October 2010 Book Club

Can we believe that we've just concluded October's Book Club? Only 2 more meetings to wrap up another year. I suppose you'd think by now I'd have accepted how fast the time goes instead of being surprised by it month to month. I, personally, had a very busy week that left me feeling drained and exhausted. But, thanks again to great nourishment in food, companionship and discussion I have lived to write another blog (and a good nights sleep helped too). We missed Lou, Carla G. and Barb. Our condolensces to Barb who lost a dear friend this week. Also, our loving support to Terry who signed her divorce papers. She is feeling good and looking great and entering a new chapter in her own life. I debated about sharing that here in the blog but life is a mixed bag of events and we love and support each other through them all.

Diana hosted for Lis tonight. Lis had new tile installed and was unable to move her furniture back to its place.

Dinner tonight was full of comfort foods. Lis brought her world famous (or it should be) 5 cheese mac & cheese along with individual fruit tarts. Diana had catered an event and provided us the delicisous leftover fish and chicken dishes. Darby brought hummus and Bobba Ganoush, Terry provided 3 flavors of ice cream and cones and Carla brought a Chocolate Cake. There was also the usual assortments of tea, wine, and coffee. Arnora, who faithfully provides the floral centerpiece brought a pumpkin instead which was the perfect decoration for October.

This month's book, Firefly Lane, certainly sparked an interesting conversation and we find that our most interesting discussions come from books that polarize us in our opinions. I did not have time to read the book this month so the girls provided a brief description: Kate and Tully are childhood friends. Kate's family takes Tully in at somepoint when the girls are about 14. Tully seems to be the leader and Kate more of a follower. Kate follows Tully in school and in her desire to become a news anchor. Kate really wants to marry, have a family and be a writer. There is a man, of course, that Tully has a fling with but Kate marries. The story follows the women through their lives and is a commentary on their choices and how it affects the friendship.

Darby was offended. At the writing, the editing and the characterizations. She felt the author demonized Tully because she chose other than to marry and have a family. Bad writing pisses Darby off to the point she actually threw the book across the room at least twice. To her credit she stuck it out to the bitter end. Oh, and I know, we've all been there. I reminisced about listening to one of our books on CD and how I wanted to throw them out the window and run over them I was hating the writing so much! I refrained only because I had to return them to the Library.

Terry liked parts of the book but thought other parts were elementary and very "High School." Carla A "liked" the book. Many parts of it were very nostalgic for her and she didn't feel that Tully was demonized. She cared about the characters and thought it had cute romantic moments. To which, Darby grabbed a book and read a couple of passages. I have to say it did read like a very bad romance novel.

Laura commented that she found only one typo. High praise coming from an English Major. She also liked the music references but Janie pointed out that some were wrong for the time of the book. Laura said she did care about the characters and cried at the appropriate times. When Janie reads she'd rather listen. She doesn't want to get into typos and grammar. She really liked the book but titled it "Lite and Trite." Speaking of which, Darby also pointed out that the author quotes an editor's advice to Kate about not using cliches and yet the author herself filled the book with them. Someone said there were enough "Lines for a Lifetime".

Diana read the book in 4 days but couldn't tell us why she was compelled to do so. She didn't much care for the book although after the discussion she raised her rating from a .5 to a 2.

In the end Darby called it "atrocious, stereotypical, emotional, clap-trap, bull shit." I think I got all the metahors in there. You have to keep in mind that this discussion was passionate but also hysterical. That is probably not coming across here but by the time Darby left she had flipped us off twice (a monumnetal first in book club & all in fun) and pronounced the word palatable as pa lat able. Which almost rhymed with platapus.

Pam asked to give Darby a little therapy by suggesting the book touched a personal chord. Darby readily admitted that she identified with Tully's choices and feels that women who choose a path different from motherhood are often demonized. I have to agree with that.

The book rated a 2.64 of those who rated it plus Carla A's "like". Diana titled this book club "a 5 bottle night." Which, for me is like 5 stars. If I compared this night to a bottle of wine I'd have to say it was a fine Cab full bodied, bold and spicy. A no hold bold and daring, take no prisoners, not for sissies wine!

P.S. Firefly Lane was the name of the street that the girls grew up on. There were no fireflies in the story and no fireflies were harmed during the making of this book club.

The final business of the night everyone was reminded to get our Christmas Song choice to Darby who is making us a mix tape for the holidays. November's book is Girl in Translation (I promise to read it no matter what) and we chose "One Day" by David Nichols for December.

I so enjoyed this book club even though I didn't read the book and laughed just as hard reliving it for the blog! Now that's a great book club!

September Book Club 2010

This month's book club was hosted by Ozzy and Carla Gibb. Although, Ozzy kind of pooped out on us in the end! Everyone was present and accounted for except for Janie who was visiting her daughter in Austin, Texas. We missed you Janie but I know you had a good time watching Gone with the Wind on the big screen!

This month's book, Cutting for Stone, was set in Ethiopia. This inspired Barb to bring her African Chicken and Diana complimented it with brown rice. Carla G did a beautiful salad, great bread and Red Rooster Cocktails. Liz brought Babba Ganoush and Nan bread, Lou brought a sampling of dips from Misal's; Dal, Potato Bhaji and Navrathan. Pam brought Oatmeal cake, Terry brought Key Lime Pie. Darby brought Cranberry Kiss cocktails, and Denise brought wine from Sonoma and Arnora brought the flowers. The food, as always, was delicious and warranted seconds.

For book club in November, Lou is going to arrange for the photographer to come and take our 10 Year Anniversary photo. It was decided that we'd go with a black & white theme for cohesiveness and the photographer recommended we stay away from things with too much pattern. As far as we know, everyone plans to be at Darby's for this event. If you find you have a conflict let Diana or Lou know so that we can make other arrangements. October's book is Firefly Lane and Liz is our hostess for the month. It was also decided that those who wished to would re-read the last Harry Potter and that we would convene for a dinner discussion separately from regular book club to discuss before the movie comes out. The actual book for November is "Girl in Translation."

The book rated a 4.65 among those who rated; an "I loved it with all my heart" and an "I loved it" from Carla A and Pam.

Cutting for Stone is set in Ethiopia but it is not about Ethiopians. All of the main characters are Ex-pats from other countries and mostly India. The story is about twin boys and it was noted that twins often show up in the stories we read. They are born in to drama, chaos and loss right from the beginning. Their mother is a nun working at a mission in Ethiopia and their father is the doctor she assists in surgery. No one knows she is pregnant until she goes into labor. The twins are co-joined. The mother dies in childbirth and the father abandons them to be raised by one of the female doctors at the mission. I only managed to get half way through the book so I'm not going to attempt to recount the full story. The book is very layered and is about relationships, love, loss, betrayal, and the medical profession. It's also about death and how we deal with that and working through all of these life challenges. The book resonated with everyone as we've all experienced our losses over the years and some very recently.

Diana said the book was very timely for her. She had tried to get into it last year and did not enjoy it at all. But when she picked it up this year it spoke to her in a different way. Carla A said the language was poetic and the story left her "rung out". Darby really liked but wasn't crazy for all the medical procedures (me too!) but Pam loved it for those reasons. Diana went on to say that as we grow and mature and work through these events that we all go through - you come to a place of acceptance with the process and you often cope with things differently. And of course, we all agreed that when someone has lived a long life and it is part of the natural trajectory, we handle it differently than when a life is cut tragically short. We talked about "grief being a window that opens on its own" and you really have little or no control for when or how long you might grieve someone. That often it will hit you out of the blue long after the event.

Reading a book is such an interactive exercise. The author writes out of his own working through of experiences and he turns it loose on the world. The reader reads this experience and brings to it the layers of their own personal catharsis. Then we come together in a group setting to share our experiences. The layers of our own lives are deepened and enriched. We share compassion for each other and, validation of our emotions. Even the most humorous of the books we've read tend to have some loss and betrayal that we come up against.

Such is the life experience and aren't we lucky that there are authors & readers willing to dig that deep and that we have each other to share these moments of with?

August Book Club 2010

Laura is just back from her European vacation, I just got back from the Pacific Northwest. Denise is vacationing in Hawaii so we missed her and also Darby who had a "school is starting fiasco" to deal with.

It's August here in the Great Plains and it's been nothing but hot for weeks. Book Club was hosted by Barb this month and she decided that everyone should bring their favorite summertime food. Laura brought spinach, strawberry, chicken salad. Carla A brought watermelon and Carla G brought a watermelon salad. Lou brought a corn and Frito salad. Pam brought mozzarella, tomato basil salad. Janie brought bread and butter. Darby sent hummus, tabouli, tapenade and pita. Terry brought apple pie. Liz brought cucumber and tomato sandwiches and Arnora brought the flowers and we had wine, tea and coffee.

What do the words "awfuller, awfullist and awfullism" have in common? Janie offered that something was "awfuller" which is worse than awful. Awfullist, we decided was someone who practiced "awfullism" which I think is the worship of all things awful! Conversation at book club is always entertaining and last night was no exception as we bounced around from topic to topic and made up new words for everything.

Eat Pray Love, the movie, opens this week and we were all making plans to attend at some point over the weekend. There was a report of the Momma Mia sing-along at the museum and the upcoming screening of Gone with the Wind also at the museum. As hot as it has been it is a good weekend to stay in the cool-cool theatre and avoid heat stroke.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo rated a 4 out 5 with the majority liking it. There was one thumbs up and one thumbs down (for those who don't like to rate). Terry gave the movie a 4. Most thought the story was engrossing and filled with surprises and twists. There were several, however, who thought the first part of the book was too passive. I found it boring, repetitive and plodding. Both Laura and I agreed that exactly on page 180 things started to shift and for me, finally, on page 290 the action kicked in. I just thought that I would have found the book more engaging if he had started with the action and woven in the background information instead of giving us the steady diet of it up front. All agreed that Lisabeth Salander was a worthy heroine. Young, wounded, self-protective, street smart and in the possession of a photographic memory she is really the life of the novel.

Each section of the book begins with a statistic about domestic violence in Sweden and the story is rife with sexual behaviors and patterns. Blomvkist is engaged to write a family memoir in the hopes of solving a 40 year old disappearance of the patriarch's family; a young woman believed to have been murdered. Blomvkist engages Salander as his research assistant and with her investigative skills she is able to help him solve the mystery.

The author's story is as interesting as the book. A journalist himself he was in hiding for many years avoiding death threats for his political views. Over ten years he wrote this trilogy and died within 3 months of turning it over to publishers. The Girl Who Played with Fire and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornets nest complete the published series though it is believed that he was working on more and that his significant other is in possession of these papers. I wasn't wild about the book but Lisabeth Salander is an intriguing character and I may read the others just to see what happens to her next.

July Book Club

Happy Birthday Diana, Lou and Terry!

We missed Laura, who was traveling with family in Europe and Pam who was at the Lyle Lovett concert.

I hope to be forgiven for the lateness of the blog. I had a busy end of June with the birth of my 2nd granddaughter. Terry and Lou also had new additions to their family and we had lots of catching up to do.

July's book club was held poolside at Lou's. It did rain part of the afternoon but we were able to enjoy our book discussion poolside in the Cabana. Lou provided a very flavorful chicken satay. Terry brought what was deemed, "the very best salad every brought to book club," and we have had some pretty great salads. This one had pear, avocado, blue cheese, candied pecans and green onion with a homemade mustard vinaigrette dressing. Carla A brought some fantastic rolls, Barb brought guacamole and hummus, Liz brought cucumbers, artichokes & tomatoes, Diana brouth watermelon, and Janie brought chocolate covered strawberries. Darby brought a variety of juices to mix vodka martini's and there were other wines and coffee and Denise brought a fantastic birthday cake and Arnora brought the floral bouquet.

This month's book was Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. This was not his usual sci-fi novel but rather a compilation of short stories about the summer of a 12 year old boy. The stories are a fictionalized version of Bradbury's own childhood. Those that read the book really enjoyed it. As Diana said, "Even if you didn't read the book Bradbury paints reflections of sweet summer childhood days of which we could all share or own remembrances.

The book rated 4.4 with 8 people voting. Next month's book is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

We've started working on our Christmas project this year. Darby is going to send out the Marcel Proust/Bernard Pivot/James Lipton questionnaire for us all to answer. Like the poetry books, she will compile these into books for us all. Also, by the end of October, we are to have her our favorite Christmas song specific version and artist for a CD she will make for us all.

June Book Club 2010

Right off the bat we missed Janie, Carla A., Arnora and Terry. But, it was great to see Lou looking and feeling so great after her surgery last month and to have Lis back from Germany. Diana and Biscuit hosted this month.

First, I just want to mention that Diana has created a google calender for us. She has sent it to everyone via email. We can post our vacation and other dates for the purposes of planning a couple of things that are coming up. We are moving into the 10th Anniversary of The Same Time Next Month book club. We're planning a professional group photo so we're looking for a date that everyone can get together. We're also planning a possible trip to Orlando to attend the new Harry Potter amusement park. Lou has contact in Destin/Panama City where we can stay for a week for free. From there we could make a 2-day trip to HP. We're looking at late October or early November. As other events present themselves the calendar will help us in our planning.

On to the food. The jungle, it turns out, is not the place to be inspired by food. Food seemed quite scarce and you really had to know what you were looking for because so much of it was poisonous. So, we took another tack. Percy Fawcett was English so we put together an English High Tea. And by that I mean Long Island Iced Tea! I'm not going to try to remember who brought what dish but we had radish, chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches, three different types of scones, brie & raspberry with crackers, watermelon and fresh cherries. Carla G brought the flowers in Arnora's absence. The food, as always was really good and so beautiful as you can see from the photos.
Let me just say that as I was finishing this month's book Carla and I went camping with Jackie. I know - the princess in a tent is not a common site. But I have to say I loved it! They've definitely improved the equipment over the years and it was an extremely relaxing weekend sleeping under the stars and cooking out on the grill and literally singing around the campfire.

That experience was nothing like exploring the Amazon. Not once in the Chickasaw National Park did I see anything that looked like it was going to eat me or attack me. And I have to say after reading the book it did not leave me with a longing to go there!

Our book this month was The Lost City of Z. The book was about the exploration and obsession of the Amazon. The English explorer Percy Fawcett's story was focused on as he made several trips to the Amazon looking for what he believed was a lost city of unimaginable wealth. On his last trip with his son and son's best friend they were lost and never heard from again. The author of this book stumbled on the story and developed his own obsession with finding out what happened. The Amazon is an enormous area that covers several countries in South America and its vegetation and wildlife are particular hostile to human life. The book also covered the discovery and exploitation of the rubber industry as well as Fawcett's marriage and family. The author told Fawcett's story but also went to the Amazon to see if he could find out what happened to Fawcett. He confirmed that the most likely story is that they were killed by one of the indigenous tribes. And he discovered a recent explorer who is excavating the areas where Fawcett traveled and confirming the lost city. It was sad to know that Fawcett's wife spent the rest of her life traveling from son to daughter and never knowing what happened to her husband and son and always believing they were coming back.

Everyone liked the book for the information it presented. We didn't think the writing was as good as it could have been. Most of us expected and would have liked to have read more about his own adventure in the Amazon. Interestingly enough, Laura and Terry lived in the Amazon as children when their father worked in the oil industry in Venezuela. Laura had some interesting perspective on what it was like to be a white family in the Amazon living in a protected and elite compound.

I for one was really embarrassed and ashamed to be a "white civilized person". I think we have it all backwards. What man has done in the name of civilizing the world is far more barbaric than anything indigenous people have done to protect themselves. Most of the comforts we enjoy in our modern and "civilized" world have come at great cost to other humans we have deemed less than or threatening. I do know there is good in the world and I can see that more and more people are waking up to the need for enlightenment and compassion but it is horrifying to know what still goes on.

Next months book is Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. We were looking for something light and entertaining and not so gruesome! Stay tuned.

May Book Club 2010

It's almost impossible to believe that we are 5 months in to 2010. But here we are into May. The first thing I have to acknowledge is that we were missing two of our members this month and I wish I could report that it was due to fun events or vacation. But sadly Elisabeth's mother passed away last week after an extended illness. Elisabeth is en route to Germany for the services and we extend our deepest sympathies to her and her family during this time and send her many prayers and blessings for her safe travels.

Lou, also could not be with us due to a need for sudden surgery. Lou was having some tests and was found to have kidney cancer. On first hearing these words I was deeply shocked and saddened. However, on further investigation, we find that #1. She caught it early and #2. This kind of cancer has a high success rate for cure. The surgery was successful and her prognosis is excellent. As I write this, she is recuperating at home without need for any further treatments. We all continue to send her our love and prayers for a speedy recovery.

We missed our girls but we know that we were altogether in spirit. The connection and friendships that we have formed over the years just continues to deepen and we are so blessed to have each other to share in our joys but, I think, even more importantly to be able to love, comfort and support each other in the difficult moments. It is a proven fact that when people have a strong network of support they have less pain and recover more quickly from illness. We are blessed indeed.

We were missing Lis and Lou but Denise's friend, Darla, joined us and we enjoyed having her company.

During last month's book club The Forgotten Garden sparked a memory for some of The Joy Luck Club. Published in 1989 and subsequently made into a movie only 2 or 3 of us had read it or seen the movie. Because the book is about mother's and daughters and May is the time we celebrate Mother's Day it seemed fitting and appropriate.

Denise had a connection to someone at The Grand House. A Chinese restaurant in the up and coming Asian district of OKC. I say up and coming because even though this area has been around for some time it is apparent that they are making a lot of improvements and I was quite surprised at how beautiful the area is becoming. I don't make it to that side of town so often.

The owner actually gives talks on The Joy Luck Club and graciously decided to set a menu for us and present her talk. Unfortunately, her grandmother passed away this week and she was unable to join us. She has offered to come to another book club at a later date.

I won't even begin to list the food items on our menu because I know I won't get it right but I did take some photos and I hope they do it justice. We did start off with a Sushi platter that I thought was fantastic and then we moved on to some more traditional Chinese dishes. We complimented the meal with Jasmine tea, a Chardonnay and a Merlot and ended with a Flan for dessert. One of the funniest parts of the evening was opening our fortune cookies where no less than 3 groups of 3 people had the same message! There was a part of the story in the book that talked about one of the women working in the Fortune Cookie factory and laughing at how seriously Americans took the messages.

The story of the Joy Luck Club is based loosely on a Mah Jong group started be a group of Chinese women who have come to America after WWII. We are given the story from the two perspectives of mother and daughter. The daughters are actually a bridge generation from the Chinese to the American way of life. The mothers have had difficult and traumatic pasts having lived through and escaped the Japanese invasion during WWII. They have endured arranged marriages, being abandoned or abandoning their own children in some cases, and barely escaped with their lives as they ran from the Japanese army. But in America they find hope. They own businesses they adopt the native religion, Missionary Baptist, and raise new families.

But, their daughters, for the most part, don't know their mother's stories. They are confused and caught between the worlds of China and America. They don't understand the good intentions but misguided attempts their mothers have of trying to protect them and help them fit in.

We discussed that there is this kind of tension in most mother/daughter relationships regardless of ethnicity. Parents before the 1960's and Dr. Spock simply did not have the awareness of how parenting affects the life of the child. Often parents simply live out past patterns and do what was done to them. It's been the Baby Boomer generation that really has benefited from the psychological knowledge that helps us, hopefully, be better parents and forge more loving and understanding relationship with our own children. For example, I know that my relationship with my son is dramatically different from the one I have with my parents. I could totally relate to this story as I have seen how my family history shaped my childhood. And I thank God for Dr. Spock. He may not have gotten it all right but he certainly put us on the path of exploring these issues.

Everyone enjoyed the book and Darby started off the discussion as she actually taught the book in her earlier teaching career.

Notes from Diana: It was wonderful to have Darla visiting with us. This was my first trip to the Grand House and I’ll certainly return. The family style meal was a delicious treat and such great service. I really felt at home and pampered. I enjoyed hearing from Kathy, Mrs. Boss, about her journey from China, to Viet Nam, to France, to Boston and then to Okla. It was fun to know she read the book, had seen the movie, and proclaimed the stories authentic.

I enjoyed the good quality discussion from many perspectives and I think this was the perfect book to read in celebration of moms and daughters. We don’t often stop to contemplate and discuss the powerful connection with our moms, grandmothers, and children. I think that is one lesson from the story. We need to know and reflect on these women, the cord that connects us, seemingly cut upon birth, yet binds us eternally to those from which we come. However easy or troubled the relationships, women bring us into this world and we are blessed to be living and knowing each other because of them. The book rated a 4.07 with ratings from 3.5 to 5, with 2 “I Loved It”.

I’m excited about our next book, suggested by Barb. “The Lost City of Z” The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (Vintage Departures) by David Grann (Paperback - Jan. 26, 2010). Rex read this book a while back and enjoyed it very much. I heard quite a bit about it while he was reading it. Movie of the same name starring Brad Pitt due out in 2012.

April Book Club 2010

Greetings Dearest Book Club Friends, I'm sitting on my couch with my little dog, Biscuit beside me. We are listening to classical music this gorgeous, sunny Saturday morning. I am the "stand in" writer this month since Sherrie is off living the good life, eating Cajun cuisine and experiencing the jazzy sounds of New Orleans. We missed about half our group at book club. Darby in San Antonio, Janie in Austin, Sherrie and Carla in New Orleans and Lou, well we decided you are the mystery woman as we had no idea what kept you away. Hope all the travelers had good adventures.

I'm here reflecting on a great evening with lovely friends, delicious dinner and interesting conversations. I just finished reading my "love notes" from more of you. I am blown away by your sentiments. Very touching and how incredibly lucky I am that you all enrich my life innumerably.

We had great food for dinner. Our dear hostess, Terry, made a wonderful broccoli and cheese quiche! Elisabeth did, in fact, after work ran home and made a delicious dish of cheese ravioli with pesto and toasted pine nuts! Pam tossed up a delicious spinach, fruit, nut and avocado salad. Denise brought yummy bread served with Janie's butter. Carla G. brought a fabulous fruit tray and then there was plenty of wine and Laura brought strawberry pie. I didn't bring a thing, felt a little weird but I recovered and enjoyed every scrumptious dish!

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Moss was well liked and rated one 3.5, several 4.5 and 4, a couple of 5's and a couple of "I liked" rankings.

Everyone thought it was an easy read, and interesting. Eliza is the tragic hero and for the majority of the book's setting, the pastoral countryside which one thinks of as peaceful and serene was in fact an isolated, tragic and unhealthy environment for the characters. The Forgotten Garden was the one redeeming location but still laced with tragedy.

One of the questions for discussion asks if this is a love story and after discussion we deemed it was many love stories and Denise rightly quoted the movie, "Love Actually" noting "love is all around." It was all around but also filled with tragedy. In the end we decided the mysteries unraveled by Cassandra resolved the mother/daughter losses experienced by Georgian, Eliza, Nell (Ivory) and Cassandra. We felt sorry for Linus as a child being verbally abused by his parents but loathed his adult behavior; though Eliza's loss of mother and her brother Sammy left her so emotionally disturbed it produced a love and affection for Rose that led to Eliza's demise. We enjoyed the autobiographical fairy tales dispersed throughout the story the revelations revealed through Rose's scrapbooks and the characters historical research. The story ranked a 3.8 overall.

For Laura the story brought to mind the book "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan that she read many yeas ago. I believe she said it was the mother daughter connection and its epic qualities. A couple more ladies had read it but so long ago they wanted to reread it and several of us had not read it. Denise has a Chinese friend who gives talks about the book at the Grand House Chinese Restaurant in the OKC Asian district. The Grand House is noted for its exceptional authentic dishes. This seemed like fun to all of us, a book club outing in may at the restaurant with discussion and input from Denise's friend. Denise will fill you in on any details I've left out. Pam said she was okay with hosting another meeting as the May meeting was scheduled at her home. Also, with Mother's Day in May "The Joy Luck Club" seems a good choice for our May read.

Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the food and gathering but Denise took a couple of shots so hopefully she will send these along to post on the blog. I hope I've not forgotten too much. It's now noon and I need to get moving. Hope you all have a great weekend. Love, Diana.