Aug. 17th Meeting

Tonight's meeting was very different and very special. We have two of our members moving away. Debra is heading up to Collingwood and Bev has moved to Ancaster. Fortunately both intend to remain part of the club. We all sincerely hope that happens. Our book this month was The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, selected by Bev. Because of the two "moves" it was decided that a party was in order to send both women off with our best wishes. With that in mind we combined a Book Club Meeting with a send off dinner party, that included the husbands. The party itself was lovely with all contributing to the event. Unfortunately it did mean that the time for discussion was quite limited. All agreed that it had been a pleasure to read this selection. Another book set in the deep South with the topic of Slavery at it's center, but with a somewhat different approach. The story was seen through the eyes of two women. Belle, the offspring of the Master and one of his slaves and Lavinia an Irish orphan taken in by the Master and raised amongst his slaves. It was a gripping story with multidimensional characters, lots of suspense, moments of humour as well as tragedy. All in all a very enjoyable book and one that I personally will recommend.

July 20th Meeting

Tonight's selection was chosen for us by Debbie. It was The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw. Debbie stated that she choose this particular book as it would be a nice light summer read. Apparently it was fairly popular with the group as most of the women seemed to enjoy it. ( Your writer was, it seemed, the only exception so she just stayed quiet tonight. ) I'm not sure why everyone liked it? They seemed to like the story line and the minor "who done it" aspect to the plot. There was some discussion about the strength or weakness of some of the characters. In any case, not all books are for all people, so I will end my comments there. It was still nice to have our monthly meeting and I am happy that the majority enjoyed the book.

June Meeting and Catching Up!

Before I comment on our most recent meeting I should catch up a bit. I am afraid I have been remiss in not commenting on our past two meetings. In April we met to discuss Debbie's selection of a Paris Wife. This was a biography of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway's first wife. It was a thought provoking glimpse into the life of one of America's finest writers through a woman's eyes. Most of us enjoyed the book to at least some degree. We enjoyed hearing about life in that very special time as experienced by a very unique collection of people. It also encouraged some of us to revisit the work of Mr. Hemingway.

In May we had a somewhat different meeting. Janet selected the book, Provenance. She was motivated in her selection in no small way by a reference in the book to a rather extraordinary circumstance that has developed in her personal life. The details of that circumstance are not the stuff of Book Club Blogs but in short I will say that the book took a very distant second to Janet's report on the rather extraordinary journey she and her family have found themselves on. By the way it is a wonderful journey!

Last night we met again to discuss The Postmistress, Vicki's selection, and got back to regular Book Club discussions. This book was very well received by the group. The story was gripping. The characters were interesting and well developed and it provoked many spirited discussions on a number of different themes from feelings of isolation, when it is "right" to withhold the truth and even the developments in how NEWS is delivered now as opposed to in the 1940's. I personally felt that it was one of the best discussions we have had in some time.

Next month Debbie is taking an early turn at picking her book as she has a move in her future. She has selected The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw. It's a mystery and apparently a nice light summer read. Till then........

February 16th Meeting

Tonight we discussed Linda's selection of The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. Again the book was met by mixed reviews. I believe that most of the woman enjoyed the book and we had some very heartfelt comments regarding peoples struggles to maintain their humanity during devastating circumstances. One of the beauties of the book was that although it took place in Sarajevo, it could have been anywhere. The people who inhabited the story, were ordinary citizens caught in a nightmare. We tried to imagine what we would feel like and how we might behave in similar circumstances. This is a book with a fairly simple plot. For some of us that was the beauty of it while others felt it lacked depth. Again, we all have different opinions.

We won't be meeting next month as many of our group will be down south. I look forward to meeting with all of you again in April to discuss The Paris Wife. Until then.......

December 8, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met to discuss Pat's choice for the month, Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verchese. This was a beautifully written novel with a very compelling story line and some fascinating characters. It seems that most of the members of the group enjoyed the book to a degree. A couple of us truly enjoyed it and savoured the way the story unfolded. One of the criticism's from a couple of the women was that it "dragged" a bit at times. This, I'm afraid is a criticism that is often leveled at our books. Admittedly some times it is deserved, but often the book deserves the time to unfold in its own way. This is of course one of the challenges of a Book Club. It is difficult to find stories that will appeal to everyone. We all have very different tastes and expectations from our books. However this is also what keeps the discussions lively.

December 8, 2010

As mentioned last month we would be returning to the Deep South with this months selection, suggested by Bev, of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This book has been on the best sellers list for some time and we could all see why. It was a book that was easy to read, had lots of well developed characters and a good plot. We all agreed that is was an interesting take on the subject of racism in the South to see it all through the eyes of the Black Women who work as servants in the homes of their White employers. I should mention that this book was set in modern times which again made it a little different from some of the novels on this subject we have read before such as The Book of Negroes. One of the things we all agreed on was that we appreciated that her characters were involved. The "good" people had flaws and the "bad" ones had redeeming features. Perhaps this book will never become a classic but it certainly was and entertaining and thought provoking book.

November 17, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met at Fran's home to discuss her choice for the month, South of Broad by Pat Conroy. For some of us, who were very familiar with this author it was a pleasure to read another of his books. For others this was an introduction to Mr. Conroy. Everyone seemed to enjoy the book to at least some degree. Those of us that were familiar with the authors other books agreed that it was not his best work but still well worth the time to read it. It was interesting to be taken back to sixties and remember the social morals of the time. We thought that some of the characters were a touch too one dimensional but on the whole the characters were well developed. Some of us thought the novel would have profited by being shorted somewhat while others liked his style and were happy to drift along with him. It is always interesting to visit the South through these novels and discuss the the attitudes of the people. We will be going back to the South next month but the area will be seen through very different eyes. Till then.....

October 20, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met at the home of one of our new members, Vicki. The book we discussed was The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. This was an interesting choice and somewhat different from anything we have read to date. The book was written by a Journalist rather than an Author and the style reflected that. It followed the lives of 11 women who had maintained a friendship for over 40 years. I would have to say that the majority of us were not overly taken with the book. Some found it repetitive and others just boring. However, it did bring on lots of interesting discussion. We talked about our own experiences in High School. Seems most of us did not belong to the "In Crowd" and so could not enjoy the story of "the shit sisters" as was intended. They reminded us of people we hadn't liked. It's amazing how many scars can be left from our youth. We did acknowledge that this lasting friendship was very unique. We also talked about how the strength of our women friends can really sustain us at bad times. So, as often is the case, a book that wasn't a favorite enlisted more discussion than some of the more popular choices. That's the beauty of a Book Club. We are introduced to books we may not select on our own but it is always a learning experience. Till next month.......

September 22nd. 2010, Meeting

Tonight we met at Janet's home to discuss her choice of Books Princess. Happily all seven of our members, including our two newest members Vicki and Bev were in attendance. This book is allegedly a Biography of the life of a Saudi Princess as told anonymously to a friend from the West. We have visited this area of the world several times in our books although this was the first time in Saudi Arabia. The story was shocking of course when seen through our Western eyes. If we have learned nothing else through these books we have learned how lucky we are to be born in a country that affords us such freedom.
As I said it is allegedly a true story. Several of us noticed a few discrepancies that made us doubt the books validity although all were sure it reflected the truth. We tried to separate what is truly abuse and what is just culturally different from our way of life. We noted that although we would never want the kind of repression seen in so many Islamic countries we admit that in some instances our "freedom" has caused a real lessening of our moral fabric. These are very interesting but tough questions. All in all a good meeting.
Our next book, The Girls of Ames should be a perfect fit for a woman's Book Club. I look forward to reading it. Till next month.....

August 25th. Meeting

Tonight was a special night for our club. We have undergone some changes in the past few months. Tonight we welcomed two new members Vicki and Bev. It is great to have them join us.
The book for this month was The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. The consensus was that this was a very enjoyable book. It was well written and had a very compelling story line. The story line crosses back and forth over three generations of women. Some of our members reported that they usually don't enjoy that style of writing but in this case did. We were able to talk about what it would be like to be a woman in Victorian times and how restricted the morals were. Some of the discussion centered on choices people make and how they impact their own lives and the lives of others, sometimes for generations. We discussed how it isn't always easy to judge the decisions people make. Sometimes they do the wrong thing for the right reason. Life is complicated. We also enjoyed the many layers to this book. It was in part, a story worthy of Dickens, a Fairy Tale and a love story. We enjoyed the fact that the characters were well developed, multi faceted and interesting. In all a good read for everyone.
Next month we take a completely different path when we read Janet's choice of Princess. Till then......

July 21st Meeting and so much more!

This is the first posting to the Blog I have made in sometime so I will try to catch up. We have had an eventful few months. In May we had our usual meeting, at Fran's home where we discussed the current book choice An American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Again the book received mixed reviews. Some liked it quite a lot while some not as much, although no one thoroughly dismissed it. There was one interesting criticism of the book that a couple of the members had. This book was obviously inspired by George Bush's family. It was not very complimentary in many ways and fairly sexually graphic. We felt that the author was cowardly to make it so obvious without having the integrity to say up front that he was using them as his template. Perhaps he feared a lawsuit? Again, a good discussion. Unfortunately a couple of weeks after that meeting one of our original members Catherine, decided to quit. We are not entirely sure of her reasons although she was very candid that she was not a "big reader" and hoped the club would inspire her. She often had trouble with our selections and possibly felt that it wasn't something she enjoyed after all. We were all sad to lose her but respected her decision.
In June we were to meet at Linda's cottage to discuss the Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. That month we lost a very dear friend of all of us. He died just before our scheduled get away. Needless to say the trip was cancelled. We were all extremely upset and we did not have a meeting that month.
This past month we rescheduled our meeting at the cottage. All plans were made and we all looked forward to our trip up north. The night before we were to leave another Member, Verna, e-mailed us to say she was not well and would not be joining us. She has been going through some difficult times and we suspected this was the cause. We carried on with our plans and had a wonderful time in spite of her absence. I am afraid what with all the other discussions about some community issues and our concerns over Verna we did not spend too much time on the book. I can only speak for myself when I say that it was a book I would recommend. When we returned we found that Verna had decided to quit the club altogether. This was a blow to all of us. As mentioned we know she is having some personal issues and it is effecting alot of her choices. We can do nothing but respect her decision.
On a much happier note we have a new member to our club, Bev. She had expressed an interest in joining previously, and with the loss of two members, it seemed the perfect time for a fresh face with new ideas. She will be joining us for our next meeting on Aug. 25th to discuss The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I believe she will be a wonderful addition and hope she enjoys the club. We would love to get back to our simple love of books with no drama for awhile. Till next month.....

April 21st. Meeting

Last night was our first meeting since our "March Break". Everyone was present and it was lovely to be back together. We took another stab at a Classic with Nathanial Hawthorn's most famous book, The Scarlett Letter. Happily everyone had read it. The opinions were, as usual ,varied. A couple of our members reported that although they did enjoy the story and appreciated the talent of the author,they still find they don't enjoy novels written pre -twentieth century. This is a perfectly legitimate opinion. For the most part we enjoyed the novel though and everyone participated in a lively discussion of the story, the characters and the social morals of the time. One of the things I found most interesting was the discussion of how important it was to address novels written in or about the past from the perspective of the people of that time. There is the temptation to apply our morals or standards on everyone and it can cloud our opinions. This also applies to novels written about different cultures. Not everyone thinks like we do. We discussed whether to continue selecting Classics, but did not come to a resolution. It will come up again I'm sure. Pat had an interesting idea about including some poetry in our meetings. We decided that if someone had a poem they would like to share, they could bring it along when they present their book. I look forward to that.
Next month we will discuss Fran's choice, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Apparently it is a loosely veiled account of the life of Laura Bush. I'm excited to read it. Till next month.....

February 17, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met at Catherine's home to discuss her choice for the month. We read a Mystery, The Private Patient by P.D. Lawrence. This was the second book we have read by this author. Again this month we were a smaller group due to the fact that two of our members Fran and Verna, were still away spending their winter in the south. However they both sent along an e-mail with their comments on the book. It's not as good as having them with us to participate in the discussion of course, but it does enable them to be at least a part of the meeting. Hats off to technology!
The discussion itself was fairly low key. Most agreed that it was an entertaining read but not a story that would elicit much discussion. The general conclusion was that perhaps we should avoid choosing the same author in any category for our monthly selection.
We will be taking the month of March off as even more of our members will be heading south. Hope they have packed lots of good books! We will meet again in April to discuss Pat's choice in the Classic category, Nathanial Hawthorne's "The Scarlett Letter". Until Then........

January 13th, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met at Deb's house to discuss this months selection, Eat Pray Love. We were missing two members Verna and Fran, who are currently down south, however we did have e-mails from both of them with their comments and Verna was able to join us for a short time via Skype. I think this was one of the best meetings we have had. First off, everyone had read the book! For the most part everyone seemed to enjoy the book to various degrees. We each had some criticisms but for the most part everyone found a degree of inspiration from it. We had a very lively, moving and at times humorous discussion. There were some very tender stories exchanged and we had a lot of good laughs. It is interesting how each meeting is so different depending on that months selection. Some books are about the story, some about the literature and some teach lessons. The really good ones combine all of these things! Next month we move onto our Mystery. Till then.....

December 9, 2009 Meeting

Tonight's meeting was a little different from our regular meetings. Due to a death in the family Janet was unable to host the meeting in November. It was decided that as it was Janet's choice of books we did not want to go on without her so the meeting was deferred to the next month. We decided to combine two meetings in one and discuss both November's book The Shack as well as Verna's choice for December Victor Hugo's, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The meeting was held at Janet's home. This would be the last meeting of this year that we would all be together as some of our members will be heading south.
There was a variety of opinions regarding The Shack but all in all in was probably not one of the more popular books we read. Some of us liked the book to a point and felt it had some positive messages while others felt it was both poorly written and of little value. It is always risky when books of a religious nature are discussed. People are a little more guarded with their opinions for fear of offending someone.
The second book we discussed was Verna's choice of the classic Hunchback of Notre Dame. Again opinions were varied. A few of us loved the book both for it's story and the skill of the author Victor Hugo. A couple of us just couldn't get past the language or felt the story was dragging at points and abandoned it and a couple just didn't bother reading it. Reasons such as lack of interest and lack of time were cited for this. On a personal note I find it disappointing when our members do not make at least a noble attempt to read the novel of the month. It is after all the reason we have a "Book Club". We discussed dropping classics from our list as they seem to cause problems for some of us. It was decided to give it one more try with Pat's upcoming choice of The Scarlett Letter. I hope everyone will enjoy it and appreciate it.
Now it is onto next months selection of Eat, Pray, Love. Quite a departure from Mr. Hugo!

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.