May Book Club 2011

I was unable to attend this month's Literary meeting due to a death in the family. Lis stepped up and wrote a guest blog this month and you will find it below. She did a great job! Thanks Lis. I am always open to guest bloggers. Anytime any one of you feels compelled just let me know! Also, I've included instructions for leaving a comment on the sidebar.

Our June gathering and second half of Pillars of the Earth gave us the opportunity to enjoy Terry’s new and comfortable adobe. And what a lovely home it is, oozing of Terry’s personality from every nook and cranny that I was able to stick my nose close to. She had lovingly prepared her back yard for us with lights and lawn pots of spring flowers in hopes of a patio party. Sadly, the wind from a late cold front and the cooler temperatures that it brought with it spoiled her plans and only allowed for a short, cigarette-length hangout before our frosty fingers drove us back inside. In true book club fashion, we crowded the kitchen with food. Terry’s sumptuous pecan-crusted pork loin with strawberry sauce was the crowning jewel, gathering around it our contributions for the evening meal, like a beautiful oriental noodle salad with cashews (yum, I love cashews), an enticing rice pilaf with greens (don’t know what kind but it made my heart pitter patter faster), While waiting for the finishing touches, we snacked, like the queens that we are, on Shrimp Cocktail with gargantuan shrimp, Wild Forest Deviled Eggs with horseradish, scallions, and bacon, and Baba Ghanoush from scratch, ah Heaven. I love my Literary Society pal’s that will help me devour Baba Ghanoush so I can make it for myself – thank you, true and trusty friends. For anybody that left room - and those that have real skill in stacking food just so in their bellies - there was fruit, cheese, brownie, chocolate, and cheesecake snackage to top everything off and have some of us – with less willpower – doubling over with extended stomachs and the moans of “I shouldn’t have taken that second helping.” There was plenty left, after we finally gave up, that could have made our missing members happy; we missed Laura, Denise, Darby, Sherrie, and Lou was only able to stop by for just a little while. Sorry, Sherrie for your sad occasion, she had to pass this month’s blog on and so here I am, Lissy, trying to do justice to the lovely evening in print.

Lounging on Terry’s comfortable sofa or overlooking the group from her breakfast bar stools, we heard about exciting travel plans, a visit with the Dalai Lama, and Pam’s budding star, Sam, landing a role in a Gator Aid commercial. We will be looking for him on television and then excitedly point, exclaiming, “I know that kid.” Terry, Janie, and Diana’s talk of their upcoming European travels fit into the discussion of the 2nd half to Pillars and the historical architecture that they will be musing over. Terry pointed out that the main character of the book was actually the church itself that the whole story wraps around; was it static or did it change? We still didn’t like William or Alfred and wished them the worst – rather, felt justified in the author’s depiction of their final fate. At my comment that we don’t have to feel bad about the stereotyping of Ellen because the author stereotyped all the characters, Terry quickly responded with a grin, “Oh for crying out loud, the 1100’s – that’s where stereotypes come from.” Well said, Terry, we felt redeemed. We all agreed that life in those days is not for us, the more or less pampered 21-century princesses that we deserve to be, honoring ourselves by loving life – or at least book club. Janie re-emphasized how this book has opened up a new world for her, a world of being able to appreciate large, time-intensive volumes. And others, including me, identified with her for not being good, or even poor, readers in school but have grown to love it and consider ourselves good (or at least persistent) readers now. Thanks Literary Society! As far as Janie is concerned, never again will she dismiss a book solely on the grounds of measuring more than 2 cm in thickness.

Hooray, STNM has won another book-soul; if we ever write a book, it could be called Book-Soul Gatherers. Even against my criticism at the writing style and disillusionment about the end being wrapped up too nicely in a package of ‘everybody is taken care of within the confines of the characters and settings,’ the book was well received. Overall thoughts of members were that the diction wasn’t so great, but it had a compelling story. Pillars is an interesting historical fiction about life in the 1100’s, nice details about architecture, religion, and government of the time wrapped up in enough intrigue and controversy to keep the reader turning the pages – even me. Tidy ending - too bad! Solely my bad, sad rating brought the score down to a final 3.69.

Alas, the evening had to come to a close; our literary reality had to give way again to the dream of our lives apart but with the promise of the June book, The Hundred-Foot Journey. Carla The Great introduced us to her ritual of starting a new book. With anticipated pleasure, she will search out a place of great comfort, calm her surroundings, and dedicate a few hours to the new words - then turn the first, crisp page. With that, we separated with the glad knowledge that we would be together again in less than 24 hours to celebrate Darby’s milestone birthday in the Bier Garten of the Royal Bavarian restaurant.