boy's father, he explained that his son never intended to hurt anyone and had just been inspired by Twilight.

7. Because apparently it was a Tweet (or 2 or 3 or 4…or 500) that broke the camel's back in Jennifer Aniston's relationship with John Mayer. Mayer constantly claimed that he was "too busy" to spend time with Maniston, but he wasn't too busy to Tweet. He even Tweeted "This heart didn't come with instructions" following the phone break up.

6. Madonna is supposedly heading to Malawi this weekend to adopt another child. This time, a girl. Officials from Malawi have confirmed that she is adopting a 3-year-old girl named Mercy James.

5. The curse of Dancing with the Stars – a history:
First, Jewel and Access Hollywood hostess Nancy O'Dell had to drop out of the competition before it even started due to injuries.Then, Steve-O suffered a fall after the show started and injured himself.Even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Gilles Marini have all suffered injuries during rehearsals. Johnson's crazy-ass stalker coming after her. And Former Girl Next Door, Holly Madison, has just suffered a rib injury during rehearsals!

4. AI reject from season one, Justin Guarini. Guarini is currently the co-host of Idol Wrap on the TV Guide Network. And what he said recently has some fans in an uproar.
Justin told everyone, “Every single year we can’t stand the group performances. I know they can’t stand it either. And I think what makes them even worse now is that they’re lip-synched. They’re really prerecorded now.”

3. Reese Witherspoon turned 33 on March 22

2. Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford are engaged to be married.

1.And David Letterman has married his long time (they have dated for 2 decades) girlfriend Regina Lasko

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T08:39:00.001-06:00

Friday Night Knitting Club – or Friday Night Hen Party…you decide

2009-01-11T16:26:00.016-06:00

On Friday we got together for food, drink, laughs, and lastly to discuss the book Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. We even had a very special guest, Laurie’s mom Jan joined us. See word is getting out: Our book club…cool! (nice how the front row has black socks on!)

We started the evening out with dinner (pizza…I will do a better job of actually cooking next time!), and the all important Top Ten. This night was one of uncharted territory – we had a guest reporter. Andrea presented the Top Ten as if she were a pro. She may have uttered the phrase “this is harder than it seems”, but nonetheless she did a great job. Thank you !

From there we moved on to many discussions – what sets us apart from others is our ability to jump from one conversation to another…we can talk about Debbie and her soon to be Christmas stockings she is knitting, to Laurie’s dads health, to baby Kendall and all her first! Through these discussions we learn so much about each other, for example, while we all may have suspected it, it has been confirmed that Debbie is in fact neurotic (strange, but true!).

We did eventually talk about the book. Overall I think that no one really hated it and no one really loved it – that in itself is a miracle considering that I picked the book!! Here is how the ratings turned out:

Jacki 3
Andrea 3.5
Elena 4.5
Kelly 3.5
Jan (Laurie’s mom) 4
Debbie 4.5
Karen 3
Jody 4

Jacki rated the book only 3, because she didn’t like that Georgia died (I think Jacki is a sucker for a happy ending!) Debbie didn’t like that Anita was the decoy with the whole sleep apnea thing, she also liked Darwin – when she finished the sweater, not when she cheated on her husband. Kelly (and the rest of us agreed) found it really comical when Georgia’s grandmother was running around the cottage hiding the coats. Elena thought the postcard were from James, but the majority of us disagreed…I am not sure we ever found the page that verified who they were from…

And like always the discussion turned to other things. Who knew that Debbie hated the South. She even went so far as to say “they can’t read!” She also doesn’t like “little” men. Laurie wants to know what people from Arkansas are called: is it Arkansawian or Arkansinian…Debbie says they are called “stupid”. Debbie also made Kendall cry - way to go!

We also know that Laurie still doesn’t know the difference between Dr. Phil and Tim McGraw

Dr. Phil

Tim McGraw

And she doesn’t know the difference between Kevin Bacon and Jason Bateman

Kevin Baon

Jason Bateman not Bacon

Maybe these flashcards will help!

We also learned that I am apparently a freak. I am not going to go into it, but I leave you with this photo:

Holidays On Ice

2009-01-01T14:40:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year!

The first thing you should know is that I had two goals to accomplish before the start of 2009. They were:

Post the Christmas Book Club Blog
Be ready to read Friday Night Knitting Club

I clearly failed at the first task as it is now January! Woo-hoo! 2009 begins!

I pseudo accomplished the second goal as I started to read it yesterday at the doctor's office. The problem? Well, I haven't quite finished the other book I'm reading yet so I wasn't quite ready. Oops.

Anyway.

You surely didn't come here to read all about my woes. (Or did you?) Let me get this party started!

Christmas book club took place weeks ago! Just under 3 of them, in fact. But you've still got spirit left in you, right? (Yes, we do!) I sure hope you do because the book we read didn't have much spirit. Or perhaps it had too much spirit. Whatever the case, we did not really enjoy the book all that much.

I picked Holidays on Ice for two reasons. First, I have heard great things about David Sedaris (author of said book). Second, the length and theme. This is December where we are all busy, busy, busy and don't have time to read, read, read.

The book itself started off okay. Santaland Diaries was amusing. I mean, who can't laugh at a grown man working as one of Santa's Little Elves? Then we moved on to the illegitimate Korean daughter who was plum crazy, and the book pretty much lost its appeal. And it only seemed to go down from there. I'm just glad that I had the book with 6 short stories in it vs. the books with 12 short stories that some other (resentful) readers had.

The ratings were:
Jody- 0.5
Karen - 1
Kelly 0.5
Jacki- 1.5
Elena - 1
Laurie - 2
Andrea - 2
Debbie - 1

It didn't much matter that the book let us down because we had Kelly here to be our 80's movie guru. Laurie filled in nicely as the person who attaches familiar first and last names together no matter how inane they seem for the current topics: Jennifer Beals or Jessica Biel. Jody provided us with the ever important celebrity top 10. Karen brought Kendall for us to hold and pass around. Debbie provided us with the childlike excitement for PRESENTS! And I remembered to serve dessert. (You might recall from the last time I hosted that I forgot this very important detail.)

Here are the fabulous photos from our great evening!

The display of cookies and holiday treats!
We do an exchange every year and they're always beautiful and delicious!

I'm trying to decide who is more entertained: Kendall or Andrea?

I may have to go with: Andrea

Requisite group photo in front of the tree.
Everybody is holding the holiday treat they brought to share.

Presents!
Really, they are ornaments for our annual ornament exchange.

For the second year running, Jody got my ornament!
It's from Pier 1.

Kelly got Jacki's ornament!
It came from St. Patrick's Guild and has the 3 wise men inside. Super cute.

Laurie and Debbie get a little silly along the way.

Laurie got Debbie's. It is a blown glass Christmas present. Unique and beautiful.

I can't remember exactly where it's from, but Debbie picked it up while on a mini-vacation.

I got mine from Jody! We traded. Yay!
It's beautiful with mirrors as part of the star. From Seasonal Concepts.

(You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong.)
Andrea got Kelly's.
Kelly ventured out and found an ornament that is outside her typical style.
Good choice, it's beautiful!

Jacki got Karen's.
A Li Bien ornament from Pier One.

Karen got Andrea's.
The cutest hippo on the planet.
I think she got it at World Market, but am forgetting.

Debbie got Laurie's!
She loved it. Or her face showed a lot of enthusiasm for it.

That is, until she realized that the
poor snowman had a stick up his @ss.
Then she was a bit concerned.
In all seriousness, it's a cute ornament and Debbie likes it!

Another successful Christmas book club (and I don't have to host another Christmas book club for 8 years! Woo-hoo!). A good time was had by all!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Books of 2008

2008-12-31T13:08:00.000-06:00

January 2008
Three Cups of Tea
By: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Host: Jacki

February 2008
Eat, Pray, Love : One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia
By: Elizabeth Gilbert
Host: Laurie

March 2008
Rescuing Sprite : A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish
By: Mark Levin
Host: Andrea

April 2008
The Glass Castle
By: Jeannette Walls
Host: Elena

May 2008
The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love : A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared
By: Jill Conner Browne
Host: Jody

June 2008
Penny from Heaven
By: Jennifer Holm
Host: Karen

July 2008
Pack up the Moon
By: Anna McPartlin
Host: Kelly

August 2008
Those Who Save Us
by Jenna Blum
Host: Debbie

September 2008
Bringing Down the House
By: Ben Mezrich
Host: Elena

October 2008
The Pillars of the Earth
By: Ken Follett
Host: Laurie

November 2008
Awake in the Dark
by Shira Nayman
Host: Andrea

December 2008
Holiday on Ice
By: David Sedaris
Host: Elena

December Top 10

2008-12-13T07:52:00.004-06:00

December 2008 Top Ten

10. Tara Reid has checked into rehab.

9. Country star Tim McGraw is 'seriously considering' a run for Tennessee governor in 2010 – that would make Faith Hill first lady!

8. Fox is refusing to comment on reports from an American Idol fansite that the reality TV show is canceling its annual charity event.

7. Lauren Graham is getting back into primetime television. The Gilmore Girl just had a new TV show picked up! The half hour comedy for ABC revolves around a self-help guru (played by Graham) who educates women on leading a stress-free life. But her own advice fails her when she is dumped by her boyfriend.

6. The duo who plead guilty to offering Amy Winehouse drugs for purchase were sentenced by a British judge on Friday. Johnny Blagrove, 34, was given a two year jail sentence and his cohort/girlfriend Cara Burton, 22, received two years of community service.

5. 2008 is ending on a stellar note for Hugh Jackman! He is going to host the Oscars.

4. It is reported that Guns N' Roses singer, Axl Rose, is suffering from Anthropophobia. In a nutshell he's afraid of people.

3. A new low for Jessica Simpson who is playing the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida in March. And, compared to relative newcomer's Taylor Swift's $45 tickets, Simpson's are going for only $25-30. Even redneck Jeff Foxworthy is billed higher at $35 a pop!!!!

2. The legendary and 'notorious' Bettie Page has passed away. She was 85 years old.

1. Stevie Wonder may be heading to Dancing with the Stars.

November Top Ten

2008-11-22T07:13:00.002-06:00

10. Sienna Miller has ended her relationship with married oil heir Balthazar Getty. But don’t worry she is being linked with Josh Hartnett.

9. Twilight, the movie, took in about $7 million - just from midnight screenings!

8. Tobey Maguire and his wife announced that baby #2 is due Spring of 2009. They have a daughter, Ruby, who is 2.

7. Jodie Sweetin announced that she is splitting from her husband of only a year. She filed papers on Wednesday in Orange County for legal separation from her husband.

6. Winona Ryder was treated at a hospital in London after passing out twice on a British Airways flight from a reported Xanax overdose. She had her stomach pumped and was released shortly after.

5. Paris Hilton has broke up with Benji Madden.

4. According to reports, three ABC shows have been canceled - or are almost dead. Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, AND Eli Stone will all be ending this season. 99%.

3. It is rumored that Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson are having relationship problems – a breakup may not be far off.

2. Madonna and Guy Richie are officially divorced. The filmmaker allegedly turned down $10 million offered to him, only raising a fuss when Madonna wanted to keep the kids permanently in New York. These claims are countered by Madge insiders, who insist that he WILL be getting a big payday from the divorce settlement.

1. Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and rocker Pete Wentz announce the birth of their first child, Bronx Mowgli Wentz (he was born Thursday night.)

Bi Is The New Straight

2008-11-21T22:16:00.003-06:00

True to form book club this month was more about getting together with friends and eating, drinking(really strong Margaritas, sorry about that) and laughing than it was about the book. This month's book was Awake in the Dark by Shira Nayman. This was a particularly busy month for many book clubbers and so not everyone was able to finish. However, here are some of the ratings: Jody-3, Elena-3.5, Andrea-3.5, Laurie-3.5, and Jacki-3.5. Everyone seemed to enjoy the book even though it was another book about Nazi Germany. The book was broken down into 4 short stories. All enjoyed the first three as they were short and haunting. Many thought the last short story was a little predictable. A great discussion took place about why some people are haunted by the pasts of their parents and why many people seem to need to know about their parents' past to feel complete.
Book discussion took a back seat to catching up with each others families, passing baby Kendall around, and the celebrity top ten.
I want to say that as Thanksgiving fast approaches that I am thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you for the food, the drinks, the laughs, the debates, and the fun! I am truly blessed to have such great friends.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Love,
Andrea
(p.s. Jody I bet you are thankful I got this post up)

It's That Time of Year... Again

2008-11-10T14:38:00.002-06:00

When we wish JODY a very happy birthday! Hope you have a year filled with all great things!

October Top Ten

2008-10-27T06:38:00.001-05:00

10. Amy Poehler gave birth to a little boy on Saturday. Daddy is Will Arnett - they named the baby Archie.

9. Amy Winehouse has entered rehab again in an effort to avoid being arrested for not showing up for police questioning.

8. Katy Perry celebrated her 24th birthday Saturday.

7. Catherine Zeta Jones has been tapped to play the Egyptian queen Cleopatra in an upcoming $30 million 3D Hollywood epic to be called Cleo. Rumor is that Hugh Jackman is going to play Mark Antony.

6. Jessica Biel wants to be a singer now.

5. In Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were brutally murdered on Friday by what appears to be a disgruntled family member.

4. Despite false reports that they called it quits, Kirsten Dunst and the Mac guy, Justin Long, are still together!

3. A Manhattan judge has decided on a sentence for Anne Hathaway's conniving ex-boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri to 4 and a half years in prison.

2. The National Enquirer reveals in a new report that a family member has confirmed that Jamie Lynn is pregnant with baby #2. The younger Spears' baby, Maddie, isn't even five months old!!!!

1. Madonna and Guy Ritchie are getting divorced after nearly 8 years of marriage.

October Book Club

2008-10-26T20:16:00.012-05:00

Hey Look Everyone.... it's me, writing our October post in December!!!! Did you notice Andrea's surprise! I'm sure the rest of you feel the same. It was a very fun night, worth all 900 pages of effort.

The Pillars of the Earth
Our first 900 page book!!!

Ratings
Jacki 4.75
Jody 4.75
Elena 4.75
Debbie.."I'm on page 12" I did start it
Andrea 5
Karen ...I still have 650 pages to read...A 4 for me so far
Laurie 4.5
Kelly 4.5

The night was memorable! Our dinner was in keeping with the book...root vegetable soup (Potato Soup) with salt pork (bacon) some cheese, bread, wine, a few greens, and for Jody... pumpkin bars with yummy cream cheese frosting! For some reason most of the group did not like the word "root" associated with vegetable...hmmm

My Notes...because honestly... I'm a bit foggy on the night..

A few quotes and notes

"you don't see me peeing on JM and SP lawn signs do you?" ....Response: "we aren't always with you." Can anyone clarify this???

"I knew if my Mom muddled through it, it was pretty good, Jody" Jody- you are in trouble if your mom reads this blog... muddled!

"I may snort and we'll all know what I'm talking about...."

Our thoughts:

Worst character-- William
Waleran
Favorite moment- in the book....Marriage of Aliena and Jack
Stories by the lake and the times in the woods
Least favorite part... peeing on the Bible

More later, I'm getting ready to go to our December Book Club but here are a few photos from the night. For those who remember, I said, "No more couch pictures" These pictures are hilarious and are probably the reason, I can't remember any serious discussion about a book we all LOVED!!!

Cute Group Photo

Finally, I have cleavage!

All you need is friends... friends....friends....

Ok, now things get a little screwed up!

We are not square pegs!

This picture is just so hilarious!

The brain !

As I was saying...

So, am I geometric or what?

We always wondered what our identical twins would really look like!

We are the center of the universe.

The Pig, need I say more?

More later.... Love you all for not yelling at me for the late post....

xoxo,
Laurie

September - Bringing Down the House

2008-09-15T20:15:00.002-05:00

****************************************************************************
Once upon a time there was a young girl. OK. Not so young, but not so old. She tried to remember entering her September blog information, but forgot.
So, everyone waited through October....
But, once again, she forgot. Let me remind you, she is old, but not so old.
So, everyone waited through November....
Then, one night, she became inspired...she looked up the blog sign on (not having personally logged on since her last entry almost a year ago)...and the blogging began...

*******************************************************************************
This is an entry for the September book club about the book "Bringing Down the House".
OK. Now there is a problem, if you recall, the young girl couldn't remember to enter the blog, how is she going to remember what happened almost 3 months ago?.....

Let's see. It all started with a book club that almost didn't happen. Debbie, Andrea, and Kelly all couldn't make it fairly last minute, so I (being the very young girl, in case you haven't caught on...) sent out a note to see if anyone wanted to postpone the meeting. Apparently, this was extremely stressful for Jody (sorry!), who refused to call me back, as she didn't want it cancelled. I believe she said that she went out shopping to relieve her stress...was that correct? Anyway, I never got responses from the remainder of the group, so we had a small book club meeting with just 5 of us (OK, 6...sorry Kendall!). I'm glad that I didn't get responses, as it was a nice night. (This deduction being made after looking over old emails, and pictures from that night!)
As far as the book goes, unfortunately, I have no idea where the rating are...if I ever come across them (as I'm sure I will , written down on a small piece of paper somewhere), I will be happy to enter them. If I recall correctly, people liked the book, but didn't love it. It was OK.

At some point in the night, there was an in depth discussion about nursing (assuming this started from our newest book club baby), much to the chagrin of Jody. Unfortunately, I had served pumpkin cupcakes, which didn't seem to help the matter for her.

It was a nice evening, even though we missed the other girls.

So, after 3 months, I think this is as good as it gets for an entry. I don't know if anyone will even read this, as it is old...

****************************************************************************
ps. Merry Christmas girls!

Those Who Save Us

2008-08-20T18:12:00.001-05:00

Ok, so my husband was convinced that he could easily pick a better book than my last few (which, as you recall, were subpar). He even went so far as to say that all of the men should take a shot at picking a book for us. I swore I was going to list the ratings as between 0 and 1 no matter how good the book was, but my “friends” blabbed to my husband how great the book was (thanks, “friends”).

The evening began with a mix of food, fun conversation and drinks. We ate chicken wings and quesadillas with all the fixings and had margaritas. Of course the drink options had to be adjusted for our mom-to-be and our new mom as well as the anti-margarita member of the book club. Dessert was make your own sundaes. I had intended to have a matching game with the sundaes but messed that up- although I am not sure it would be hard to pick who had only one item on hers.

One of my favorite memories of the evening was learning about our dirty secrets (pun intended). Finding out that only one of us has never had to rewash laundry because it sat in the washing machine too long (Jody) and six of us are addicted to the Olympics (not Karen or Laurie) was revealing.

We got to enjoy baby Kendall (well, actually Jody and Jacki got to enjoy baby Kendall) and are excited to have a new addition to book club. Kendall was very good and seemed to enjoy the craziness that always accompanies book club. She is super cute and others will need to get their fair share of time with her at the next book club.

On to the book…we read Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. This book, which surprisingly was fiction, was a fascinating look at life during and after the Holocaust. The story of a mother and her daughter and their relationship, or lack thereof, is explored through looking back at the real story and by interviews with others who lived during this time. It was very well received by our book club and received the following ratings:

Jacki-4.25

Laurie- 4

Andrea-4.5

Kelly-4.5

Jody-4.25

Karen-4.25

Elena-4.5

Debbie-4

We agreed that a few loose ends left us wanting more information but it was truly a book worth reading.

[pictures to follow]

August - Top 10

2008-08-19T20:39:00.003-05:00

10. Brad Pitt is teaming up with skin care company, Kiehl, to develop "green" grooming products. He is supposedly donating the money to charity.

9. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi got married this weekend.

8. Annie Lennox is recovering from spinal surgery.

7. Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer broke up.

6. Daniel Radcliffe (19 years old) admitted that he sometimes has trouble tying his shoelaces. He apparently suffers from dyspraxia (a condition that affects motor skill development).

5. Hilary Duff is sporting a ring on a very important finger. Her beau is Mike Comrie a NHL hockey player.

4. Christina Applegate has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She will be on Good Morning America tomorrow. Robin Roberts (a breast cancer survivor) will be conducting the interview.

3. Jamie Lynn Spears fiance and baby daddy allegedly cheated on Jamie Lynn with Kelli Dawson (28 yrs old). Kelli details their relationship in the grocery store tabloids.

2. Sienna Miller is dating Balthazar Getty - he is still married and has children.

1. Jennifer Garner is pregnant. The family is planning on movie to a bigger home soon.

Bonus: Three Hollywood stars who completed Heath Ledgers final film role have donated their pay to his 2 year old daughter, Matilda. The three stars are: Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell.

Five down...three to go! Happy Birthday Kelly!

2008-07-29T06:29:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Kelly! We hope you have a great day!

July 2008

2008-07-19T20:04:00.003-05:00

Book: Pack Up The Moon
Author: Anna McPartlin

What I will remember most about July book club will have nothing to do with the book we read. I will remember it for all the unusual and extra things involved in the evening. First, we had a last minute cancellation of our meeting date because I got the stomach flu. Not great timing, but we managed to meet one week later (thank you again!). Next, we actually had all eight of us together, but only for a short time. Laurie got an emergency phone call from Paul. After a very panicky conversation that included Jacki calling 911 in case an ambulance was needed, Laurie rushed out of book club to meet Paul at the hospital. We are all glad Paul’s finger is still attached and that he is on the road to recovery – also known as the road to lots of physical therapy!

Our theme for the evening was “PRESENTS” !! First, Elena had souvenirs for everyone from her June trip to Asia. We all got bookmarks from Korea and the cutest LeSport sac pouches! Thank you Elena! Also, we celebrated my 30th birthday :) with really great presents – awesome scrapbooking stuff and magazines! Thanks to all of you for the really fun gifts! And next in our evening of presents, we had a book shower for Karen’s baby-to-be! Only a couple weeks until Karen’s baby is due. We are all wishing you a smooth labor and delivery and look forward to meeting the newest book club baby!

And, there is still more exciting news to share this month. Elena is pregnant! Congratulations Elena and Joel. Now, we will have another book club baby to meet in February! And Elena holds the record for most babies born during the history of book club!

OK – maybe I should talk about the book we read this month – Pack Up the Moon. In general, this book was enjoyed by our group. I think it was partly because it was a fast read and had the feel of a good “summer read”. The story is about Emma, who at age 26 has her life turned upside down when her long-time boyfriend is killed in an accident. Emma has a great cirlce of friends who try to help her through this very difficult time. Some of the story felt like an episode of “Friends”, which even gets a mention in the book. Emma’s brother Noel is a priest who ends up falling in love, becoming a dad, and leaving the priesthood. I liked how Emma would go to church and have conversations with her brother in the confessional. A little bit quirky! And of course there is a new love interest for Emma. Our group had mixed feelings about this relationship. I enjoyed that even though Sean was in love with Emma for years, he never said anything about it to her. This let Emma fall in love with Sean in her own time. Their friends were also patiently waiting for them to be a couple. I think as a book club, we have read many books that haven’t had a happy ending or at least the ending we were hoping for. It was fun to read a book that wrapped up everyones story lines and had a happy ending!

Here is what we thought of the book:

Laurie – 2
Elena – 3
Debbie – 3.5
Andrea – 3.5
Karen – 3.5
Jacki – 4
Kelly – 4
Jody – 4.25

I am looking forward to next months book club, partly because our host, Debbie, let us all know that we are reading “No dog books, no Middle East books, and no Books!” Hmmm, should be interesting! See you all then!

Upcoming Books

2008-07-16T06:41:00.004-05:00

Here is the upcoming book club schedule.

August
Those Who Save Us
by: Jenna Blum
Host: Debbie (book picked by Eric)

September
Brining Down the House
by: Ben Mezrich
Host: Jacki (book picked by Greg)

October
Pillars of the Earth
by: Ken Follett
Host: Laurie

November
TBA
Host: Andrea

December
Holiday on Ice
by: David Sedaris
Host: Elena

July - Top Ten

2008-07-16T06:40:00.001-05:00

10. Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman split up.

9. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had twins: a boy, Knox Leon and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline.

8. The pics of the Pitt/Jolie twins are estimated to sell at $15 million.

Supposedly, Madonna has donated over $5.1 million to Kabbalah since 2001.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck may have a new little bun in the oven. They are now on bump watch.

5. Matthew McConaughy and Camile Alves had a baby boy. They named him Levi.

4. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban had a baby girl: Sunday Rose

3. Mary Kate may be going back to rehab – this time for partying too hard.

2. Sara Atkins (of Charles Manson Family fame) may be set free from an LA jail. She has brain cancer and only has months to live.

1. Rumored to be fighting between The Girls Next Door group. Holly (29) and Bridget (35) want Kendra (23) gone. Kendra could leave at any time she has a clothing line, modeling career and an exercise empire.

Happy Birthday Andrea!

2008-06-29T17:53:00.003-05:00

Another book club lady turns a year older.

Here is a wish from all of us that the next year brings you every happiness.

Penny From Heaven

2008-06-25T13:51:00.003-05:00

We spent a good portion of our time together sitting around the table, eating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. Conversation ran the gamut from food, cures for the hiccups, the Real Housewives of NYC (Mason promised that he was not trying to be like Simon when he stopped home for a few moments), movies, Jen Lancaster, and of course, the Top 10 (thanks, Jody!). Elena, Kelly, and Laurie couldn't be with us, and their presence was missed. We were, however, surprised with a phone call from our world traveling member Elena who called us from Bejing!

The menu for the evening included Szechwan Lettuce Wraps, Crunchy Asian Salad, Ginger Chicken and fruit salad, and Creamy Lemon Supreme for dessert. I would say that the menu was planned in honor of Elena and her trip to the Orient, but it was really just a fluke. It was, however, a pretty good fluke...the lettuce wraps went over very well. Thanks to everyone for allowing me to use you as guinea pigs for items that I have never made before!

We did finally move from the table and discussed Penny from Heaven, by Newberry Award Winning Author Jennifer Holm. All in all, the book was well received, and some even rated the book higher after the discussion was over. I think that it is safe to say that we were all a little surprised that none of us really new much about this time in America's relatively recent history when being Italian meant that you were the enemy. We all agreed that we would have liked the culture to be woven more into the story throughout the read, instead of being included in the author's notes at the end of the book. That criticism aside, we each appreciated something different about the characters and how they chose to live out being a family in times of conflict and joy. Just as in our own families, we saw how some of the things that can tear families apart are the very things that can bring them together, too.

Ratings:

Elena 3.75

Jody 4

Kelly 3

Andrea 2

Jacki 3

Debbie 3

Karen 3.5

Just a side note for you all....I know I have chosen a handful of kids books in the past, as I did with Penny from Heaven, but it seems like the group likes the change every once in a while from selections that we normally read. My next choice(for February 2009 ?) will be Hope was Here by Joan Bauer. She does write books for adults, but this is a book for preteens/teens. She has written one of my favorite books that I would read aloud to my students when teaching called Rules of the Road, which was full of lots of great life lessons for young and old.

June Top Ten

2008-06-21T07:27:00.002-05:00

10. Naomi Campbell avoided jail time again. She was sentanced to 200 hours community service, $700 compensation to the police officer and airline captain she assulted.

9. Rumor: Will Smith is cozying up with Charlize Theron on location in Russia.

8. Martha Stewart has been refused access into England. Because of her criminal conviction 4 years ago for obstruction of justice.

7. Amy Winehouse hospitalized - suffering from chest infection.

6. Christie Brinkley is so mad at her soon to be ex husband, Peter Cook, that she wants the divorce court proceedings to be public. He had an affair with an 18 year old assistant.

5. Tinkerbell just got a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

4. Matthew Perry it play the lead in a new pilot - it is defined as a dark comedy and is on Showtime.

3. A tax warrant has been issued to Katie Couric for an outstanding tax bill - $210.41.

2. Nicole Kidman turned 41 on Friday. June 25th will marek her second wedding anniversary.

1. Jamie Lynn Spears had her baby - she named it Maddie Briann.

My Brush with Literary Greatness (alternative title - My Trip to the Mall)

2008-06-20T06:30:00.006-05:00

Last night a celebrity in my eyes came to town - Jen Lancaster. And with her she brought sarcastic greatness! It was a wonderfully funny reading, she even had verbal footnotes - classic!

Here is a little photo montage of the evening.

And there you have it - my field trip to the mall!

Sidenote: Elena - she was great! You would have loved it - sad that you couldn't have made it! And while I didn't have wine with Jen (she had a whole group waiting for her) I did have wine with Carolyn. Next time no trips out of the country!

Happy Birthday Debbie!

2008-05-27T19:54:00.006-05:00

Well another book club member joins the elite over 40 club - I'm not sure that merits congratulations, but for what it is worth: CONGRATULATIONS & HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

May Top Ten

2008-05-10T20:14:00.004-05:00

10. Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey got married.

9. American Idol - David Archuleta is a Mormon and would probably become a missionary if he doesn't make it as a singer.

8. Rumor has it that Malawi may finally be granting full adoption rights to Madonna and family.

7. R. Kelly's request to postpone his child porn case hearing was denied by the judge.

6. Lindsay Lohan has been dropped from the upcoming film Manson girls. Producers couldn't score any big names for the film with her name attached.

5. The Duggar's announced today that they are pregnant with their 18th child.

4. Nina Garcia is close to being named some big title at Marie Claire magazine. So she will probably stay with Project Runway.

3. Liv Tyler and Royston Langdon have separated. The were married in 2003.

2. Neil Diamond's new CD, Home Before Dark, is set to knock Madonna's Hard Candy from top billboard spot.

1. Nick Hogan (son of Hulk Hogan) is going to jail for reckless driving. He will serve: 5 years probation, 8 months in jail, 500 community service hours, 3 years suspended license, no alcohol for 5 years, DUI school, and will pay for court costs. He is only 17.

Sweet Potato Queens - Leaves a Sour Taste

2008-05-10T14:33:00.017-05:00

April showers are suppose to bring May flowers - but after reading Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love the general consensus was that this book was one big weed.

Here are the ratings - no big surprises:

Tammy (Andrea) - 0

Tammy (Laurie) - did not rate, because she did not read. And for the record it is not a tumor

Tammy (Elena) - 2

Tammy (Karen) - 2.5

Tammy (Kelly) - 1

Tammy (Debbie) - 2

Tammy (Jacki) - 1.5

Tammy (Jody) 3.5 (because taunting the rest of them is kind of fun)

To say it was an interesting night may be an understatement - some of the key comments went something like this: hated it, hated it, hated it. I wish I really knew how Tammy felt about the book. The beginning was thought to be funny observational, but in the second half of the book it took on a self righteous tone.

The discussion was not a total loss. The book did reiterate some key bits of knowledge and wisdom: One Tammy notified us that she has a big butt - imagine our surprise, she even offered to drop trough and give a good look - we took a pass. But that led to the comment that again it is all about boobs and butts for men - according to the book: white men love boobs and the black men love butts...who knew. We agreed with the author on one point "Honey, if that hasn't worked in the last 15 years, it is not going to work now." Frankly, I have no idea what she was talking about.

But where the book failed us - we were able to persevere - we even had a math lesson. If Tammy needs two eggs, but gets 6 from Tammy - how many eggs do you need to replace? If only Oprah's book club could see us now!

We did have good taco salads - and yes the bowls were pretty cool. But after our heavy meal we decided that we needed to go for a little walk - the first ever book club stroll. It was not A Long Walk, but when Tammy had to start handing out jackets, it became reminiscent of the Elegant Gathering of White Snows. The point of the walk was not to stretch, get fresh air or even exercise - it was to view the crazy neighbors that live down the street. With dolls heads mounted to the fence and a stretcher in the front yard, there is really no more reason to elaborate. A picture will have to suffice.

We don't just talk about the book when we get together, we actually have other things to take care of - celebrating and fashion were on the list last night. We helped Tammy celebrate her birthday with small tokens of our affections. I think she may have even been a bit surprised. That same Tammy had on a cute pair of capri jeans as well - unfortunately, she notified the rest of us they were not the traveling pants...bummer!

Upcoming Books

2008-04-23T06:42:00.006-05:00

For those of you who like to plan ahead (wait...that may only be me!) - here is the upcoming book club schedule.

May
The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love : A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared
By: Jill Conner Browne
Host: Jody

June
Penny from Heaven
By: Jennifer Holm
Host: Karen

July
Pack up the Moon
By: Anna McPartlin
Host: Kelly

April Top Ten

2008-04-23T06:33:00.005-05:00

10. Tom and Katie are denying rumors of a split. Just working a lot. All this as Suri is about to turn 2.

9. Ashley Simpson engaged to Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) and supposedly pregnant.

8. Nick Zano (American actor and underwear model) is dating Haylie Duff.

7. Pete Doherty is in prison - and has not been moved to a secure cell.

6. Jay Z & Beyonce got married and rumors are already surfacing of bickering. Side note: They tatooed their wedding ring finger with IV - the date of their wedding.

5. Victoria Beckham turned 39.

4. American Idol David Cook's brother was flown in to see him perform on Idol. His brother has brain cancer.

3. Foxy Brown (real name Inga Marchand) is a free women. She served 8 out of a 12 month sentence.

2. Natalie Portman is set to star in Weathering Heights - no start date has been decided.

1. Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover if her Life Makes her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer comes out May 6th - Run don't walk to your local bookstore!

The Glass Castle

2008-04-21T13:56:00.004-05:00

It seems like it has been quite a while since I've gotten to post on our blog. We had a great book club on Friday night where we discussed The Glass Castle (among other things) by Jeannette Walls. I picked The Glass Castle because countless people (but namely a shout out to my friend Kristen) recommended the book to me. Sometimes I get into a reading rut and I know the only way I am going to actually read a book is if I pick it for book club. Thus, the book pick was born.

Something I did not admit to my fellow book clubbers until this post is had I known how deeply connected I would feel to the character, I may not have picked the book. That isn't to say that I regret the choice, I'm just saying (as we all well know) I can be a bit reserved when it comes to talking about some aspects of my life. Particularly: sad elements from my upbringing. In some ways I dreaded the anticipation of hearing the ratings. I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers.

Kelly: 4.5
Jody: 4
Jacki: 3.75
Laurie: 3
Andrea: 3
Debbie: 3
Elena: 4
Karen: n/a (we missed you and your expanding waistline.)

I would say that overall we found the parents to be infuriating, selfish, and unbelievable. Kelly and Jody were in awe of the survival instincts of the children. We agreed that the mother was worse than the father because she let things happen while actually having the resources to get out of the situation. At least (almost in a sarcastic tone) the father had something (alcoholism) to blame his behavior on. We were sad for Maureen, the youngest child, and wanted to know what became of her. No matter who you are or what your background is, the book is haunting. There were comparisons made to Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.

At some point in the evening, something struck a chord and I shared many incidents from my youth. (In fact, I'll say that I babbled a bit and don't even know if I completed a coherent thought.) Like Jeannette Walls, the events shape who I am. They exist in such a way that I am no longer aware of them in any overt sort of way. They are just a part of who I am. My guess is that this is similar for Walls. A scene that stands out in my mind from the book is the opening scene where she sees her homeless mother in the street when she is about to enter a fancy gathering. These are the times when her past must slap her in the face yet serve as a way to keep her grounded in who she is and where she is now. I know that such things exist for me.

It was certainly an interesting night. We had a dinner of enchiladas inspired by Andrea asking me for the recipe. And in all randomness we learned that Debbie bought a watermelon at Sam's Club that tasted very good. We also learned that while some members of the group may not have melons, they sure know how to pick 'em out. That is a skill that is going on our book club resume. Clearly, we are a highly skilled group.

Well, except for me. If you can even believe this, I. Forgot. To. Serve. Dessert. It was about 10:00 PM and everyone was getting ready to go home. Kelly had brought Jacki the Girl Scout cookies she had ordered. The ladies tore into those cookies. And it hit me. "OH NO! I forgot to serve dessert!" I was slightly (if a fully red face counts as slightly) embarrassed. I'll just blame it on the 3 glasses of wine. Yes, that's it. The wine. It gets me every time.

For anybody who missed Laurie's post on our February book Eat, Pray, Love, it is here. You'll note that Laurie berated us for not being very creative about our picture taking. We always take a group picture on the couch. Not Friday night! Oh, no! We gave Joel the camera and allowed him to tell us (Jacki) how to pose. It won't mean too much to anyone outside our group, but it sure gave us the giggles.

How'd he do?

Now, Jacki. Is that how Joel asked you to stand?

Where's Jacki?
(Joel just wanted to show off his piano, eh?)

Thanks for a fabulous night, ladies!

Rescuing Sprite(should be rescue us from this book)

2008-03-16T12:51:00.006-05:00

March book club ended up being more about food, sleep numbers and sacs than it did about the book. We were minus two friends this month which is always disappointing. We missed Elena and Kelly and hope to see you next month! The menu for this month was chips and salsa, veggies and dip, 2 kinds of wings, salad and lemon torn angel food cake for dessert. Jody, of course, presented the top 10 (I hope that we didn't frustrate you too much with our lack of knowledge regarding the Hollywood set. Elena you aren't allowed to miss any more book clubs so that at least one person will know who Jody is talking about). After dinner everyone went up to find their sleep number on my new sleep number bed. Everyone looked mighty cozy.

The book Rescuing Sprite was a unanimous thumbs down ( Kelly I am assuming you hated the book too)! Here are the ratings:
Andrea : 2 but I'll give it an extra .5 because it only took an hour and a half to read.
Jody: 1.75 - First I was distressed then petrified. The .75 is because it was a short read.
Karen: 1.5 I skipped all the e-mails.
Laurie: 2 but only because it was about a rescue dog.
Jackie: 2 I would have given it a 1.5 but I enjoyed the last chapter.
Debbie: 1.5 I think it would have made a good newspaper article.
Elena: 2 Its a bad book for me when the one part I sort of liked was the IM chat discussion with Rush Limbaugh. ( Thanks for e-mailing me your rating Elena)!
We all agreed that it read like a bad diary entry - "I love my dog, I love my dog. I love my dog, I love my dog, I love my dog...." oh yeah, and "the dogs had a wonderful coat and color" was all he could say. Also we couldn't quite get over the fact that he spent more time with the dogs than he did with his own family. He actually ate dinner with the dogs every night but not with his family. Several people felt that he spent a lot of time name dropping -who cares if you know Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It was sad how the dog was sick, a few did cry and felt that it hit close to home.
The rest of the evening centered around the fact that thong underwear is out and boy underwear is in. According to several of our book clubbers the boy underwear is very comfortable. The conversation turned interesting as we learned the various names of men's thong underwear. You might know them as ball sacs, banana hammocks, and if your Laurie onion sacs. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Thanks for a fun night See you all next month at Elena's. The book for April is Glass Castles. Happy Easter Everyone!

Book Club Side Note

2008-03-16T10:05:00.006-05:00

Which sack do you prefer:

Lesportsac

Onion sack

and for those of you playing along - would you prefer this bag to a sack??

Hmmmm...

March Top 10

2008-03-16T07:19:00.000-05:00

10. Two doctors (radiologist and cardiologist) were found not guilty of negligence in the death of John Ritter.

9. George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle donated $500,000 to the United Nations World Food Program.

8. Lindsay Lohan is starting to design a line of leggings.

7. Heather Mills is rumored to be getting $50 million in her divorce for Sir Paul McCartney.

6. Anne Hathaway received Female Star of the Year Award during the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas.

5. Steve-O is rumored to be in treatment.

4. Paris is supposedly dating Benji Madden.

3. Sheryl Crow may be converting to Scientology.

2. The date with Scarlett Johansson which was auctioned off earned $39,360 for Oxfam.

1. Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows to hit the big screen as two separate movies (release dates: Nov. 2010 and Dec. 2011).

Eat * Pray* Love

2008-03-16T07:17:00.006-05:00

February Book Club

This is my first post to our blog. I've learned a few things....like take notes if you plan to post 2 months later.... I think this might be some sort of blog offense as the purpose of a blog is to share information as it occurs in your life..... Another thing to work on.... I can only grow from here! And one more thing....I promise that when I host next... I will not take a group picture on a couch. Seriously, I can't take another "couch moment" we are more creative than this!!!

The Numbers & Comments

Kelly 4.0 - I read this on the beach and really enjoyed it. In real life, I wouldn't have liked her. Jody 1.75- I'm annoyed by another self indulgent, self awareness journey
Elena 2.75- not notes no memory
Debbie 3.0- too detailed and repetitive; liked the quiet time talking to God.
Andrea 2.75- I wanted to like but I didn't
Karen 2.0- too much detail, not enough lessons learned
Laurie 3.0 - enjoyed the journey to discovery her true self.
Jacki 2.25- I like that she took responsibility

Our cute Prego!!

SNUGGLE UP!
Another cold house??? Apparently so, I even
had the fire on. Seriously, we are getting to the
age where this may be indicative of some thyroid
disorder ladies :)...oh wait not you E!

No Pictures Tonight!!!

psst...I'm only posting this
so I have evidence that 'Dre
wasn't in the mood for
photos. I know the group
shot wasn't the best but I
only had 1 to post, sorry Dre!!

Overall, another great girls night.
Thanks for making the trek across the border in the middle of winter!!

Movie Star Boyfriends - Replace Top 10

2008-02-18T20:15:00.008-06:00

I was shirking my book club responsibilities by not preparing a proper Top 10 for the February book club. But what better month than February and Valentine's Day to open up the topic of:

"Who is your movie star boyfriend?". The answers may surprise you.

Debbie: She had a series of men - Dean Cain and Mathew McConaughey.

Kelly: While in mourning for Heath, she is shopping around for a new MSBF.

Elena: Patrick Dempsey owns her heart, but he better watch out for Kyle Chandler.

Jody: She would like a house call from the #1 ER doctor - George Clooney.

Jacki: Matthew McConaughey is her movie man.

Andrea: Viggo Mortensen

Karen: She has no movie star boyfriend - she only has eyes for Mason!

Laurie: I don't know...she somehow got out of sharing. Anyone who knows - post in comments!

So I am sorry for the Top 10, but I actually liked the discussion of this topic a little bit more!

January Meeting - Another Mountain of Food...

2008-02-10T14:04:00.012-06:00

********************************************************************************
The question of the night is...was it really that cold in my house???
********************************************************************************

The evening started with the Mountain of Food, which I have now served for the third time. Ironically, the theme of this book fell right into the required category for serving it, so planning the menu was easy. One unusual aspect of the evening was that no one wanted wine. There were a few beer takers, but that was it. I had the only glass, which, as I mentioned above, is what kept me warm later…

As Jody read the top 10, she finished off with “baby news”, which I thought was a lead into some type of news, but it was not…

We bundled up (literally) in front of the fire to discuss the book. I didn’t realize my house was that cold, but there were multiple blanket requests, and we even tried some hand warmers provided by my husband. Unfortunately, the warmers were faulty, so we gave them back to him…product defect… I, on the other hand was very warm…you girls need to have a glass of wine to warm you up!

The book discussion started with mixed reviews:

Laurie - 3.25
Jody - 1.25
Elena - 2.5
Karen - no rating
Debbie - 1.5
Andrea - 2
Jacki - 3.5
Kelly - 4

We had a wide variety of ratings for this book. This may have been from a variety of reasons, some of which were:

Not everyone finished the book;
Some thought it contained too many details in some instances; and,
We have read a number of similar books lately that may have been a distraction.

Although the discussion was not overly lengthy, the comments varied widely. Our highest “rater” was not at the meeting, and I think she might have added some additional positive points to the book (being biased as I was, because I thought it was a good book, although somewhat wordy in places). One concensus was that we were all glad that we have never had to eat RYB (that would be Rancid Yak Butter).

The best news of the evening happened after the book discussion, when our newly married member, Karen, proceeded to tell us that her choice for the June book club would be “25,000 Baby Names”…Congratulations Karen!!! We are going to love having another baby at book club…It has been a while! I am planning on being a baby-hog, so watch out ladies!

OK. So, this ends my first attempt at a blog entry…I hope it was satisfactory!

Insallah, we will have some warmer weather soon!
Stay warm, ladies…until next time…

January 2008 Top Ten

2008-01-29T06:40:00.000-06:00

10. Heath Ledger died – rumor that Michelle Williams broke up with him over his drug abuse.

9. Ellen turned 50 yesterday!

8. Such a Pretty Fat by our (Elena and me) favorite author – Jen Lancaster comes out in May along with an author visit to Minneapolis.

7. Juno is up for 4 academy awards including best picture; Diablo Cody: she is working on a horror movie screenplay; her real name is Brooke

6. Britney Spears took home "Best International Album" at the NRJ Music Awards in France on Saturday.

5. Marlon Brando's eldest son, Christian, pasted away, he was hospitalized this past week with pneumonia. Brando was 49.

4. Nicole Richie had a baby girl – Harlow Winter Kate Madden

3. Christina Aguilea had a boy - Max Liron Bratman Liron is Hebrew for “My song" and Max means "The Greatest."

2. Matthew McConaughey is having a baby with his Brazilian model girlfriend Camila Alves – she is three months pregnant.

1. Brad and Angelina – supposedly pregnant with twins

Upcoming Books

2008-01-15T06:54:00.000-06:00

For those of you who like to plan ahead - here is the upcoming book club schedule.

February

Eat, Pray, Love : One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia

By: Elizabeth Gilbert

Host: Laurie

March

Rescuing Sprite : A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish

By: Mark Levin

Host: Andrea

April

The Glass Castle

By: Jeannette Walls

Host: Elena

May

The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love : A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared

By: Jill Conner Browne

Host: Jody

Little Woman Turns a Year Older!

2008-01-11T19:13:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Laurie! To the one and only "Little Woman"!

Sorry it was a day late, we hope you had a happy one.

Confessions of a Failed Midwestern Bookclub

2008-01-10T09:33:00.001-06:00

a.k.a A Great Christmas Bookclub with a crappy book.

As the title suggests, our Christmas bookclub was again a great time of sharing, laughing and fun. Unfortunately the much praised book was a big letdown for our group. The book was deemed hilarious by readers online. We aren't sure what their definition of hilarious is, but it obviously has nothing to do with begin funny.

We had an interesting display of ratings. We always go clockwise (to keep Jody's OCD in check) and this time we happened to start with Laurie. We were a tad surprised at her ranking, and in a bit you'll see why. Here are the ratings:
Laurie- 3
Elena- 2
Kelly-1
Jacki-1.75
Andrea-0.5
Karen-2
Jody-1.25
Debbie-1.5
Those of you who have paid attention may know that Laurie is one of our queens of classic literature. I mean, she chose Little Women as a light Christmas read-- all 6,000 pages of it and books never get higher than a 3 from Laurie. Thus, her rating of 3 seemed very out of character. That is until she admitted that she didn't actually read the book and was just going to try to play it off. Karma won by making her rate first. Our other non-book-finisher was better placed in the seating arrangement so her rating doesn't stand out as brutally.

As a group, we just didn't see the humor. Here are some of the comments:
"It's a memoir? I had no idea. Now it's even worse."
"It could have been funny."
"Tulip Lee. Do you think there is a hidden message?"
"Pfft."
"If I had to read f-f#$^ one more time..."
"The graphic same sex loving? It was a big eyeroll."
"Bres is obviously a woman eater."
"It was sweet when he wore the scarf."

Can you all guess which one of the comments above was said by a non-reader? Hint: it is the only comment that is not negative.

Needless to say, we didn't want any other bookclub to be fooled by the reviews. We decided to help them out by posting our own review. If you go here, you can probably guess which is ours. (You should read it, it's funny.)

The really fun portion of the evening was our annual ornament and cookie exchange.
Everyone seems to get ornaments they really love!!

There great pictures of all of the beautifully wrapped presents and all of us together but the system is unable to upload them right now. I think if this takes any longer to post I may be banned from bookclub all together so I am not going to risk it.

The cookie exchange was a wonderful contributer to my holiday weight gain, thanks to everyone. Our cookie list this year featured some old favorites as well as some new ones:

Laurie: Ritz Cracker Peanut Butter cookies
Elena: Million Dollar cookies
Kelly: Chocolate Candy Cane cookies
Jacki: Frosted Sugar cookies
Andrea: Chocolate Dream Snowballs
Karen: Fudge
Jody: Sugar cookies
Debbie: Haystacks

It is hard to believe this was really our 4th Christmas together. We have read some great books and some not-so-great ones but we have learned that the book discussion is secondary to all the other fun things that we are able to discuss.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Books of 2007

2007-12-31T11:26:00.000-06:00

January 2007

Title: Bitter is the New Black

Author: Jen Lancaster

Host: Jody

February 2007

Title: Elegant Gathering Of White Snows

Author: Kris Radish

Host: Karen

March 2007

Title: The Reading Group

Author: Elizabeth Noble

Host: Debbie

April 2007

Title: Bel Canto

Author: Ann Patchett

Host: Kelly

May 2007

Title: Mutant Message Down Under

Author: Marlo Morgan

Host: Jacki

June 2007

Title: Love Walked In

Author: Marisa de los Santos

Host: Laurie

July 2007

Title: Stupid and Contagious

Author: Caprice Crane

Host: Elena

August 2007

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Host: Andrea

September 2007

The Myth of You and Me

By: Leah Stewart

Host: Jody

October 2007

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life

By: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Host: Karen

November 2007

Water for Elephants

By: Sara Gruen

Host: Kelly

December 2007

Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady

By: Florence King

Host: Debbie

December Top 10

2007-12-15T07:24:00.000-06:00

10. Owen Wilson & Woody Harrelson are in Peru on a guy vacation.

9. Amy Winehouse nominated for 6 Grammys.

8. Jodie Foster publicly acknowledged her same sex lover of almost 20 years at an award ceremony she thanked "her beautiful Cyndy".

7. Kiefer Sutherland checked into jail on Wednesday night for a DUI related arrest a few months ago. He will serve 48 days in jail.

6. Spice Girls concert - apparently all of them are lip syncing except for Sporty Spice.

5. Regis is transitioning to a three day work week next year.

4. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden had a Wizard of Oz themed shower - they donated the gifts to a Los Angeles free clinic.

3. Donald Trump - denies that he left a waiter a $10,000 tip.

2. Golden Compass - boycott. No more needs to be said.

1. Juno - new movie written by Diablo Cody author of Candygirl come out. It has been nominated for three Golden Globes.

November Book Club Meeting

2007-11-20T17:49:00.000-06:00

Book: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen

Ratings: Debbie, Andrea, Kelly, Jacki, Laurie - 4
Elena, Jody - 4.5 (although Jody soon changed hers to 4.82)

We got together on Sunday to talk about Water for Elephants. The most unusual part of this book discussion was that everyone liked, really liked, maybe even loved this book! To be fair, Karen was not able to join us so it is possible that she does not share our opinion. Let us know Karen! However, this book discussion had no differences of opinion, no controversy, no wide range of ratings. How bizarre for our group!
One of the things we liked about this book is how the author provided so many well-researched details. It is easy to picture the circus acts - the horses, the elephant, the costumes. My favorite details were when the author describes the logistics of setting up and tearing down the circus in each town. Also, the chapters with Jacob as a 90 year-old (or 93 year-old) in the nursing home were so touching and funny.
We all enjoyed the authors notes at the end of the book. It makes the story feel even more real to read that the circus acts and animals were modeled after real acts and real circus animals. Also, the photos at the beginning of each chapter are amazing. It's fun to know it was a photo that inspired the author to write this novel. Also, we were all surprised to learn that the biblical story of Jacob was incorporated into Water for Elephants. Although we were all unaware of it while reading, we did try to make the connection during our discussion. I guess Jacob Jankowski represents Isaac's son Jacob and August represents Jacob's brother Esau. The biblical brothers were always in competition as were Jacob and August. Also, Esau had rank over Jacob because he was first born and August was Jacob's superior in the book because he was Jacob's boss. I'm sure there is more to it, but I feel like I'm starting to ramble! So, thank you to the author for a happy ending to this great story!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I look forward to seeing all of you on December 7th!

November Top 10

2007-11-19T13:26:00.001-06:00

Here is sure fire way to make Elena go a little crazy: ask her to do the Top Ten. Oh, the pressure.

Here is my attempt at dishing the dirt.

10. People is reporting that after a preliminary hearing there is sufficient evidence that O.J. Simpson and five other men robbed several sports memorabilia dealers.

9. Katherine McPhee (23) is engaged to Nick Cokas (42).

8. Former E.R. star Julianna Margulies married lawyer Keith Lieberthal in Massachusetts last weekend. She is 7 months pregnant.

7. Britney Spears is said to be having Thanksgiving dinner with the Cyrus family.

6. An arrest warrant has been issued in Japan for Hayden Panettiere (of Heroes fame). She has been accused of interfering in a dolphin hunt. She and other activists swam on a surfboard to confront Japanese fisherman during the dolphin massacre.

5. Zahara Jolie-Pitt’s birth mother who was presumed dead has surfaced and wants to have a relationship with Zahara. Apparently, the birth mother was raped, became pregnant, was dirt poor and unable to care for her child. The grandma who gave Zahara away told the adoption agency that her daughter was dead after she ran away. It is unclear whether she believed this or just wanted to get Zahara adopted off. Regardless, Brad and Angelina have legal rights to the child.

4. Nicole Richie is having a boy. She had a Wizard of Oz themed baby shower.

3. Lindsay Lohan, convicted of two nearly back-to-back DUI offenses, was originally sentenced for four days in jail. She got credit for one day served and then got a deal that further reduced her jail time in exchange for 10 days of community service. She served 83 minutes. She is completing her community service with the red cross.

2. Martha Stewart’s mom died at age 93.

1. Kanye West’s mom,Donda West, passed away due to a cardiac arrest last Saturday following a tummy tuck and breast reduction operation. The physician is under fire and has released a statement to the West family sending his condolences but otherwise is in hiding. The surgeon is under fire, but insists he did nothing wrong.

Next month, back to our regularly scheduled Top 10 reporter: Jody!

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life

2007-11-19T13:11:00.000-06:00

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

This space reserved for the synopsis and summation of our October book club meeting where we discussed How Nancy Drew Saved My Life complete with a phone-in to the author, Lauren Baratz-Logsted.