Merry Christmas

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas reading. Sorry we had to cancel our meeting. I'll send out a new evite soon for the end of January. We'll read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson for that meeting, and The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner for our February/early March meeting. Looking forward to seeing you then!

Choose a Book!

Time to vote! Below are some of books that you recommended. Please vote by Thursday, since we will decide on the book then. Also, feel free to come with any other ideas for future books. See you Thursday!

By the way, I will apologize in advance for any advertising or difficulty deciphering my poll--it is a freebie!

Christmas Book Ideas

A few ideas for Christmas reading...
(click on the titles for more information)


The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
This is a young adult book, but SO funny and with a good Christmas message. A classic.

Shepherds Abiding
Part of Jan Karon's Father Tim series, this is a warm holiday story set in a town of interesting characters. I remember liking it, but I plan to read it again this year to remember why.

Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
I haven't read this one, but it looks intriguing. A line from the Amazon summary: "And an unconventional story it is, involving a lost wallet, a blind woman, and a Christmas dinner. Everything gets turned upside down. What's stealing? What's giving? What's a lie? What's the truth? It's vintage Auster, and pure pleasure: a truly unsentimental but completely affecting tale."

The Christmas Box
I've read this at some point, but don't remember it well. It promises to be "the touching story of a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Together they discover the first gift of Christmas and learn what Christmas is really all about. "

The Christmas Shoes
Haven't read this one either. Might be good, might be hopelessly sentimental, might be both! There's a song containing the same story, and I think it was made into some sort of movie (maybe a made-for-TV-special).

Feel free to choose your own, too, these are just the first ideas that came up when I thought about it and did an internet library search!

December Meeting

OK, after much deliberation, I've decided on a slightly different format for our December meeting. Instead of trying to find a book that is short, uplifting, holiday themed, and perfect for everyone, I'm challenging you to find your own!! Here are the guidelines:
...has a Christmas or holiday theme
...fairly easily available for others to get if they like the sound of it
...something you've re-read RECENTLY, preferrably this year (not one you read in high school and vaguely remember!)

When we meet, we'll give a BRIEF synopsis of the book we read, then explore some common themes of holiday books through our questions. Hopefully a little change will be good! In a separate post, I'll reccommend some books that might fit the bill.

As a sidenote, if you have a favorite children's Christmas book, bring that along too!

Come to my house
Thursday, December 11 7:00 p.m.
Invite a friend!

My Sister's Keeper

Thanks to everyone who came to talk about My Sister's Keeper. If you couldn't come, don't despair. We meet again in December! Just to recapture the experience, and maybe whet your appetite for the book if you haven't read it, here are some themes we explored in our discussion.

the level of parents' responsibility for their children's actions

the morality and ethics of medical issues including genetically designed embryos and decisions about prologing life

family relationships--parent/child, sibling, husband/wife

common human feelings of connection/disconnection, justice/favoritism, connection/independence

the role of God and faith in how we handle traumatic events

the complexities of parenting, making difficult decisions for your children, knowing when to step in and when to let go


I was impressed again this time I read the book with Jodi Picoult's unusual writing style, insights into how people think, complexity of plot, quality of writing, and memorable quotes. I'll send you my notes if you want to know more about what I picked out of the novel!

See You Tomorrow!

Hope to see you tomorrow as we discuss "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. Here is a link to some of the questions we might use in our discussion. Check it out, so you can ask one if I don't!

http://readinggroupguides.com/guides3/my_sisters_keeper1.asp

Take a Break!

Thinking that maybe a lighter note is needed in the midst of our heavy reading for November's meeting, I offer the following offer for your consideration....

Check out Mo Willems. He's a children's book author with a light, cartoony style. Nathan and I are enjoying the Elephant and Piggy books, thanks to a gift from a friend. The expressions on the characters' faces are very amusing to me, and Nathan enjoys the funny situations the two friends get themselves in. Check them out with a kid you know!

Mo's Books are Here

Mo's Blog is Here

Games with Mo's Characters are Here

Quote to Consider

A reading quote for your consideration...
"No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting." --Lady Mary W. Montagu

Thanks to the amazing availability of free books though our public library system, this is particularly true here in America, if we take advantage of it! Hopefully our book club can help make the pleasure more lasting, by accompanying reflection, friendship and conversation with reading. We'll see!

November Book Club

Our next meeting will be
Friday, November 7
7:00 p.m.
My house!
We're reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

Thanks for Coming

Thanks to everyone who came last night! I really enjoyed time with new friends and old, and I think our discussion was lively and interesting. (I guess the peach shortcake and apple goat cheese bruschetta weren't too shabby either!) Hopefully you found our evening fun as well. See you next time!

A Variety of Opinions

The Shack is a book that sparks a variety of reactions in its readers! Here are a few responses I've collected so far. I look forward to hearing what everyone else thought on Monday!

An article with a little history on the author here

A review from my pastor here (scroll down to the second header on this special topics page)

The book's website here

An article on "Is the book heresy" here

One blogger's interview with the author here (along with a lengthy discussion in the post comments)

Might be interesting to see what others think, but it is most relevant for our purposes to know what you think. We won't agree, but perhaps we can sharpen one another as we talk.

September 22 Information

We're meeting at my house on September 22 at 7:00.
The book we're reading is The Shack by William P. Young.
Let me know if you can come!

Getting Started

Welcome to the "Different Book" blog, where I will post information about my book club. Check here for links to book reviews, comments and reflections on what I'm reading, polls for which book to read next, and information about club business and schedules. Hope you enjoy reading with me!