October Book Club 2019

Blog #146 Book #210

Lis went "all Italian" on us for this month's book club. The colors of Italy's flag are red, white and green. Lis decorated the table in those colors. She turned a lamp into a sign post with Italian cities on it and added red, white and green streamers to the banister. She even had pasta in a wine glass as one of the decorative objects. The living room was awash in romantic candlelight. Who says friends can't be romantic?

We went all out on our Italian meal as well. For appetizers, Diana made a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad also in the colors of the Italian flag. Lis made a blue cheese and pineapple pepper  jelly served with crackers.   Janie brought cornbread salad and Robbie sent a cauliflower salad. Carla G made a green salad with 2 choices of Italian dressing.  Lis made a meaty pasta dish. Janie also made Stromboli and Denise brought beautiful cupcakes. As usual, it was all delicious.

We missed Tammy, Arnora, Pam and Leslie.

We got the chance to hear about Denise's amazing trip to Ireland and Laura's new job at OU's Goddard Health Clinic. Next month, we'll get to hear about Arnora's trip to Paris and Pam's trip to Washington State.

Our book this month was a murder mystery entitled, "Aunti Poldi and the Sicilian Lions." Those that read the book enjoyed this lighthearted mystery as told by Aunti Poldi's nephew. As we discussed the book, we realized that the nephew is telling the story from his point of view and never names himself. He is a writer who is having trouble with his most recent project and ends up focusing on the latest mystery that Aunti Poldi has recently solved.

Aunti Poldi is an interesting protagonist. She is 60, German by birth, widowed and, a former costume designer. Early on we learn that "murder seems to follow where she goes." One of the characters refers to her as Ms. Marple of the Agatha Christie series and I also thought of Murder She Wrote's Jessica Fletcher. The difference being that Aunti Poldi has a rather provocative sex life. I rather enjoyed a character who is in my age bracket still exploring her passions.

Aunti Poldi has retired to a town in Sicily where she rather hopes to sit on her balcony watching the ocean and drinking herself to an early grave in response to her widowhood. But, life has other plans for her. Soon her handsome young handyman goes missing and is discovered murdered. Discovered washed up on the beach by Aunti Poldi, no less. Soon there is an investigation, a smoldering police inspector, a romantic entanglement, one false lead after another and, a rooftop showdown coinciding with a volcanic eruption. Through it all Aunti Poldi, remains perfectly poised even if her wig is slightly tousled.

I think several of us had a few issues with the writing. The author, Mario Giordano, did seem to tell more than he showed. And, he relied a bit too much on "list making" for his descriptions. But, all in all it was a fun read. The book rated a 3.5.

Laura said that she finished in time to go back and start over. She was glad she did because she was able to see how he foreshadowed many of the events and the clues were always right in front of us. . Her handyman was, unknown to her, involved with a profitable black market organization that stole  antique tiles and other architectural figurines i.e., the Lions, to resell for new construction.

When I was googling for some more background information, I stumbled on a photo of the author. He was not what I had expected. He is quite handsome. I expected someone older and more rumpled. I don't know why. Mario was born in Munch, Germany. His novel, "Black Box" was based on a true story of an occurrence (Stanford Prison Experiment) and adapted to Film as Das Experiment. He received the Bavarian Film Award for the best screenplay.






Our next book is Ray Bradbury's, "Something Wicked This Way Comes." And, we will meet at Tammy's.

September Book Club 2019

This is blog #145 and Book #209

Holy interruptus, Batman! It is September. This is the time of year when things really start to speed up and New Year's Eve will be here before we know it!

Carla G hosted our September meeting. Our book, "Where the Crawdad's Sing," provided us with ample suggestions for food. Diana and I arrived a little later than most. She got some great photos of the food but, in the hubbub of greetings, I did not take down who brought each specific item. However, the food, as always was delicious. We had: fried chicken tenders and cornbread; cheesy grits and shrimp; quiche, several salads, watermelon and both blueberry cobbler and gluten free blueberry cobbler. And, our usual assortment of wines and other beverages.

We also had a full house!  Lou was in town and able to join us. Gwen accompanied Barb and so we were only missing Darby, Denise and Robbie. This is as close as we have come in a while to having us all in one place at the same time.

The temperature had cooled down enough by the time we got around to discussing the book, that we were able to sit out on the patio. Carla announced that she and Randy have purchased a lot in downtown Norman and will be building something new soon. We congratulate them and look
forward to our next adventures in her new home.

"Where the Crawdad's Sing," is a debut novel for Delia Owens. It went quickly to the top of the bestseller list and has been optioned for a movie by Reese Witherspoon. Delia is a zoologist who had authored several non-fiction books with her ex-husband. She grew up in Georgia but lived in Africa for a time and now resides in Idaho. Her writing style is being compared to Barbara Kingsolver, who is a favorite author of many of our members.

Diana said the book rated a 4.66 - but I think we just round that up to a 5. Most everyone loved it. Three of us liked it a lot but thought the telling was rather slow. I was listening on Audible and I thought the story moved slow as did the narration.

This is funny, I had not looked at any reviews on line. The first one I looked at says:

The story follows two timelines that slowly intertwine. The first describes the childhood of our protagonist, Kya. She is abandoned, one by one, by her family members and left to raise herself in the marshlands of North Carolina between 1952-1969. The second timeline follows the murder of Chase Andrews a local athlete and celebrity. Delia's extensive knowledge of biology and zoology did give us a depth of understanding what it must be like living off the land alone and what you must know, or learn, in order to survive by your wits. She did have some help and guidance by a few people on the fringes who kept an eye out for her and allowed her this privilege without turning her into the authorities. Although, they authorities did get close a few times. Kya was certainly a person who had a formidable strength and will to survive. I will be interested to see how they bring this book to the screen. 

Our next book will be Aunti Poldi and the Sicilian Lions.

August Book Club 2019

Many thanks to Denise for hosting the August book club. As you know, Diana and I phoned in our book report this time. She had mentioned we might be calling from Mt. Hood and she wasn't far off. We were having a hard cider at a roadside orchard and cutting garden in the shadow of the mountain. It was good hear everyone's voices and we enjoyed the discussion.

Carla Anderson did a great job of writing our update this month and I have posted it below. If anyone took any photos they would like to share, please add them to the Facebook page and I will upload.



Last night was just one more magical night of friends; women who are spiritual beings gathering together in a home filled with love, support and a safe place to be exactly who we are as individuals. Thank you, Miss Denise!

The food, as always, was absolutely wonderful. Denise made a Pasta e Fagioli soup, both vegetarian and sausage. Barb made egg and chicken salad sandwiches. Tammy brought a cheese plate. Liz made Taco salad and Carla G brought broccoli salad. Arnora brought fruit and, of course, beautiful flowers. Terry made a strawberry cobbler.

(At the time of this writing, the book had not been scored.) I am not sure how Miss D figures the score so I will send her the numbers and anyone who wants to rate it later may let Miss D know.

I know that wine, truffles and so much more were present and I apologize for not taking better notice of the who's and what's. (I totally understand - once you are in the mix of such great conversation you sometimes forget to take the notes and photos, guilty as charged!)

Leslie, Robbie, Pam, Janie, Sherrie and Diana were all missed.

Next month's book is "Where the Crawdad's Sing," by Delia Owens.

One last thing, we are all enough. We are all kind, loving and amazing women. Our higher power, or whatever each of us believes in, could not ask more or be more delighted in who we are as humans because we are enough. We are exactly who we are supposed to be.

NOTES from Sherrie.

From our end, it sounded like everyone had a good time discussing Bernadette. The story of Bernadette, is really the story of a kind coming of age story for Bernadette and her 15 year old daughter, Bee. This story is a variation on the many young adult novels where the child, on the verge of adulthood, is orphaned. In our story,  it is Bee's mother who disappears rather than both parents dying. Bee is still rather abandoned by both parents even before her mother's disappearance. So, I would say she it technically orphaned. Bee's parents suffered several miscarriages before Bee was born. Even though Bee is now 15, her parents relationship has suffered from the unexpressed grief of these prior losses and retreating into their own shells. Her father, who works for Microsoft, retreats into his work and a brief affair. Bernadette, a once famous architect, becomes housebound due to agoraphobia and is a stay at home, a mom at odds with the environment around her. Due to a serious of misunderstandings and miscommunications, Bee is forced to piece together shards of information to discover who her mother really is and why she went missing.

The adult characters in this book didn't necessarily come across as very likable and often were downright irritating. Absorbed in their own pain and navigating difficult life passage of their own, they were leaving Bee to fend for herself. But, this is how we grow up. This is how we learn to navigate in that adult world.

Bernadette has taken her grief and retreated from the world around her. She ensconces herself at home and is not fulling her passion. She is no longer creating beauty in the world but, havoc. This is what happens when we think we are avoiding our pain. It just leaks out in other ways. Bernadette takes off on an exploration. She doesn't know that she is missing. But, in disappearing the way she does she started to reconnect with herself.

This sparked the discussion that all women have at some point; are we enough. Are they doing enough for their families, their community, their God. Where do you draw the lines between giving everything to others and only scraps for yourself (I added that part, I don't know that it was part of the discussion.) And, who are we comparing ourselves to?

I really enjoyed this book when I read it a while back. I enjoyed how it was told and I enjoyed the journey of the characters. For me, characters don't have to always be likable. It is those grains of sand, the irritations, the people we don't like that often teach us the most about ourselves.

The book rated a 3.86 for those who rated it.

July Book Club 2019

Terry hosted us at her new, and very lovely home, for July. Tammy and Pam have also changed houses recently and we look forward to seeing their new digs at some point in the near future.

As it is July and the weather is warming up, Terry decided on Quiche and cool, summer salads. As, usual, we out did ourselves. Along with the Quiche and salads, there was Hummus and deviled eggs, and a veggie tray. Laura also brought a frozen, Reese's Peanut Butter
ice cream cake. I hope I didn't leave anything out. I do believe this was the first time that neither Diana, nor I, took any photos. Feel free to upload to Facebook if anyone else got any. I believe that Denise and Leslie were our only missing members this times (besides Darby and Lou and we always miss them.) Robbie joined us this month and we were happy to see her!

Our, book for July was Neil Gaiman's, The Graveyard Book.

Neil conceived the idea of this book in 1985 while watching his son ride his bike toward a graveyard. He dabbled with the writing the book for several years but ended up putting it aside and writing other things. Finally, he finished and published it in 2008. He considers each of the 8 chapters short stories on their own - separated by two year intervals. He was inspired by Rudyard Kipling's 1894 work. For example the chapter "The Hounds of God" parallels the "Kaa's Hunting."

This is an unusual coming of age story. Our protagonist is Nobody Owens, who is typically orphaned. His parents and siblings are deliberately murdered by an intruder. Nobody is a precocious toddler who has wondered off on his own out of the house and finds himself in the local cemetery. The murderer turns out to be a man named "Jack" who is a member of a secret society called "Jack of All Trades." He has deliberately searched out and killed Nobody's family because it has been prophesied that Nobody's mission in life will be to destroy the Jack of All Trades. Most of the story revolves around the ghosts and caretaker of the cemetery who agree to raise Nobody Or "Bod" as he is called. 

There are many mystical happenings as the story bridges the world between the living and the dead. Several of us listened to the book on audio that was performed by a cast of actors. I thought that made it very entertaining and easier to follow. There were at least two people who started the book and put it down because it wasn't capturing their interest. However, on giving it a second chance ended up loving it.

The Graveyard Book is a modern classic, and is the only work ever to win both the Newberry (US) and Carnegie (UK) medals.

The book rated a 4.5

Our next book will be "Where did you go Bernadette?" Denise will be our host.

September's book will be "The Power" at Carla G's home.

We finally had a break in the rain for a few days. We've seen record amounts of rainfall this spring season. I'm grateful it's been keeping the temperatures down but the flooding in some areas is definitely not good. It turned out to be a nice evening.

Barb was our hostess this month and she put Devon to work on the grill for some delicious Kabob's. Everyone else brought wonderful summer salads, Gwen, Barb's daughter-in-law joined for this month's book discussion and very thoughtfully made the Tipsy Cake that was mentioned in the book. It was was the perfect compliment to our meal. Barb also made some white wine slushy's.

Arnora, Janie, Carla A, Carla G, and Terry were not able to make it.

We want to say congratulations to Tammy who sold her "farm" and is all unpacked in her new home "in town."

Most everyone liked The Rules of Magic. Diana read it early and decided to read it a second time to refresh her memory. She said the characters and the story really moved her in a different way as she reread it. Her favorite quote was, "We spend the first part of our lives looking forward, and the later years looking back."  She noted that, at this time in her life, she does spend some time looking back and reflecting on all that has been brought to her and, "the people and places I remember," a line from a Beatles song. The book rated a 4.

The Rules of Magic is the prequel to Alice Hoffman's book "Practical Magic." Most of us had seen that movie even if we hadn't read the book.

Our next book club will either be at Pam or Terry's. The book is Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book."

Recommendations for future reading:

Where'd You Go Bernadette
Where the Crawdads sing
The Power
Save the Plums for Me
Circe
Educated

May Book Club 2019

I was missing in action for May's Book Club. My kids invited me to meet them for a weekend in Branson. For this month's blog I am reposting Diana's notes from the Facebook page. If anyone has photos or additional information, just let me know and I will add to it.

Arnora was our host for May and the book was "The Book of Polly." Arnora served up a "Pioneer Woman" themed dinner in honor of our trip to Pawhuska.

Everyone enjoyed the book. They loved the characters and the story. The book rated a 4.5. Here is a brief summary of the book.

Willow Havens is ten years old and fearful that her much older mother, Polly,  will die. Polly is cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to shoot varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors. She sticks out like a sore thumb among the young modern mothers of their small, conventional Texas town. She was in her late 50's, and Willow's father had already died when she was born. And, her much older brother and sister are long grown. Willow has figured out she is here by accident. Willow is desperately hungry for clues to her families life before she was born. There are just enough clues to make insight her curiosity. Why did her mother leave her native Bethel, Louisiana and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long ago suitor and did he, in fact, kill a man? And, will Polly be able to outrun the "Bear," the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past?

Barb is hosting June and our book is "The Rules of Magic."

April Book Club 2019

I hosted this month's book club out on the "acreage" haha. I hope finding me wasn't too difficult. Though, I'm in "town" with neighbors all around, the house sits back off the road and it is easy to pass me by.

We missed, Arnora, Leslie, Tammy and Denise. But, we were also excited that Barb brought Kelsie along. It's good to have her back "home" even if temporarily.

As our main dish, I made a Jambalaya. Terry brought a delicious Proscuitto and cheese wrapped apple appetizer. Barb and Kelsie brought a kale and Brussel Sprout salad with yogurt dressing, Diana brought the baguette (what else can you sop the sauce up with? haha) and Guinness. Carla brought both peach and mixed berry cobbler and Janie brought ice cream topping. Carla G contributed wine and ice and Carla A brought peach tea. And, many thanks to Pam who stepped in for Arnora and brought the beautiful Begonia!

Our book his month was the non-fiction "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. As I was doing a little background research (like there wasn't enough in the book!) I discovered that the author had also written The Lost City of Z. We read that several years ago and, as I recall, we liked it a lot.

The final rating of the book was 3.72. Everyone liked the information provided. It's one of those books where you understand the significance of knowing the information while simultaneously being appalled at what you are learning. Barb and Lou (who commented on this book a couple of months ago) did not like how it was written at all. Lou thought it was one of the most boring books she'd ever read and, Barb agreed.

It was told in three sections. I listened to the book and Part 1 was read by a woman. I thought that was appropriate because he starts the book by introducing us to Mollie Burkhart and her family.

Here is a little more background. I don't remember these details from the book. Forgive me if I am repeating information.  In 1870 The Drum Creek Treaty was signed by the Osage. This treaty provided that the remainder of Osage land in Kansas be sold and the proceeds used to relocate the tribe to Indian Territory. The agreement was delayed and there was a change in administration. This benefited the Osage because they were able to sell their land to the "peace" administration, Pres. U.S. Grant, for which they received $1.25 an acre as opposed to the 19 cents previously offered. The Osage were one of the few tribes that were able to buy their own reservation and therefore retained more rights to the land and sovereignty. There is a lot more to the story between 1870 and 1907. I won't recount it here. Let's just say that in those years, thanks to government policies, the population was reduced by about half. However, in 1907 they negotiated a deal which entitled them to retain their communal mineral rights to the land. So, that brings us to the discovery of oil on their land and how they became the richest of the tribes. Not only did the government pay them royalties for the oil but they had discovered that they had rich grasslands and were able to lease the lands to wealthy ranchers.

That brings us to the beginning of our story and the systematic murder of Mollie Burkhart's family. I won't retell the story. Except to say that Part II and III were then told by men who gives us the story of the investigation that leads to William Hale's diabolical plot to take over the "head rights" of the oil leases by orchestrating the murder of the Osage men, women and children who stood in his way. And, the simultaneous forming of the FBI under the, shall we say less than scrupulous, J. Edgar Hoover, who used the investigation, trial and convictions to further his own ends.

While I didn't mind the way the book was written, I did think that if Erik Larson had written it, we might have found ourselves more emotionally invested in the story.

I'm sure we will find out more riveting information and further our discussion on our trip to Pawhuska. I am really looking forward to this!

On a final note, I see where Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCarpio have optioned this for a movie. And, didn't I see they were also doing Devil in the White City?

The Book of Polly is our next selection and Arnora will be our hostess!