The Finer Things Book Club

January Meeting

2011-12-10T15:15:00.002-07:00

Tuesday, January 31st
7:30 pm
Jill's house

January Book

2011-12-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

In Beatrice Priors dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she cant have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

November Book

2011-10-27T13:35:00.000-06:00

Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions.

November Meeting

2011-10-26T08:19:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, November 29th
7:30 pm
Celeste's house

Hosting?

2011-10-05T08:20:00.001-06:00

Sign up to host book club!
We need hosts for January, February, March and April.

Leave a comment telling me if you want to host one of these months.

October Book

2011-09-29T08:15:00.004-06:00

Every morning when she wakes up, Christine has no memory of who she is, where she is, or who the strange man lying next to her is. She has amnesia, and is unable to form new memories, or retain her old ones. Some mornings she wakes up thinking she is in her twenties, others she believes she is a child. Most mornings she tip-toes to the restroom, and is surprised to find a middle-aged woman staring back at her from the mirror. It is there she finds pictures of herself and others taped to the wall. The pictures have names and identities below them. All left to remind her of who she is.

Christine lives with her husband Ben who, every day, has to tell her that she lost her memory after her accident 20-some-odd years ago. One day Christine receives a phone call from a neuropsychologist who tells her he has been working with her to help her retrive her memory. He gives her a journal that she has been keeping and on the very first page the words "DON'T TRUST BEN!" are written in her own handwriting.

October Meeting

2011-09-29T08:14:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, October 25th
7:30 pm
Amanda's House

September Book

2011-09-02T07:25:00.002-06:00

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

September Meeting

2011-08-31T09:55:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, September 27th
7:30 pm
Tiffanie's house

August Meeting

2011-07-27T09:54:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, August 30th
7:30 pm
Jill's House

August Book

2011-07-27T09:48:00.005-06:00

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy finds out her mother might've been telling the truth.

With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - and it's one she's not sure if she wants to be a part of.

July Meeting

2011-07-05T09:46:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, July 26th
7:30 pm
Hillary's house

July Book

2011-06-29T09:48:00.000-06:00

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

June Meeting

2011-06-01T09:47:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, June 28th
7:30 pm
Lisa's house

June Book

2011-06-01T09:46:00.000-06:00

Hosting

2011-05-25T21:37:00.002-06:00

We need more hosts!

Please look on the side bar and see what months are available and let me know when you would be able to host.

Thanks!

May Book

2011-04-27T12:37:00.003-06:00

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.

May Meeting

2011-04-27T09:45:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, May 31st
7:30 pm
Dianna'a house

April Book

2011-03-31T21:40:00.002-06:00

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

Check out Laura Hillenbrand's website

April Meeting

2011-03-30T08:39:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, April 26th
7:30 pm
Tiffanie's house

March Book

2011-02-23T09:58:00.002-07:00

In this inimitable classic, graceful, lucid, and lyrical, Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age, love and marriage, peace, and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Ann Morrow Lindbergh spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic, to launch his first transoceanic airlines. The tragic death of their first child forced the Lindberg's to move to Europe for protection and privacy. When war brought them back to the United States, they established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books, and brought up their family of five. The Lindbergh's traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific on environmental research.

March Meeting

2011-02-23T08:38:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, March 29th
7:30 pm
Jill's house

February Book

2011-01-27T16:28:00.001-07:00

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

February Meeting

2011-01-26T08:37:00.002-07:00

Tuesday, February 22nd
7:30 pm
Jen D's house

January Book

2010-12-01T10:08:00.001-07:00

First with your head and then with your heart . . .

So says Hoppie Groenwald, boxing champion, to a seven-year-old boy who dreams of being the welterweight champion of the world. For the young Peekay, it is a piece of advice that he will carry with him throughout his life.

Born in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred, this one small boy will come to lead all the tribes of Africa. Through enduring friendships with Hymie and Gideon, Peekay gains the strength he needs to win out. And in a final conflict with his childhood enemy, the Judge, Peekay will fight to the death for justice.

January Meeting

2010-12-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, January 25th
7:30 pm
Jen W's house

November Meeting

2010-10-28T08:35:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, November 30th
7:30 pm
Celeste's house

November Book

2010-10-27T05:09:00.002-06:00

In this compelling sequel to Chains, a National Book Award Finalist and winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson shifts perspective from Isabel to Curzon and brings to the page the tale of what it takes for runaway slaves to forge their own paths in a world of obstacles—and in the midst of the American Revolution.

The Patriot Army was shaped and strengthened by the desperate circumstances of the Valley Forge winter. This is where Curzon the boy becomes Curzon the young man. In addition to the hardships of soldiering, he lives with the fear of discovery, for he is an escaped slave passing for free. And then there is Isabel, who is also at Valley Forge—against her will. She and Curzon have to sort out the tangled threads of their friendship while figuring out what stands between the two of them and true freedom.

October Book

2010-09-29T20:31:00.003-06:00

Written with the wisdom and grace devoted readers have come to expect from the award-winning author of The Virgin of Small Plains, here is a brilliantly moving tale of family, murder, and redemptive love.

One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder, a young English teacher, is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents' house—or what she calls her parents' house, even though they have been gone almost all of Jody's life. The polished boots, pressed jeans, fresh white shirts, and Stetsons—her uncles' visiting clothes—are a disturbing sign.

The three bring shocking news: the man convicted of murdering Jody's father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-six years since that stormy night when Jody's father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared...

October Meeting

2010-09-29T07:05:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, October 26th
7:30 pm
At Lisa's house

September Book

2010-09-01T07:06:00.003-06:00

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

Check out the Mockingjay website.

September Meeting

2010-09-01T04:33:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, September 28th
7:30 pm
At Kim's house

Just so you know

2010-08-11T08:48:00.002-06:00

The library has finally added Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson to their system.
You may want to place a hold on it, as we will be reading it in October.
It will be released sometime in October.

Add your hold here.

August Book

2010-07-28T05:05:00.000-06:00

Margaret Atwood takes the art of storytelling to new heights in a dazzling new novel that unfolds layer by astonishing layer and concludes in a brilliant and wonderfully satisfying twist.

For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious.

The novel opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a- novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.

Told in a style that magnificently captures the colloquialisms and clichés of the 1930s and 1940s, The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience. The novel has many threads and a series of events that follow one another at a breathtaking pace. As everything comes together, readers will discover that the story Atwood is telling is not only what it seems to be — but, in fact, much more.

August Meeting

2010-07-28T05:03:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, August 31st
7:30 pm
At Hillary's house

2010-06-30T07:01:00.001-06:00

Does anyone want to host in September or November?
Who hasn't hosted yet this year and wants to?

July Book

2010-06-30T06:55:00.005-06:00

Returning to the small Loire village of her childhood, Framboise Dartigen is relived when no one recognizes her. Decades earlier, during the German occupation, her family was driven away because of a tragedy that still haunts the town.

Framboise has come back to run a little cafe serving the recipes her mother recorded in a scrapbook. But when her cooking receives national attention, her anonymity begins to shatter. Seeking answers, Framboise begins to see ther her mother's scrapbook is more than it seems. Hidden among the recipes for crepes and liquors are clues that will lead Framboise to the truth of long ago.

* We didn't read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but lots of people have read it so I will stick with The Five Quarters of the Orange. If you haven't read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society you should read it! It's a fun book and easy to read.

July Meeting

2010-06-30T02:08:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, July 27th
7:30 pm
Tiffanie's house

June Book

2010-05-25T22:25:00.000-06:00

A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

June Meeting

2010-05-25T02:07:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, June 29th
7:30
Dianna's house

May Meeting

2010-05-19T14:06:00.004-06:00

There has been some confusion to where the next meeting will be held.
So just to clarify it will be at Gina's house Tuesday, May 25th at 7:30 pm

If you have any questions you can send me an email.

May Book

2010-04-28T07:01:00.002-06:00

Juggling the demands of her yarn shop and single-handedly raising a teenage daughter has made Georgia Walker grateful for her Friday Night Knitting Club. Her friends are happy to escape their lives too, even for just a few hours. But when Georgia's ex suddenly reappears, demanding a role in their daughter's life, her whole world is shattered.

Luckily, Georgia's friends are there, sharing their own tales of intimacy, heartbreak, and miracle making. And when the unthinkable happens, these women will discover that what they've created isn't just a knitting club: it's a sisterhood.

May Meeting

2010-04-28T02:07:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, May 25th
7:30 pm
Gina's house

April Book

2010-03-24T12:09:00.005-06:00

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the theif's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Megan Whalen Turner's website

Jen W sent me an email mentioning that she is reading ahead in the series. She wanted me to say if anyone else wants to read ahead it would be fun to discuss the other books.

April Meeting

2010-03-24T12:06:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, April 27th
7:30 pm
Kim's house

March Book

2010-02-24T06:54:00.003-07:00

This is the story of thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, from Bybanks, Kentucky, who is traveling across the country to Idaho with her grandparents. Along the way, she tells them the story of "Phoebe Winterbottom, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic." She also tells you, the reader, another more serious story about her own mother and herself.

March Meeting

2010-02-24T04:42:00.002-07:00

Tuesday, March 23th
7:30 pm
Jen W's house

Hosting

2010-02-16T08:56:00.002-07:00

Check the side bar to see who is hosting book club this year. Check your schedules and see if there is a day you would like to host. You can either email me or leave a comment on the blog.

If you know someone who doesn't check the blog will you please pass this on to them. Thanks!

February Book

2010-01-27T12:32:00.004-07:00

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

February Meeting

2010-01-27T05:40:00.003-07:00

Tuesday, February 23rd
7:30 pm
Celeste's house

January Book

2009-11-25T12:51:00.004-07:00

From the outside view, Jillian Westfield has a pitch-perfect life. Her cherubic 18-month old daughter, her wildly successful investment banker husband, a four-bedroom, five-bath, lemon-scented home with landscaping and neighbors to match. But that doesn’t stop her from mulling over the past, from pushing away the “what ifs” that haunt her when she allows them to seep into her consciousness. What if she hadn’t married Henry? What if she hadn’t abandoned her job at the first sign of pregnancy? What if she’d never broken up with Jackson ? What if she answered her mother’s letter? Because underneath the shiny veneer of her life, Jill waddles around in a faltering marriage, brewing resentment, and an air of discontentedness. But after an ethereal massage in which her therapist releases her blocked chi, she wakes up to discover that she’s been whisked seven years back, back to her old life, her old self, back to the moments in which she made decisions that charted her future course. And now that she’s back, she’s faced with the same roadblocks and obstacles, only this time, armed with hindsight, she can choose a different path and finally lay to rest all of her “what ifs.”

Allison Winn Scotch website.

January Meeting

2009-11-25T05:45:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, January 26th
7:30 pm
Jen D's house

December

2009-11-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

There will be no meeting in December.

Happy Holidays everyone!

November Book

2009-10-28T11:42:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to Suzanne Collins website.

November Meeting

2009-10-28T11:41:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, November 24th
7:30 pm
Lisa's house

October Book

2009-09-30T06:44:00.001-06:00

Check yours out from the library here.

October Meeting

2009-09-30T06:43:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, October 27th
7:30 pm
Hillary's house

September Book

2009-08-26T08:33:00.003-06:00

Check out Kathryn Stockett's website here.

September Meting

2009-08-26T08:32:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, September 29th
7:30 pm
Dianna's house

Change

2009-08-03T11:45:00.002-06:00

I just want to let everyone know that Abi changed the August book to Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Heads Up

2009-07-22T12:40:00.002-06:00

Hillary wanted to give everyone a heads about our November book.
We will be reading the newly released (in September) book, Catching Fire.
The library has started taking holds.

August Book

2009-07-22T12:33:00.004-06:00

Abi changed the book for August to Mere Christianity.

August Meeting

2009-07-22T12:31:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, August 25th
7:30 pm
Tiffanie's house

July Book

2009-07-01T11:21:00.000-06:00

When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana, was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period–people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.

July Meeting

2009-07-01T11:14:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, July 21st
7:30 pm
Abi's house

June Meeting

2009-05-20T07:18:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, June 30th
7:30 pm
Lisa's house

June Book

2009-05-19T21:55:00.000-06:00

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

May Book

2009-04-22T08:18:00.001-06:00

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

In the astonishing new novel by the author of the bestsellers The Robber Bride, Cat's Eye, and The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood takes us back in time and into the life and mind of one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of the nineteenth century. Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, the wealthy Thomas Kinnear, and of Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence after a stint in Toronto's lunatic asylum, Grace herself claims to have no memory of the murders.
Dr. Simon Jordan, an up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness, is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story, from her family's difficult passage out of Ireland into Canada, to her time as a maid in Thomas Kinnear's household. As he brings Grace closer and closer to the day she cannot remember, he hears of the turbulent relationship between Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery, and of the alarming behavior of Grace's fellow servant, James McDermott. Jordan is drawn to Grace, but he is also baffled by her. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories? Is Grace a female fiend, a bloodthirsty femme fatale? Or is she a victim of circumstances?

May Meeting

2009-04-22T08:14:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, April 19th
7:30pm
Amanda's house

Book Sale

2009-04-02T08:49:00.001-06:00

The East Millcreek library is holding their annual book sale April 16th, 17th, 18th.
See more information here.

April Book

2009-03-25T08:43:00.001-06:00

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

April Meeting

2009-03-25T08:27:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, April 21st
7:30 pm
Tiffanie's house

March Book

2009-02-25T07:53:00.003-07:00

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.
Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen—or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It’s all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

March Meeting

2009-02-25T07:50:00.001-07:00

Tuesday March 24th
7:30pm
Hillary's house

February Book

2009-01-28T08:19:00.003-07:00

This novel depicts three generations of Southern women living together during World War II. Unworthy men marry into this formidable tribe, but they cannot break the women's circle of strength and grace. Margaret, the narrator, gently and humorously regales readers with the adventures of her grandmother, Charlie Kate, as a respectable yet unlicensed physician. Without losing her rural sensibility, Gibbons moves from her previous country settings to Raleigh, the capital of her native North Carolina.

February Meeting

2009-01-28T05:42:00.002-07:00

Tuesday, February 24th
7:30 pm
Jen"s house

January Meeting

2008-12-20T04:56:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, January 27th
7:30pm
Celeste's house

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Food Sign Up

2008-10-29T09:59:00.003-06:00

Please leave a comment of what food you will be bringing to the party.
Thanks!

November Meeting

2008-10-29T09:52:00.004-06:00

November Book

2008-10-29T06:33:00.000-06:00

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Author Sara Gruen's website

October Book

2008-10-01T06:23:00.002-06:00

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.
Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.
Deft and witty, written in a style that echoes Austen's own, this unforgettable novel offers a delightfully possible scenario for the inspiration behind this beloved author's romantic tales. It's a remarkable book, irresistible to anyone who loves Jane Austen—and to anyone who loves a great story.

October Meeting

2008-10-01T06:21:00.002-06:00

October 28th
7:30 pm
Dianna's house

email me for directions

Planning

2008-09-26T18:30:00.003-06:00

Start thinking about when you want to host book club in 2008.

Septembr Book

2008-08-27T05:54:00.000-06:00

The Secret Garden, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a charming book about a girl named Mary Lennox. She is a spoiled and sickly child who lives in India. When her parents die because of a cholera epidemic, she moves to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her rich uncle in England. Things are a definite change for her. Slowly she becomes stronger and starts to take an interest in the outdoors. She meets all sorts of people like Martha, Dickon, and Colin. Martha is a maid on the grounds who has taken a fancy to Mary, and Dickon is her brother. Dickon is quite an unusual fellow. He possesses the ability to talk to animals and is able to grow anything with a little bit of soil. Colin, who you will meet later in the story, is a child who has basically given up the will to live, believing he is doomed to be a hunchback like his father. Strong-willed Mary reprimands him and takes matters into her own hands. Mary has all kinds of adventures with strange sounds at night, funny accents, and a locked garden. The Secret Garden is a wonderful book about friendship, determination, and perseverence.

September Meeting

2008-08-26T16:59:00.002-06:00

September 30th
7:30 pm
Kim's house

Email me for directions

August Meeting

2008-07-30T10:22:00.001-06:00

August 26th
7:30 PM
Amanda is hosting at her mother's house

Email me for directions

August Book

2008-07-30T10:08:00.002-06:00

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

The book will be released August 2nd
You can pre order here, here or here.

Check out the Stephanie Meyer website here.

July Meeting

2008-06-18T20:26:00.001-06:00

July 29th 7:30 pm
Lisa's house

Email me for directions

July Book

2008-06-18T20:16:00.004-06:00

Like Anne Frank, Corrie ten Boom, and Viktor Frankl, Kitty de Ruyter Bon endured the terror of man's inhumanity to man during World War II. In this inspiring and powerful true story, Kitty testifies of the triumph of the human spirit.
As both of Kitty de Ruyter's parents were devout Christians, her day started with a hymn and a scripture from the Bible. Kitty was only eight years old when her island paradise of Java, Indonesia, was invaded by Japanese soldiers during WWII.
Members of Kitty's family were taken to different prison camps. Kitty describes how her mother acted with courage in the face of hardship-even torture. Forbidden to pray at the camp, she nevertheless prayed and taught her children all she remembered of the scriptures. She courageously defied the Japanese officials and bravely took upon herself the consequences.
These and countless other incidents, beautifully portrayed, prove that the grace of Christ gives one power in the presence of hatred, evil, pain, and suffering.

June Meeting

2008-05-28T09:52:00.003-06:00

For the June meeting we are going to be doing something a little different.

Tuesday, June 17th
6:30 PM
Paradise Bakery {sugar house}
Bring your favorite children's book {you can bring up to 3}

The Thirteenth Tale

2008-05-03T14:04:00.006-06:00

Check out The Thirteenth Tale website for more information on the book and Diane Setterfield.

Who Is Interested

2008-05-01T20:32:00.005-06:00

Who would be interested in going to dinner and/or a movie in June?

Because a lot of people will be on vacation for the June meeting we canceled that months meeting. Kim suggested that we all get together for dinner and a movie. What are your thoughts?

Kim were you thinking of doing it the same night as we would normally hold bock club? or another night?

May Book

2008-04-30T09:13:00.007-06:00

Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny.
Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautifuland willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess,a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

Buy the book here:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Borders

The library has 16 copies available

May Meeting

2008-04-30T08:50:00.002-06:00

May 27th 7:30 pm
Jenn's house
Email me for directions

Anyone Want To Host June?

2008-04-21T11:28:00.003-06:00

Megan is wanting to see if anyone wants to host the June meeting. She doesn't think she will be able to.

April Meeting

2008-04-01T20:13:00.002-06:00

April 29th 7:30 pm at Tiffanie's house.
Email me for directions.

April Book

2008-04-01T20:04:00.005-06:00

Winner of England's Booker Prize and a literary sensation Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story. As a pair of young scholars research the lives of two Victorian poets, they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire -- from spiritualist sÉnces to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany. What emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passion and ideas.

Find the book here, here or here.

Any New Blogs?

2008-03-13T10:54:00.003-06:00

Do any of the member have new blogs that need to be added to our list?
Does everyone know about this blog?
Here is a list of who I know is aware of this blog.
Dianna, Kim, Megan, Lisa, Hillary, Gina, Melissa and Abi.

I just want to make sure that everyone in our club knows about this, so if you aren't on the list and you know about it please comment.
If someone is not on the list and they don't know about the blog, please let them know!

Thanks!

New Poll

2008-03-12T14:51:00.001-06:00

Make sure to check out the new polls on the side bar.