Our Second Annual Outing

This month we are having two meetings of our club. We have a scheduled meeting on Nov. 19Th to discuss this months book but as well as that we had our annual Outing. It was a wonderful evening. A Limo picked us up and drove us to Toronto. On board we enjoyed wine and snacks and lots of laughs. We then had dinner at Gretzky's, followed by a performance of the Second City Troupe. The performance was very good, very topical addressing a lot of political and social issues in a very tongue in cheek manner. I think it is safe to say that we all enjoyed it very much. It's wonderful to be out with a group of friends and spend the whole evening laughing. It was great therapy!!! After a fabulous evening and several bottles of wine our Limo whisked us back home. Everyone was tired but happy and may I say that almost everyone got up and exercised the next morning. Well done ladies! Plans for next years outing are already in the works. Now it's back to discussing our book. See you on the 19Th.

October 21st. Meeting

Tonight we met to discuss our current book, John Irving's, A Prayer for Owen Meany. We were short two members as Fran was traveling in China and Pat was not well. I was interested to see what the reaction to the book was going to be as it was something quite different from what we have read in the past. On the whole I think the reaction was quite favorable. Some loved it, including Pat who called ahead to give us her input, and Janet and I. Debbie and Verna liked the booked but felt it dragged in some spots and left you wondering at times where it was going. In the end though both felt it was worth reading. Catherine was unable to finish it as she had a very busy month but intends to get back at it and reports that so far she likes it.
There were various themes discussed including the spiritual apect of the book as well as the political slant. I think all agreed that the character of Owen is one we will not soon forget. We agreed that it is the type of book you might read a second time.
Next month we will continue with the spiritual theme with Janet's selection of The Shack. It should provide us with some good discussion. Till then......

September 16 th 2009.

Tonight we met to discuss our current book, The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. We were missing one member due to vacation. I was somewhat surprised to find that the discussion was not a lively as some of our past meetings. I wondered why that would be as we all thoroughly enjoyed the book. Maybe therein lies the answer. Everyone had the same basic opinions. We all thought it was a good story, well written and an insight into some of our Canadian history and we would highly recommend it to others. There wasn't alot of room for disagreement. How could you not be appalled by slavery in general and Aminata's life in particular. Still it was a good meeting. We also conducted some business regarding a planned outing which should prove to be alot of fun! Looking forward to next months discussion on A Prayer for Owen Meany. I think I can saftly say that there will not be as much of a concensus on that book! Till October.....

August 19th Meeting

This month we had a very interesting meeting. Our book was The Ice Man by Philip Carlo. It was a biography of a contract killer for the Mafia who happened to be a serial killer as well. It seems that most of us approached this book with some trepidation, feeling that we wouldn't like it at best and "wouldn't be able to read it" at worst. However, everyone, I am pleased to say, read the book and we had a very spirited conversation about it. We touched on several subjects besides the actual content of the book. We discussed the Nature vs Nurture argument. We talked about spousal abuse and why it happens and why some women allow it. We also discussed how the psychopathic mind works and how we ( so called ) normal people cannot begin to understand the "Why" of their actions. The whole exercise was a great reminder of how reading different books can open your mind to new ideas and experiences and are always an education of some degree. All in all a good meeting. Looking forward to a complete change of pace with our next selection, "The Book of Negroes. Enjoy ladies!!!!!!
On a sadder note I must mention that we have lost one of our members. Do to travel and time restraints Joyce will be leaving our club. She just can't commit to our monthly meetings. Although we all understand her decision we will miss having her.

For our July meeting we discussed a book that is very popular at the moment, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Two of our members were missing last night, but the six present unanimously agreed that it was well worth reading. The consensus of opinion was that it was both humorous and touching and gave a different perspective to the horror of WWII. Some of the readers had a bit of a problem adjusting to the format. The book is presented as a group of letters being exchanged between various characters and never deviates from that premise. All agreed though that once they got used to the format they quite enjoyed it. It was a perfect summer read. Next month we will be taking a very different path as we explore the world of a renowned "Hit Man". Should be interesting.

June 17th Meeting

Last night we had our monthly meeting of the club, hosted by Verna. We started by settling up some business regarding dates, lists of hostess's and genre's of books. We also had a quick computer update concerning the Blog. We have added two new genre's to our list. They will be Spiritual, suggested by Janet and Self-development, suggested by Debbie. This and other information will be posted on the Blog shortly.
Unfortunately several of our members had not read this months entry, Death in Holy Orders, citing reasons from lack of time to lack of interest in this particular book. It was disappointing as it eliminated them from any discussion about the book. However those that did read the book all seemed to enjoy it and a fairly lively discussion on it was had by those members. On a personal note, I was happy to be re-introduced to the Mystery novel and intend to read more by this author and others of her ilk.
Our upcoming book, selected by Pat, sounds like a perfect Summer read. We will be reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Until next month, Enjoy!

May 20th Meeting

This month we met at Fran's home to discuss our book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was the second time we had "visited" this area of the world through our books. We had a lively discussion that ranged from opinions on the various cultural differences we noticed, to woman's rights both here and throughout the world. We even touched on the effects, both good and bad that religion has had on society throughout the ages. For most of us this was the second book we have read by Khaled Hosseini. Most of us had read the Kite Runner and it was a split as to who enjoyed which book most. We look forward to a complete change of pace with our Mystery next month. Enjoy everyone!

April 15th Meeting

After a winter when most of us traveled part of the time, it was nice to get together with everyone again and discuss our latest book. Everyone seemed to enjoy The Lady and the Unicorn. There was some lively discussion as to whether the lead character Nicolas was a total jerk or not. It was certainly a perfect book for a woman's Book Club. I think we are all looking forward to our next meeting.

Feb. 18, 2009 Meeting

Well, another good meeting of the club. Again we were short a couple of members due to the pull of sunny southern weather. A couple of our members had returned while a couple of others were away. The reviews for our latest book, A Tale of Two Cities, were mixed. All in all it seems that everyone felt that it was a great book but some members had a little trouble getting through it. The language was perhaps a little intimidating. Hopefully those that enjoyed it and those who didn't quite as much, will give it another try down the road. Sometimes a second or third reading of a book can cause a greater reaction.
We will be taking a break for the month of March as we have too many members away. We will resume again in April when we will discuss The Lady and the Unicorn. Until then....

Jan. 21, 2009 Meeting.

Last night we had another good meeting of our club. Unfortunately we were missing a few members who were away enjoying the sun in Florida. Still the five of us present were able to have a good discussion about Three Cups of Tea. Everyone seemed to enjoy the book to varying degrees. All agreed it was an incredible story and very current considering the War in Afghanistan. We all learned a little about geography, the culture of the people and had a little more insight into Islam. Now it is on to our Classic, A Tale of Two Cities. Hopefully everyone will get something out of that novel as well.

Our Last Meeting

After five great meetings held at each others homes, we decided to combine our sixth meeting with a girls getaway. To that end we all headed up to Dilkusha, the LeGallais family cottage. Not only did we have a good time and discuss our current book, but we decided on some guidelines for the club. Verna brought some excellent suggestions with her that she had learned from another woman who had been in a Book Club for many years. It caused some great discussions and we adopted some ideas. We decided to plan our meetings in advance. We are now having meetings on the third Wednesday of each month. We also decided to expand ourselves by appointing certain types of books to each month. For example February will be a Classic and April will be Historical Fiction. When your turn comes up, you pick from the genre of the month. We also decided to give the month's hostess some power. It is her responsibility to keep the meeting on the subject. She will have a "Bell" to ring when she thinks it's going off topic. We all agreed to obey the Bell! We still have to get the Bell though? This should make for even better meetings.

Also, thanks to Danielle for creating this blog for us!

Upcoming Books!

Jan. 21 - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson (Non-Fiction) - suggested by Pat

Feb. 18 - A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (Classic) - suggested by Linda

March - NO MEETING

April 15 - The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (Historical Fiction) - suggested by Janet

May 20 - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Fiction) - suggested by Fran

June 17 - Death in Holy Order. by P.D. James (Mystery) - suggested by Verna

July 15 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ..... suggested by Pat

Aug 19 - The Ice Man by Phillip Carlo (Biography) - suggested by Catherine

Sept 16 - The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill , ( Historical Fiction ) suggested by Fran

Oct. 21 - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, ( Fiction) suggested by Linda

Nov. 19 - The Shack by Wm. Paul Young ( Spiritual ) suggested by Janet

Dec. 9 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo ( Classic ) suggested by Verna

Jan. 13 - Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (Self-Help) suggested by Debbie

Feb. 17- The Private Patient by P.D. James - (Mystery) - Catherine

March. NO MEETING.

April 21 - The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - (Classic)- Pat

May 19 - Fran - Fiction - American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

June 16 - Cancelled

July 21 Linda -Fiction - The Lace Reader - by Brunonia Barry

Aug 25 - Debbie - Fiction -The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

Sept 22 - Janet - Non-Fiction - Princess - Jean P. Sasson

Oct. 20 - Vicki - Documentary - The Girls From Ames - Jeffrey Zaslow

Nov. 17 - Fran - Fiction - South of Broad - Pat Conroy

Dec. 8 - Bev - The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Jan. 19 - Pat - Cutting for Stone- Abraham Verghese

Feb. 16 - Linda - The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway

March - No Meeting

April 20 - Debbie - The Paris Wife - Paula McClain

May 25 - Janet - Provenance - Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo

June 22 - Vicki - The Postmistress - Sarah Blake

July 20 - Debbie - The Swimming Pool - Holly LeCraw

Aug 17 - Bev - The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom

Sept. 21 - Pat - When God Was A Rabbit - Sarah Winman

Oct. 19 - Fran - The Shanghai Girls - Lisa See

Nov. 16 - Linda - The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Dec. 7 - Janet - ?

Jan. 19 - Vicki - Sarah's Key - Tatiana De Rosnay

Feb. - Beverly - The Cat's Table - Michael Ondaatje

March. No Book

What we have read to date...

No Great Mischief by Alistair Macloed - suggested by Linda

Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens - suggested by Janet

Remembering the Bones by Francis Itani - suggested by Verna

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - suggested by Fran

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh - suggested by Catherine

One Fifth Ave. by Candace Bushnell - suggested by Debbie