December Book Club 2015

Christmas sleepover at Laura's contemporary barn home! We always love going out to Laura's for a leisurely book club, talks by the fire pit, staying up late watching movies and getting up slowly with our coffee to bird watch out the big picture windows. What a treat! Of course, there was the always fabulous meal you will see pictured here and our annual Christmas photo. Unfortunately, it wasn't 100% participation but I think the photos turned out pretty good!

For Christmas, we selected two very short Christmas stories; Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales and Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck.  The stories were what we had hoped for. Christmas is a busy time and we don't have time for long, complex novels. These stories had the right amount of nostalgia and Christmas spirit. These books were the perfect duo for the start of the holiday season. They were well liked and we didn't feel the need to rate them.  They gave us plenty of time for food, gift exchange and other girlie sleepover actives (minus the pillow fights!)

November Book Club 2015

Lis was unable to host or join us this month so Book Club moved to the Holmberg House for November. We had our somewhat traditional Thanksgiving meal and I provided the turkey. My long time friend, Mary Marxer, had dropped by to visit me earlier in the day and I persuaded her to stay through dinner.  As the weather was getting cooler, most everyone arrived in their winter boots! However, there were a few rogue members who had not switched to winter shoes. And even though it was cooling off we managed to have part of our discussion on the big front porch!

Our book was Euphoria by Lily King. Since, I was unable to write the blog immediately following book club - I've copied a plot summary here from Goodreads.

"From New England Book Award winner, Lily King, comes a breathtaking novel about three young anthropologists of the 30's caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, their careers, and ultimately, their lives. English anthropologist, Andrew Bankson, has been alone in the filed for several years studying the Kiona river tribe in the Territory of New Guinea. Haunted by the memory of his brothers death and increasingly frustrated and isolated by his research, Bankson is no the verge of suicide when a chance encounter with colleagues, the controversial Nell Stone and her wry and mercurial Australian husband, Fen, pulls him back from the brink. Nell and Fen have just fled the bloodthirsty Mumbanyo and, in spite of Nell's poor health, are hungry for a new discovery. When Bankson finds them a new tribe nearby, the artistic, female-dominated Tam, he ignites an intellectual and romantic firestorm between the three of them that burns out of anyone's control."

The story is very loosely based on anthropologist Margaret Mead.  Most everyone rated the book between 3.5 and 4 and the final rating was 3.3. Diana and Terry did not finish the book, not their cup of tea.

October Book Club 2015

A beautiful full moon night at Arnora's to discuss The Boy Who Drew Monsters. The book was well liked and we stayed late in the evening. The book rated 3.38.

Here is the plot summary from Goodreads, "From the New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Child comes an hypnotic literary horror novel about a young boy trapped inside his own world. whose drawings blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Ever since ten-year old Jack Peter Keenan nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier, he has been deathly afraid to venture outside. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy's only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all. In the tradition of The Turn of the Screw, Keith Donohue's, The Boy Who Drew Monsters, is a mesmerizing tale of psychological terror and imagination run wild. A perfectly creepy read for a dark night.

On October 3, we met at Laura's house for our Elephant Fund Raiser Wrap Party. We had 7 artists who donated 14 paintings and we raised $2,450 on our Facebook Art Auction page for the Endangered Ark Foundation.  Kristin Parra, grandaughter of the founder of the Ark, joined us and invited us as her guests to the Carson and Barnes circus the next day. Diana, Carla A, Terry, Lis, Laura, Arnora and family and I were able to attend. It was a small but very entertaining circus AND, we got to ride the elephants at intermission.  As you know, this whole thing started when I had the dream of riding the circus elephant. And so, my dream has come full circle and we were introduce to an amazing story, amazing elephants and helped them improve their watering system at the Ark.

September 2015 Book Club

Well, of all the things that I could have predicted for my future, Lou selling the her B & B and the new owners hiring me to manager it was not one of them. But, that is what happened and I came on board in July. So, in keeping with tradition, I hosted the book club at the Holmberg House. It was a gorgeous night and after dinner we held our discussion on the front porch. We were thankful that Lou was in town to join us but, sad that Terry, Barb, Darby and Carla G  could not join us. Our love and prayers are with Carla as she takes care of her mom at this difficult time.

This months menu was inspired by the fact that New Mexico Hatch green chili's are in season. I picked up some and Carla A roasted them. I found a simple Green Chili & Chicken casserole that turned out pretty good and Carla A made rice and beans. Denise brought a beautifully layered fruit salad, Janie brought a cornbread salad and Liz brought a Kale salad. Diana brought guacamole, Lou brought a delicious gluten free Mexican wedding cake, Arnora brought the chocolate and Pam provided the Sangria.  We had 100% happy plates at the end of the meal.

Our third book in our "series" of animal themed stories was H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald. This was not a novel but a memoir of a woman's journey through her grief at her fathers sudden passing. She is a professor and a falconer and chooses to train a Goshawk as a way to manage her grief. She parallels her personal story with that of T. H. White. He was also a professor, author and sometimes falconer. She is fascinated with his story, as well as the stories of other similarly like minds through history. Some of the group did not care much for the technical and historical details she provided. It made the story difficult to connect to emotionally. I read T. H. White's novel, The Once and Future King, in high school and it was one of my favorite books and I have very fond memories of my English teacher reading the book aloud to us everyday. However, his personal story is a lot more difficult to take and his treatment of hawks did not sit well with some. However, she is a beautiful writer and many of her descriptions were quite poetic. She takes us on the journey of grief through the shock, as her dad's passing was unexpected and sudden, to denial, anger, sadness and acceptance. At first, she isolates herself with the bird as her excuse. She is depressed and works at becoming invisible, not only to the hawk, but to the community around her. She isn't paying her bills, her job is in transition, she must move house. She is resentful of the demands made of her. But, as she works with the hawk she has many self-revelations and eventually she seeks the help of a doctor and resumes her life in the community. The story is layered and subtle and she talks about man and nature and our ill effects on it.

 

Denise's daughter is a falconer and she loaned Denise several of her bird "hoods" to show us. Denise found parts of the story difficult to take because some of the descriptions and the necessary obsessions of training a hawk were too familiar.

 

The book was generally well received and rated a 3.64. We all agreed that we had learned a lot from our reading of man and animal.  Since next month will be Halloween, we've decided on a scary story by Keith Donahue, The Boy Who Drew Monsters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUGUST 2015 Book Club

So many changes going on with our book club members! As I mentioned in July, Lou and Gene have sold their B & B and bought a motor home. Currently, they are making the Florida, Colorado, Wyoming circuit. Once again based in Blanchard, she still plans to attend when she is in town. I have taken up residence at the Holmberg House. Denise is downsizing and has bought a smaller place on a lake nearby. This book club marks our last one at her lovely home with the pool. A few of the girls brought their suits and dipped their toes in the water of "bon voyage!" We're very happy for them.  Barb is planning her wedding for October, the second book club member to marry this year. Darby and Nate were married on the beach in the Bahamas at New Year's. Pam and Dave have welcomed back Nate, Na Sim and baby Sophie from Dubai. We're all very excited to see the new baby!

Denise decided on a Mexican themed dinner; taco soup and fiesta zucchini salad, chips, salsa & salsa verde (Janie) and Barb brought homemade ice cream sandwiches. We missed Lou, Janie, Laura and Terry.

Our book was The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.  A.J. is a widowed book store owner living alone and drowning his grief when he discovers an abandoned baby in the book store.  He decides to keep the baby and a cast of quirky town characters and one idealistic book seller help him raise her.  Each chapter opens with a book and notes from A.J. to his daughter, Maya, about why he thinks she will enjoy it, or why she must read it. The book was just what I need after an exhausting July and on the heels of a move. It kept me turning the pages, I enjoyed the characters and it was just the right size, more of a novella. I wouldn't have been able to finish a heavy handed novel this month. The book rated a 4.2. 

September's book club will be hosted by Sherrie and Carla A at the Holmberg House and our book is H is for Hawk.... I just realized the alliteration!

JULY 2015 Book Club

This July marked my last 12 day work-shop that takes me between OKC and Dallas and keeps me from attending book club. As of August 10, I am living and working at The Holmberg House as its new manager. As you all know, after 4 years of running the B & B, Lou and Gene sold it. The new owners, Tom and Liz, have other businesses and don't want to run it day-to-day. Lou put us in touch and now I'm working from home. If you had told me at any point in my life that I would be cooking and serving breakfast everyday - and enjoying it - I would have told you that you were certifiably insane. But, I guess people change and the right circumstance came along. 

As I was not at book club, Arnora volunteered to coordinate notes from those who were there, but apparently, people were busy. So, this month will be short. I will update the blog if anyone wants to comment on the food or other aspects.

In June, we were enthralled with The Elephant Whisperer and we decided to keep the animal theme going.  Arnora recommended the novel Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult about a man so fascinated with wolves that he lives with them for a time which disrupts the family. They are brought back together by an accident involving the father and daughter.  Arnora really liked the book and Carla A liked it ok. Others found the subject matter compelling, but were less enthusiastic about the story telling. Diana thought it was interesting that it was Luke's actions that initially divided the family and his accident that brought them back together. The family's internal struggles escalate and not until all the hidden truths are revealed is there a reconciliation. Luke was a Lone Wolf with both his human and wolf families.

In on-line reviews it was noted that some of Jodi Picoult's information about the wolves was inaccurate. I'm paraphrasing now from Amazon, "The book dealt with the issues of life support, organ donation and end of life decisions. The book lacks emotional nuance and the deeper discussion of the end of life issues are often eclipsed by teenage melodrama and the heavy-handed working of the lone wolf archetype."

The book rated a 2.75.

August book club will be at Denise's home and our book is The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

Enlightened by Elephants

Sometimes the soul just hijacks you and takes you on an unexpected journey toward an enlightenment you didn't know you were seeking. And, then the adventure turns out to be in your own backyard. Such was our journey to the Endangered Ark Foundation in Hugo, Oklahoma.

Inspired by dreams and a book, we found ourselves on a weekend adventure to an elephant sanctuary that few knew about. Hugo is the last stop on the Indian Nations Turnpike at the Texas border and home to a variety of circuses that have wintered here since 1937.

Our morning caravan started out with a Starbucks (thanks, Carla G), big puffy clouds, and a light rain. We took the scenic route through towns like Mill Creek and Wapanucka arriving in Hugo in time for lunch at Angie's Circus City Diner. We had fantastic fried green tomatoes, catfish, onion rings, burgers, pie and two very funny waitresses. A girl named Levi and one named Sha'Mika. Levi was having a tough day so Sha'Mika helped out and had us rolling on the floor with how she came to have her name.


Turns out her mother thought she was going to be black and created the name for her but when she was born white, she couldn't think of another name. Sha'Mika had been deeply ashamed of her history telling her mother, "You are NOT my momma!" But seems to own it now.  Levi recovered from her trauma and both girls took good care of us.

Just around the corner from the diner is the elephant sanctuary.  Our guide, Arlinda, met us with a hug and commended Diana for her perseverance in setting up the tour. Here we were able to get up close and personal with the elephants. We spent about an hour riding around the sanctuary hearing stories about them and being educated on their lives and care. The people who run the Ark are really in love with the elephants. Living on a sanctuary in Hugo, Oklahoma is not as dramatic as living on a wildlife reserve in Zululand, Africa but we got a taste for what it's like to live with these great animals.

After the tour, we followed Arlinda to the Mount Olivet Cemetary to see Show Men's Rest. There is an area reserved for the part-time circus residents and the founders of the Ark are buried here as well as the famous young bull rider, Lane Frost. Then, we were back on the road for our evening accommodations in Kingston. Laura couldn't find anything closer to Hugo because of the rains and high waters. But, the house she did find was stellar. It easily accommodated all 11 of us. It had a couple of beautiful patios, fire pit and giant man-cave with pool and foosball. We stayed up til 2 dancing, singing and playing games. After a leisurely brunch the next morning we headed back to Norman,

We were so inspired by the elephants we've decided to host a fundraiser to help them raise money for a better watering system for the elephants. There will be more information about that soon.

The weekend was immensely satisfying. I told Arlinda that she had truly made a "dream" come true for me. We bonded with the elephants, the staff, and with each other. I have a feeling we'll be going back soon - and hopefully with a nice little check to help them out!