February Book Club 2018

It was a dark and stormy night...

Well, it was a dark night for sure but, the stars were shining bright as we arrived at Tammy's for February Book Club. We had a great showing and Lily joined us for our discussion of "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle.  This month we were missing Pam (who was hanging out with Darby and Sam in Chicago), Leslie and of course, Lou and Darby.

We had a 100% participation this month as everyone managed to read the book. Food, as always was delicious. I can't speak for the Liverwurst sandwiches as I opted for the chicken salad. But, the chicken salad was wonderful. We had a large fruit salad, chips and salsa, pita and chick pea salsa, Brioche bread, brownies, cake from LaBaguette and assorted wines, tea and coffee. After writing the blog for so long, I have long run out of superlatives to describe the food. Anyone with a more creative vocabulary, please chime in!

After reading our book, I couldn't believe that I had deliberately avoided it for so long. I had chalked it up to its label of "Sci-Fi" and dismissed it because I don't usually care for that genre. However, I misjudged the book by its cover. That should teach me! Here, I am going to offer a "What parents need to know" about the book I found.

"A Wrinkle in Time is one of the great works of literature for kids. Besides being an exciting story, its message of individuality, nonconformity, friendship and courage have inspired generations of readers. This is a wonderful book for kids (I'm adding adults as well) who have ever felt "different" or lonely or, who have wrestled with loss. It celebrates the power of individuality, bravery and love."

The story revolves around Meg whose parents are scientists. Dad has been sent on some classified mission and has gone MIA. He has not responded to letters from home in over a year. Meg is acting out in class and is always in the principals office.  Meg has three brothers. The twins are about eight and the baby, Charles Wallace is five. Meg is twelve. The perfect age for this "coming of age" story. Meg and Charles Wallace share some interesting qualities that make it difficult for them to fit in with their peers. They are smarter than the average children of their age, more intuitive and precocious. Charles Wallace doesn't seem to mind his differences and has found that if he lets people think he is a "moron" things go easier for him. Meg, on the other hand, berates herself and fights with others because she can't find a way to be comfortable in her own skin.

One dark and stormy night, what appears to be a tramp shows up at Meg's home. It turns out that this is Mrs. Whatsit. She is one of three "witches" that are living in an abandoned and, supposed, haunted house out on the back of the property. However, these are no ordinary, eccentric grannies.  We soon find out that they have come to take Meg and Charles Wallace on an epic quest to find their father. A classmate of Meg's, who shares the same intelligent and awkward qualities, joins them.

The rest of the story is the journey through other worlds where they meet strange characters and are helped on their journey. We learn what it means to "tesserac" and how to avoid the dark forces that permeates all the worlds. You can try to resist with all your might, use the force of anger but, in the end, it is love that wins out.

One of the the things I loved best about this story is that the witches give each of the kids a "gift" that is supposed to serve them well on their way. Meg is given the gift of her faults.

We had chosen this book because few of us had read it and, a new movie is coming out next month based on the book. The book rated a 4 and a "I really loved it" by Carla A.

Our next book is The Rosie Project and Laura pointed out how "Wrinkle" is a great jumping off point for Rosie as it explores some of the same themes. Lis will host.

January Book Club 2018

We kicked off our January Book Club with our annual Pajama Party at Diana's. Our book was "Cooking for Picasso" by Camille Aubrey.  Diana found her website where she had posted several recipes from the book. Diana made for us the "Rustic Sunday Chicken" and Laura made the Easter Cheese-cake Pie. Tammy brought the tart salad, Lis brought a cheese plate. I brought mulled wine and there were other wines as well. The meal, as always, was absolutely delicious!

We missed Pam, who was enjoying warmer weather with her nursing students in Belize. Also, Janie, who was home sick, as well as Terry and Denise who were unable to join us. Lou made it back to Oklahoma on her way home to Florida from Denver and we were excited to have her.

Rex and Ember greeted us at the door. Ember was excited to see everyone and did a good job of keeping her "herd" together.

Cooking for Picasso was very well received by the group. Everyone in attendance had finished the book and it rated a 4.18.

Cooking for Picasso "is a tasty blend of romance, mystery, and French cooking," so says Margaret Atwood. It takes place in the French coastal town of Juan-Les-Pins and covers three generations of women affected by the abstract artist Pablo Picasso. Though the women in the story, and their connection to Picasso are fictional, the details of Picasso's life and the fact that he did, indeed, spend time in this very city, are all true.

Ondine is the daughter of the owners of a restaurant in this town and Picasso hires them to cater his lunch every day. Ondine is sent with the food on her bike to Picasso's home. She soon becomes his model and has a brief sexual encounter with him which produces a daughter. She is also promised one of the paintings. Ondine finally escapes to America with her returning boyfriend who agrees to raise the child as his own. When this daughter, Julie, is a teenager, her father is murdered and Ondine takes her back to France. Then Julie ends up running away with an American back to America and gives birth to Celine. Celine ends up back in France uncovering the mystery of her grandmother and the painting and in the process falls in love with a Chef  who has purchased the "mas" where Ondine originally lived. Of course, the story has more detail, and the mystery of the painting; will she find it? won't she? Will she save the "mas"? Kept me turning the page.  We thought the language was descriptive without being too heavy handed. The characters were well developed and we cared about that happened to them.

Picasso, was a maniacal painter throughout his lifetime. Classically trained, initially, he turned to abstract expressionism. However, he wasn't a very nice man. He was definitely a misogynistic narcissist who had two wives and many lovers. He was a man who seemed to be without the capacity for compassion. Many women were drawn to him and fought over him to the detriment of them all.

I forgot to mention this during our discussion but there was a description of Picasso by one of the women in the book that I will paraphrase here: "having his attention was like having the sun on your face but, when he turned his attention from you it was like getting the cold side of the moon." This is the classical definition of a narcissist and I read almost that exact quote from Jennifer Garner describing Ben Affleck when they were going through their divorce. I just thought that was fascinating. I am betting Jennifer didn't even realize what she was saying.

Next month's book is A Wrinkle in Time and our discussion will be at Tammy's.

December Book Club 2017

And so, this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun...

Last night, we brought our 2017 Book Club year to a close. Another year over. Carla G informed us that book club has read 188 books since its inception. The books have informed us, entertained us and bonded us like no other experience I, personally, have had. Fifteen years and going strong. We've had a couple of members move away, welcomed in a couple of new ones. We've seen each other through the great, the hard and sad times. Watched our kids grow up, have their own kids, walked our parents through their final times and, celebrated accomplishments. I just wanted, at this season of love, to say how much I love and appreciate each and everyone of you. How grateful I am that I clicked that "zip code" on Oprah's website and met Diana and Barb that led to all of this.I look forward to many more shared books and experiences.

That said, we missed Darby, Lou, Pam, Lis, Leslie, Janie and Robbie.

We wished Laura a Happy Birthday as she welcomed us in her home. Christmas at Laura's has become a tradition since she moved in to her new place. Carla A has been traditionally making the Butternut Squash and Hungarian Mushrooms soups. Laura made our cheesy - grilled cheese sandwiches, and she collaborated with Terry on the salad.  Barb brought the bread, Denise brought cookies and Terry brought a beautiful chocolate birthday cake and assorted cheesecakes. Buddy provided us furry hugs!

Our book this month was "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street," by Natasha Pulley. This book is classified as "fantasy" and reminded me of "Night Circus." It was interesting that we had two books in a row that dealt with memory issues and the image of the Swallow bird reminded us of "The Swallow Man.

Set in the late 1890's our protagonist is Nathaniel Steepleton a telegrapher in the "Home Office" who gets mixed up in an investigation of a bombing during the Irish rebellion. After the bombing he discovers his flat has been broken into and someone has left him a pocket watch. The watch figures prominently throughout the book and 6 months later its warning saves Nathaniel from another bombing. Nathaniel meets the Japanese watchmaker, Keita Mori, and suddenly we are tele-ported to Japan. Mori time travels, tele-ports and manipulates people and events. Nathaniel meets Grace and we're also introduced to Nathaniel's sister and her boys who are living in Scotland. Grace is studying physics at Oxford which is, for the time quite scandalous. As a women, she isn't even allowed in the library so she cuts her short and dresses up like a boy. These people's lives are being lived out against the backdrop of dramatic events taking place in London, Ireland and Japan. Women are not allowed to own or inherit property, unless they are married. Ownership is transferred from father to husband and Grace needs a husband in order to inherit a home her aunt has left so she can continue her research.

The book has a lot of very dramatic elements but is told in a passive voice. Laura pointed out that she felt that was deliberate on the part of the author as that is the style of Japanese novels. And, British, as well. The novel is driven by the characters rather than the dramatic events.  At least three people gave it a 5 star rating. Arnora and Tammy couldn't get into it. I liked it well enough but, didn't love it and Carla A said, "I liked it just fine." The total rating, for those who read it 4.5.

Our January book club will be our traditional pajama party at Diana's. Our book this month is brought to us as a Library Book Club Kit - "Cooking for Picasso."  And, we have chosen "A Wrinkle in Time" for February - the movie is coming out soon. Tammy will host for February and we look forward to having Lily join us as this is a favorite book of hers.

Merry Christmas to all - and to all a goodnight!

November Book Club 2017

November is upon us and another fabulous Thanksgiving meal. Thanks to Denise and Don for hosting. A special thanks to Don who graciously agreed to help us take our updated "15 year" photo. We eagerly await the results (or, maybe not! haha). We did our traditional photo wearing black & white for continuity AND couldn't resist reprising our "Calendar Girl" version.  It was a lot of laughs!

We're going to do another photo in December to hopefully catch those who couldn't be here this time - so wear your red and green!

Denise provided us with turkey, ham, stuffing and gravy. Carla G brought sweet potato casserole, Tammy brought rolls and butter, Laura brought green salad, I provided a cranberry/orange relish. Barb and Carla A brought dessert; pecan pie and bread pudding, respectively. Darby brought rum cider, Diana brought her Cranberry Kiss cocktail and there were two Reislings and coffee. Arnora brought the beautiful floral centerpiece.

We missed Lis, Janie, Pam, Leslie, Terry and Lou. However, we were thrilled that Darby was able to join us. We haven't seen her in over a year and it was great to catch up.

Our book this month was The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Darby brought this to our attention as he had just received the Nobel Prize for Literature for his body of work. This is his most recent novel. He is probably most well known for his book, The Remains of the Day for which he won the Man Booker Prize in 1989. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan but moved to England in 1960 when he was 5 and grew up there.

Unfortunately, for most of us, this book just didn't resonate.  Diana and Laura gave it the highest marks. Several were unable or, uninterested, in finishing it.  The premise of the story takes place in an English village sometime just after the reign of King Arthur, which puts in sometime in the 1100's after the war between the Brits and Saxons. An elderly couple, living in the village struggle with memory issues. For example, they have a vague memory of having a son and they think they know what village he is living in now, but little else is remembered. They decide to set out on a journey to the son's village - which they believe to be within a few days walk of their own. Along the way they encounter all of the traditional fairy tale and metaphorical characters you would expect.

A boatman ferry's couples across a "river" but, they can only go together if they provide individual stories to the boatman of their undying love. There is a medicine woman, a she-dragon, a monster that is beheaded and, a knight - Sir Gawain of King Arthur's round table. 

I, personally, was not resonating with the story or, connecting to the characters. It is told in third person, so I tried to give it a "Princess Bride" feeling in my head. I tried to envision the old couple as Billy Crystal and Carol Kane. But, I just couldn't get interested in it.

I understood the metaphors but, I thought this story has been told before and much better. I understood what he was trying to do with memory. And, most of us are at the time in life where we are dealing with this issue with our parents. This made it a difficult read for some - hitting too close to home.

It was a good discussion and the book received a decent rating of 3 and Carla's, "it was just fine."

Next month we will meet at Laura's and our book is The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. I just downloaded my copy on Audible. For our January book, I am bringing the book club kit from the Library for "Cooking with Picasso."

October 2017 Book Club

Diana did a lovely job of recapping book club and I have added a review of our book - The Haunting of Hill House
.

Good morning. It's a beautiful cool, crisp morning with just a touch of fall in the air. I'm enjoying a cuppa on my patio and thought I'd write this while our evening is fresh in my mind. We had a super delicious BBQ meal with all the fixings.  THANKS Arnora for hosting us and to Carla A for the awesome ribs and chicken. Dinner sides included, Janie's Baked Potato salad, Laura's Black-eyed Pea salad, Carla G's green kale salad, Sherrie's corn on the cob and baked beans, and Lis's sweet cornbread. Thanks to those who brought the following bread and butter, and mini tortillas. Terry made chocolate with salted caramel cupcakes, and Tammy brought a yummy cheesecake.

Most of us read The Haunting of Hill house and loved it. Carla G and Arnora liked it a little less, and Lis and Janie didn't get into it. The book rated 4.67. Laura gave several dramatic readings from the book, and had us laughing out loud. Spooky, haha!

A Gothic Novel is one that combines the motifs of mystery, doom, decaying old buildings with ghosts, madness and curses. Shirley Jackson combined all of those elements in The Haunting of Hill House. Gothic novels are also often very melodramatic i.e., exaggerated, sensationalized and over emotional. All of these elements combined made for most of us an interesting, entertaining and often comic "Ghost Story." In the version I had from the Metropolitan Library, the very British male narrator made the perfect foil for the story. I could imagine us sitting around the camp fire, roasting our marshmallows as he rubbed his hands together and, in a menacing tone growls, "and he who walks there, walks alone." It seemed that those that didn't enjoy it as much missed the humor in it. I too, was expecting something different when I started it. But, soon was in to the spooky spirit of the groaning house and odd characters who are brought together to try and confirm the supernatural goings on at this supposed Haunted House. As it turns, out the people were more haunted than the house. I personally enjoyed the writing and thought the opening paragraph was one of the best I've read. Authors Neil Gaiman and Stephen King cite her as an influence on their work. I thought it was a perfect read for our October-Halloween book club.

Our November book club will be at Denise's home. Darby will be visiting and we have chosen, The Buried Giant by Pulitzer Prize author, Kazuo Ishiguro. Now in our 15th year of book club, it's time for a new group photo. We'll take photos at both the Nov and Dec meetings. Photo theme for Nov is to mimic our 10th anniversary where we wore black and white for our first photo and then...well you know how the second photo goes! Props will be helpful, or essential, however your choose to look at it. We talked about, pumpkins, cornucopia, Fall leaves, etc. or perhaps our favorite, BIG Books! Photo theme for Dec is to wear something with red, and maybe for the second photo we hold a variety of Christmas/holiday props.

The December book club date is set, SATURDAY, Dec 2nd at Laura's home. We will read, Cooking for Picasso, by Camille Aubray recommended by Carla G. We found this book is available in the library's book club kits and we will have copies to hand out at the November meeting. The Watchmaker on Filigree Street may be our January book, but we'll wait to decide during our December meeting. That's all for now. It was a lovely evening under a full harvest moon, and some of us also enjoyed watching the Orr Family farm fireworks from Arnora's front porch. We missed Barb, Pam, Denise, Leslie, Lou and Darby. Hope all is well with you.

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The Buried Giant

The Buried Giant is a fantasy novel by Nobel Prize-winning British writer Kazuo Ishiguro, published in March 2015.

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Diana Beal https://g.co/kgs/XHHbdj

Cooking for Picasso: A Novel

Destined to be a book club favorite - an utterly charming and entirely delicious novel of love, art and food, with a…

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September 2017 Book Club

August was a beautiful month for us here in the Midwest as we watched a full solar Eclipse in the Northern Hemisphere. While fires rage on the west coast and hurricanes pummel the Gulf and Atlantic, Oklahoma experienced one of the wettest and coolest Augusts on record in recent history. We moved into September with the huge, orange Corn Moon and very fall-like weather.

We convened at Carla Gibb's home for another great meal, book discussion on the patio and to celebrate her birthday! Carla provided two delicious pizzas, tea and wine. To complement the pizza we opted for summer salads:

Janie - Cauliflower salad

Denise - Fruit salad

Lis - Kale Salad and wine

Terry - Pear Salad

Tammy - Cabo Ceviche

Laura - Seasonal Beer

Sherrie - Texas Choc Cake/Cupcakes

Diana - Fresh whipped cream to top the cupcakes

Arnora - Fresh flower centerpiece

As different as all the salads were, the flavors worked exceptionally well together and demanded second helpings from most of us.

We know how to have a good time!

Randy was on hand nearby and we appreciated his taking a moment to snap an updated group photo. This month we missed Barb, Pam, Lou, Darby. We were happy that Leslie was able to drop by at the end of the evening after her son's football game.

There have been 30 years of
cover art for this book.

This month's book was The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. The premise of the story is a totalitarian society in an unknown part of the United States. It is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state. This place is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. The novel is the story of one of these "Handmaid's Tales."

All but two or three of us finished the book and it rated a 3.5. Published in 1985, this book  is a considered dystopian and cautionary tale. Laura remembers studying this novel in her college course and enjoyed rereading her original book that included her notes of the time.

Lis pointed out that Atwood was writing this book around the time of events and effects of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. Most recently, we've seen this very thing carried out by the Taliban in Afghanistan. We like to think that it would be impossible for something like this to happen to women in the United States but, that is part of what makes this a cautionary tale. The overthrow of the Shah in Iran, for example was considered a peaceful revolution with many women at the heart of it. However, their desire to put the Ayatollah in place did not produce their desired effects.

Laura said that the novel was skillfully crafted as Margaret Atwood does not give any contextual history for the setting and story. You are never fully certain where the story takes place. Is this happening in a specific area of the U.S.? Or, is it happening throughout the country? The timeframe is also somewhat ambiguous. The book depressed Diana but, she gave it high marks for writing skill.

There was quite a bit of discussion about the current political climate. Denise mentioned the fact that recently, a dress code was imposed by the Speaker of the House that requires an appropriate dress code for women that includes not baring their shoulders or wearing open toed shoes.  Most businesses have some sort of basic dress code. I don't have a problem with that. I've seen companies that relaxed dress codes to "casual" and you really do have to tell some people not to wear tank tops, cut offs or, flip flops to work.  But, telling a professional woman that she can't wear a sleeveless dress into a House meeting starts to cross some tricky lines that worry me. Many laws and freedoms can be taken away from you bit by bit while you aren't noticing. In both Iran and Afghanistan - the wearing of the niqab, hijab and burkas rise and rise and fall with regimes. 

Leslie said that she listened to the book on Audible and that the author's voice, as well as the narrator, sounded just like Darby. I'm sure this will please Darby to no end and Atwood is one of her favorite authors.

Next month we will meet at Arnora's home. By then, she will be Arnora Kearns and we all congratulate her and Stan on their marriage and wish them much happiness. Our book will be The Haunting of Hill House in honor of Halloween. Denise will host in November and we will have our annual Christmas book club at Laura's.

August Book Club 2017

Tammy hosted August Book Club at the "ponderosa". It was a beautiful August night. We are having very mild weather for this time of year. We had our meal inside but, took the discussion outside as the sun set. The moon was working its way to full, there was a mild breeze and we were surrounded by 4 o'clocks and Humming Bird moths.

Tammy kept our meal in theme with this month's book; Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. She made Chicken Satay, pork stir fry with rice and Asian broccoli. Carla Gibbs brought lettuce salad with Mandarin oranges, and Diana and Sherrie contributed spring rolls. Laura brought lemon bars and Singapore Slings (say that real fast 3 times! haha. I almost typed Slingapore!). Terry brought sugar free blueberry pie and we had fortune cookies and fruit.

Lou was able to join us this month but, we missed Lis, Janie, Darby, Pam, Denise, Arnora and Leslie.

 The book rated a 3.2 for those who read it and, a "I liked it just fine," by Carla A. Tammy said she liked it find but, didn't feel the need to read the sequels.


 

Lis missed out on book club but wanted to contribute her review here - as I did not read this month's selection, I give you her review below.

Next month's book is Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." For Hulu subscribers, this has been turned into a series.

Our October read is "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson.

 

Ala may!!! There are so many anecdotes that I cannot list them all.

This was a fun read to me when accepting it as a comedy and a mockery to Asian High Society. The book is, like Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, written as a satire to make fun of ultra-rich people’s excess and societal interactions, where there are “normal rich” and “stuck-up rich”. I couldn’t help but think of the Kardashians, The Hiltons, or even the Trump empire with their glitz, glamour, and control. This Beau Arts social circle draws a big difference between “new money” and “old money” and everything is about being accepted or having more than someone else.

Like a teenager’s love fantasy, the book is about a self-made woman, Rachel, of good standing falling in love with a good-looking college-grad and professional, Nick, that, she later finds out, is actually super rich, born into money of which the sum can hardly be exhausted. When Nick invites her to accompany him on a trip to Singapore and his family for a local wedding, she is unknowing and unprepared of the family’s wealth and social standing. Through friends and family members, she gradually figures out that Nick is extremely wealthy, that he is a highly sought-after bachelor, and that she is seen as a moneygrabber. Nick is completely oblivious and thinks that his family will love Rachel for her friendliness and openness, just like he does. Rachel is thrown into a whirlwind of this society, sometimes as the entertainment to be made fun of, sometimes as a tag-along. Nick is taking the opportunity to catch up with old friends and family. Both are not ready for the obstacles that their relationship is creating.

The reason for the trip is the wedding between friends Collin and Araminta. To unsuspecting Rachel, this would be just an event, while to the Singapore high society it turns out, it will be THE EVENT OF THE YEAR between two extremely rich families. All local gossip columns are lit up with it. What a shame that, after spending $40 million on the wedding, the guests still judged the event by what was NOT offered. A circle of would-be friends snub the exquisite dinner for a quick flight on their private jets to get, what they deem, decent food. Not even Araminta can enjoy it because she is too distracted about Astrid, Nick’s cousin and Araminta’s friend by reason of wealth, not wearing her latest purchases to the events. Since Astrid is known for her up-to-date Haute Couture wardrobe, this makes it difficult for the bride to know what she needs to look for to bring her own wardrobe up to the latest fashion. While Araminta seems very nice to Rachel at their first meeting, I felt like the author eluded to a sinister side that might have had Araminta set Rachel up as “entertainment” for her bachelorette party, given that she, the bride-to-be, might have known how her friends would react to an outsider and how unprepared to the financial excesses Rachel would be. Rachel doesn’t realize what bucket of worms she is opening up when she, without afterthought, refers to her meeting with Nick as a “catch”. To the money-grubbing single girls of the party, this reference confirms their opinion of Rachel and she instantly creates jealous enemies and a nightmarish encounter with a dead fish. (SPOILER ALERT) I wondered how many readers guessed that the fish had been planted by jealous Francesca – who has her eyes on Nick for his money - being in cahoots with Eleanor, Nick’s mother. Francesca’s last resort for trying to break up Nick and Rachel comes at the wedding, when she drops the bombshell of a long-past threesome between herself and Nick, coming as a surprise to all. While Nick’s mother goes above and beyond to break up Nick and Rachel, I held out hope for Rachel throughout the story that she would be accepted – until even Nick’s revered grandmother spoke and turned Rachel away.

Nick’s cousin and confidant, Astrid, a nonchalant, more open-minded, character seems to not give much value to people’s wealth. She doesn’t flaunt it but she still is able to quietly take it for granted. She feels that it is perfectly normal for her to spend thousands of dollars on a new wardrobe each season, while she hides her purchases from her husband, Michael, – who is “just well to-do” (or rich in my circles) – to keep from making him feel bad about not being able to fully support her spending habits. While Astrid seems to be non-judgmental of wealth, she seems to have lost touch of what it means to be wealthy. Her spending worries are not about having enough food to eat but are about making Michael feel bad. Still, the author allows Astrid to have a sweet and sincere personality. One of the shocking parts in the story is the affair that Michael seems to have behind sweet Astrid’s back, that (SPOILER ALERT) later turns out to be an attempt of driving Astrid away because Michael can’t stand the pressure of being part of this extreme society anymore. I couldn’t help wonder if a marriage between the story’s heroes, Rachel and Nick, might turn out similar to Astrid and Michael’s, a strained relationship that cannot bridge born-into ultra rich with just well-to-do.

A small but entertaining character is “Radio 1 Asia” who the author wisely uses in the story, an objective gossip about everyone. This friend of the family could be easily swayed and used to pass on information with a smile. He helps Rachel through some of her tough moments just because he wants to be in the know and likes passing gossip. I felt like he was one of Rachel’s alleys just because he wasn’t interested in bringing her down.

Still, even with all that excess, the story shows that people aren’t happy unless they can cut each other down, or because they cannot keep up with someone else, or just because of the constant pressure to portrait some expected image. This is well displayed when we find out about Collin’s depressions that he battled since early childhood. I almost felt a little bad for Collin when we read about his bachelor party that turned into a disaster for Colin and Nick. But Collin had allowed it to be planned by a friend that was known for his excess in everything “manly” and was misusing it for trying to make an impression and keep the financial connections happy. The party ended up being a testosterone debauchery with dog-fighting, high-stakes gambling, and high-end hookers. I was actually proud of Nick, Nemet, and Collin for finally making the decision to sneak off and leave their own party.

After everything that happened to Rachel during the trip, I thought it was funny that the news of the three-some was the thing that finally threw her over the edge – not the sideways looks, not the judgmental comments, not the excess, not the jealous competition. A true teenage googly-eyed romance story. It deviates when Rachel, through Eleanor’s meddling and attempts to break up the relationship, discovers details about herself and her own parents. Had I to guess at the gender of the author, I would have thought the story created by a woman because I related so well to the female characters and didn't see trends towards males characters in the story that we often see from male authors. As long as the story can be read as a satire, I think that it is excellently done and I am looking forward to the other two books in the trilogy.