November Book Club 2025

 

We met this month at Carla G's house, as is often our tradition. Our November book is The Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. We have previously read her book, "The Ten Thousand Doors." 

We are having beautiful fall weather just right for Carla's sweet potato and black bean, turkey chili. She also provided cheese and crackers, and assorted cobblers for dessert. Pam brought salad, and Laura brought stuffed dates. Denise brought cornbread with honey butter. Lis brought wine and ice cream for the cobbler. Diana brought "mead", Sherrie brought wine, and Arnora brought mixed nuts and the gorgeous fall flowers. We missed Carla A, who was out of town. 

The Starling House seemed like a good choice for an end-of-October, early November book. 

Published in 2023, it is described as a modern Gothic fantasy novel. The story is set in the fictional town of Eden, Kentucky. The protagonist is Opal, a young woman who becomes entangled with a mysterious house and its reclusive heir. Opal investigates the house and her own connection to it. She uncovers a dark family history and confronts literal nightmares threatening the town, all while looking for a place to call home. 

All the elements of Gothic literature are there: a dark, foreboding house that sets the stage for paranormal activity. In a gothic mystery, the setting is the most crucial element of the story. The house is set in the fictional town of Eden, Kentucky. Opal and her brother are orphans, of course. They have to find a way to survive by their wits.  Opal takes a job as a housekeeper in Starling House to pay for their living expenses and her brother's tuition. The house has a dark past, including mysterious deaths and a sinister history tied to a reclusive author who published a book called Underland. The dark history is combined with the social damage caused by the powerful Gravely family. That name was a bit too "on the nose" for me, and the town's name, "Eden," suggests that all isn't right in the garden. 

The story just didn't work for most of us. It didn't hold my attention, and we agreed the plot wasn't very mysterious. I am not sure when I knew that Opal was a Gravely, but I knew before she did. And, it's obvious from the beginning that she will be the next caretaker of the house.  Also, everyone expected her to end up with Arthur. We rated the book a 3. 

Our December book is Winter Solsice, and we'll have our annual Christmas Party at Laura's. 

October Book Club 2025

  

It is hard to believe that we are entering October and Fall has arrived. This has been a great year for reading, and this month's book is no exception. We missed Janie and Denise. Janie's daughter is here celebrating her birthday with her parents, and Denise is recovering from surgery. Arnora returns to us fresh from her trip to England and Ireland with her brother. Carla G just returned from a trip to Hawaii, where she and Randy renewed their vows!

Barb was our host for this month, and she made comforting chicken and dumplings. Carla G and Lis brought salads, Laura brought two desserts, Diana added the whipped cream, and Pam brought delicious cookies!

In the past, we read Sue Monk Kidd's book, The Secret Life of Bees, and it became a book club favorite.
The movie was also one of the few that I thought was a good movie adaptation. 

The Invention of Wings is a story told by two narrators who are living parallel lives. They are living in the same house, but their lives could not be more different. 

Sara Grimke has just turned 11. She is living in the plantation home of her revered father, a judge in Charleston, SC, and her southern belle mother. She is finally being transferred from the nursery to her own bedroom. With this promotion comes the gift of a personal lady's maid. Handful, a black slave of the Grimkes, is brought into the house to sleep on the floor outside of Sara's room and tend to her every need. Sara is despondent at this news and begs her mother to take back the gift.  Even at this young age, Sara has witnessed the treatment of their slaves, and she wants no part of it. When her mother refuses, Sara, a precocious and sharp-minded girl, writes an emancipation letter and leaves it on her father's desk. This is the beginning of a story of two southern sisters, Sara and Angelina, and a slave girl, as they navigate the road through abolition and feminism leading up to the Civil War. 

Sara and Angelina Grimke were two of the first women to join the cause for the abolition of slavery, and they also fought for women's right to vote. They came just ahead of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and eventually, Lucretia Mott and Lucy Paul. 

Sue Monk Kidd adeptly tells this moving story of the women and their lives in both Charleston and Philadelphia. It is in Philadelphia that the Grimkes joined the Quaker Church, which was opposed to slavery. This book was the first time I remember knowing that many people who wanted to free the slaves did not want to give women the right to vote. And, many in the suffragette movement were not abolitionists. 

I first learned of the Myth that Africans had wings and could fly from Toni Morrison's book, Song of Solomon. Supposedly, African's lost their wings when they were brought to America as slaves. What remains are their shoulder blades, where wings should be.  In the last two years, I have read four books that reference this story. 

Our November book is Starling House, and our December book is Winter Solstice. 

The Holiday Season is upon us! 

September Book Club 2025

 

At our August Book Club, we decided to postpone "The Invention of Wings" to October and instead read 2025's Pulitzer Prize-winning "James." This is the retelling of Mark Twain's novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Coincidentally, I reread Huck Finn a couple of years ago, so the story is fresh on my mind. 

Lis was our host this month. We missed Tammy, Barb, and Denise, but were thrilled that Lou was in town! 

Lis provided us with black beans and rice, Carla A brought cheesy bread, Carla G provided us with a green salad, and Diana brought homemade pretzels. Laura brought stuffed peppers, and Janie made homemade corn muffins. Lis also provided Rhubarb Pie for dessert and her famous Mexican Hot Chocolate. 

Everyone read "James," and the total rating was 5. 

Both novels for September and October are set in the Civil War era and deal with issues of race and slavery. The author did a great job of using Huckleberry Finn as his inspiration. The original Mark Twain story is told from Huck's point of view. There are many instances where Huck is on his own, and we are not privy to what "Jim" is doing. Everett stuck close to the bones of the narrative but expanded on the parts where Jim was having an experience apart from Huck. Twain's main characters, Tom Sawyer and Huck, are around 12 years old, and Twain wrote the books for a young audience. He wrote about serious and dark subjects like 

Papp's alcoholism and violence, racism, and slavery, but he used a lot of humor and satire. 

In this new novel, Jim calls himself "James." He has taught himself to read, which was against the law at the time, and sneaks books from Judge Thatcher's library. He has read many of the classical philosophers and often has dreams or imagines he is in conversation with John Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire. 

James learns that his owner, Ms. Watson, is about to sell him, separating him from his wife and daughter. He escapes and meets up with Huck, and the journey begins. As in the original, there are many close calls, and they are both running for their lives. It is easy to see why this book won the 2025 Pulitzer for Fiction.

We will meet at Barb's on October 5 for The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

November 2, we will meet at Carla G's for Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

December will be our Christmas party and celebration of the Winter Solstice, as featured in Rosamund Pilcher's book. 

As a reminder, we discussed a Christmas project last year to accompany our cards, where we will select quotes we think match the member. I'm going to try to think ahead. I am bad about waiting until the last minute. 

I hope everyone is enjoying our beautiful fall weather! 

August Book Club 2025

 

I woke this morning, on the 3rd of August, to a welcome 75 degrees and soft rain. All things considered, we've had a wet and mild summer.  And, a great way to spend a relaxing day with friends, food, drink, and a great book discussion. 

Diana hosted us this month with a summer tea consisting of both Dill and Apple/Grape chicken salad sandwiches, chips with homemade salsa, hard and regular iced tea, and a creamy, cool, delicious strawberry dessert.  Other additions were: Denise - fruit salad, Carla G -garden salad, Arnora - fresh flowers and mixed nuts, Lis - Lemon cream pie and mixed nuts, and Janie- Burrito Surprise.                                    

                                              

We missed Pam, who was out of town. We've been very excited that Tammy has been able to join us while she and Randall are on dry land. 

Watership Down, by Richard Adams, is considered a 20th-century classic published in 1972. It tells the story of a group of rabbits who flee their warren in Sandleford, Hampshire, England, after Fiver, a young rabbit with prophetic visions, foresees its destruction. Led by his brother, Hazel, and guided by Fiver's visions, they embark on a perilous journey to find a new home.  I saw one internet commenter describe it as "Lonesome Dove" for rabbits. Both are epic journeys.

The author says that the story was made up "on the fly" to keep his daughters entertained on trips to grandma's house, and it had no deep meaning. His wife and daughters encouraged him to write it down. At age 52, it was his first published novel. 

Richard Adams grew up in the area of the book's setting. He studied Modern History at Oxford, but was called to service in the Army during WWII, though he did not see active duty. At least three of his characters are based on men he knew during the war. He then completed his Master of Arts. For the next 26 years, he worked in civil service in the Department of Agriculture and later for the Department of the Environment. Mr. Adams was a strong advocate for animal welfare. He resigned after two years with the RSPCA because he felt the group seemed more concerned with each other than the animals.     

Each chapter of the novel opens with a quote from mythology or other literature, giving us a glimpse into his wide knowledge of these subjects.  Each of the four warrens also has a distinct government. 

My observation is that while Mr. Adams may not have deliberately intended a deeper, psychological, metaphorical, or political message, he certainly brought all of his personal life experiences to bear as he organized this grand adventure. 

The book was rated a 4 for those who finished it. There was a consensus that some of the extraneous storytelling the rabbits did was unnecessary or could have used a good edit. Wherever we fell on the spectrum of our love (or not) for the book, it prompted a truly great discussion. 

P.S. Carla A made us a stunning collage of our Paint and Sip art from our retreat. I am posting it here. What a great way to memorialize a fun, shared, creative experience, proving that we are all artists at heart! Here's to "Other Bird" of a feather. 

September will be hosted by Lis, and we are reading "James" by Percival Everett. Barb will host in October and our book is Sue Monk Kidd's "The Invention of Wings."

July Book Club 2025

Our July book club was held at Buffalo Lodge in Sweetwater, Oklahoma. We had such a good time last year, it seemed like a good idea to make it an annual event.

The property is remote, peaceful, and beautiful. We were greeted by Tammy and a resident Road Runner. We all enjoyed sitting outside and identifying the different birds we saw and heard. There was a beautiful sunset and a waxing crescent moon. There was supposed to be a meteor shower, but while there were one or two shooting stars, no one stayed up for the shower. 

As usual for one of our events, there was so much great food. Tammy and Randall provided smoked ribs, chicken thighs, and handmade spring rolls. Laura brought lemon, rosemary, and cornmeal donuts from a recipe in the book. She also made egg bites for breakfast. Barb brought a blueberry Buckle. There really was too much food to try and recount, but it was wonderful. And, I've attached photos to help us remember it all. We had a variety of beers, and Diana brought Limoncello. 

This time we also had a variety of creative projects to work on. Thanks to our book, our theme was "birds." Tammy had patterns and cards for us to use to make bird mobiles.  I led a simple "paint and sip" painting project with two bird patterns to choose from. We played music, ate, drank, and created to our heart's content. Those who didn't want to paint put a puzzle together that Arnora brought. 

Our book, "Other Birds," by Sarah Addison Allen, was a perfect summer read/listen. Described as "a magical realism tale" set in a South Carolina coastal town near Charleston.

This book's setting is similar in tone to 44 Scotland and The Twilight Garden. A group of residents, in a cobblestone, horseshoe-shaped building, are connected by a series of intertwined stories. Only this time, three of the residents are ghosts. We follow Zoey Hennessey as she takes possession of the apartment her deceased mother has left her. On her first night, she hears a noise and wakes to find that one of the residents has died in an accident in her apartment. She is tasked, along with another resident, Charlotte, to clear out the hoarder's apartment. Gradually, she meets all the residents and uncovers the many secrets and mysteries that lie within the apartment and in herself. I usually like to call these stories palette cleansers, but upon reflection, the story was more than met the eye.

All of the characters in the story had been abandoned by parents or caregivers who had substance abuse issues. They either learned to parent themselves or were raised by someone other than a parent.  They were hiding in plain sight, running from something or hoping to find something. They were living in a community, pretending to be something other than themselves and keeping their dark secrets. The story has a tense but satisfying ending.  

I think it takes a deft hand to take such serious subject matter and make it seem light and charming at the same time. The book a rated 4.12 for those that read it.  

Everyone agreed that this retreat was a perfect "do-over." Last year at this time, though we all enjoyed ourselves, at least two of us were suffering pain that required surgery.  This year, everyone is recovered and healthy, and all were able to celebrate the progress. We look forward to many more retreats together! 

Our August book is the 1972 modern classic "Watership Down" by Richard Adams. Our September book is "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd, published in 2014. 

June Book Club 2025

Rain came and went in the night, but it was a lovely day for the book club at Carla G's. Tammy was able to join us, and with our retreat in July, it will be three months since she has been on dry land. We missed Denise, Janie, Arnora, Pam, and our remote members. For most of us, it was the first time we met Carla G's new kitties, Simon and Lucy. 

We dined on our hostess's delicious chicken Alfredo, spinach lasagna, and garlic rolls. Tammy brought a cheese and olive plate. Lis, Barb, and Carla A brought salads, Laura brought a S'mores Cake, and Sherrie brought Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream.

Our book this month was Jodi Picoult's "By Any Other Name," a historical fiction told in two parallel periods. In the present day, there is Melinia, a frustrated playwright who can't get her plays noticed in the male-dominated theatre.  In the 1500s, Emelia Bossanno was also a frustrated poet and playwright in the time of Shakespeare. She was not allowed to write because she was a woman. She manages to make a bargain with Shakespeare. He pays her to write plays under his name. He benefits financially far more than she does, but her plays are published, and she supplements the family's income. 

Melinia discovers that Amelia is her ancestor and writes a play about her. Unknown to her, Andre, her best friend, submits the play under the name of Mel, and it is chosen among several to be staged in a workshop. She is chosen because it is assumed she is a male. No other women are chosen. The real-life drama escalates for Emelia over her full lifetime. For Melinia, it escalates over a few short years. The author addresses the issues of all marginalized people in the theatre, not just women. Andre is a black, gay man, a marginalized playwright who isn't given any notice until he pretends to be Mel and gets Melinia's play staged. 

The book makes the case that current-day theatre is not so far removed from Melinia's time. Barb pointed out that Pam's son, Sam, and his girlfriend, Shaina, agreed. They are both actors and have experience in the modern-day theatre. It is still, primarily, a man's world.  The book is rated 4.2. 

Our July book club will be our retreat at Tammy's in Sayre, and our book is Other Birds by Sarag Addison Allen. 

May 2025 Book Club

Denise hosted May's Book Club. We were so excited that Tammy joined us. We missed Barb, Carla G., and Janie.  After a week of rain and flash floods, we've finally enjoyed the Spring weather that made Denise's home the perfect place. 

Denise made a hearty Spanish white bean salad for our main dish and served it with pita chips and hummus. She also provided a smoked turkey with amazing BBQ sauce. Lis brought charcuterie and crackers. Diana brought chocolate truffles for dessert, and Arnora brought beautiful flowers and mixed nuts. Tammy brought wine. There were other fruits, cheese, crackers, cookies, and chocolate truffles!

Everyone enjoyed The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. We had previously enjoyed his book, The Midnight Library. Everyone enjoyed this book as much, or more and everyone finished the book.  

I listened to it and this time thoroughly enjoyed the narrator, Lindsay Duncan. A British actress and Comedian, I have long enjoyed her performances in Under the Tuscan Sun and the long-running British Comedy, Ab Fab.  The narrator is so important to the story for me, and this one hit it out of the park. I enjoyed her narration enough to include her photo!

I would consider the style of this novel to be epistolary in the genre of magical realism. Our protagonist, Grace Winters, is a widow and a retired math teacher. She has also lost a son due to a tragic accident.  She was unexpectedly left a house in Ibiza, Spain, by a woman she had known briefly but had impacted. Grace discovers a mystery about the friend's death, and her investigation converges with her own life issues; she navigates the hard truths of life alongside its mysteries. In Grace's present, she is contacted by a former student informing her that his mother has died and he is feeling lost. Grace writes back, in novel form, all of the details of the journey that transformed her pain into life and love again. The book covers subjects such as love, loss, guilt, human connection, the environment, and miracles. "What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don't understand yet." 

The story kept me coming back, eagerly anticipating the next miracle. Everyone read the book and enjoyed it. It rated 4.5. Diana commented that the book inspired discussion in so many different directions. It is a philosophical, ecological, wild, and wonderful look at what life can be. I would also add mystical and magical. It's also got a murder mystery that Grace investigates. This book has it all! 

Our next book is Jodi Picoult's "By Any Other Name." We will discuss
 it at Carla G's on June 1. Our July meeting will be at our retreat in Sayre, and our book will be "Other Birds" by Sarah Addison Allen.