October's Book

We haven't set a date for October's book club yet, but the book we will read is:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

A brief summary:
Set in 19th-century China, See's national bestseller tells a story of two young women who find solace with each other, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

The author's website:
http://www.lisasee.com/snowflower.htm

Reading Group questions:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/snow_flower1.asp

Foot binding photos:
http://www.lisasee.com/images/footbinding/footbinding.htm

Lisa See's discussion questions:
http://www.lisasee.com/sfbookclub.htm

NPR story about foot binding:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942&sc=emaf

September's Book

Our book for September is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Here are some links of interest:

Wikipedia's entry about the book (caution, contains plot spoilers!)

An interview with the author

A longer interview with the author

Some discussion questions

Other discussion questions

Washington Post review of the book

New York Times review of the book

The Curious Incident...

Our book for late August or early September (I haven't picked a date yet) will be The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. It is a story written from the perspective of a 15 year old boy who has autism. A summary...

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

Some links...

Wikipedia article about the book

Reading group questions

Different reading group questions

The Princess Bride

Our next book will be The Princess Bride. It is a humorous fairy tale, hopefully a fun choice for summer reading. The book was, of course, made famous by the movie of the same name. Part of our discussion will involve comparing the book and the movie, so you can watch even if you don't have time to read! (Or, do both!) A few links...

Wikipedia article about the book

Internet movie database article about the movie

Reading group questions

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Here are some links for our next book, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Amazon.com link

Wikipedia link (caution, contains lots of plot spoilers!)

Author's website (includes a book excerpt and some reading questions)

Reading Group Guides questions

Apparently this book was made into a TV movie at some point, too, but I'm not sure how to get ahold of it. I read Wicked by this same author and really liked it, and enjoyed the musical based on the book as well.

The Red Tent

Our next book will be The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Here are some links you may find interesting...

Amazon's description of the book

The author's website

Author's responses to some frequently asked questions about the book

Discussion questions from a reformed Jewish perspective

Reading Group Guides discussion questions

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Some links about our upcoming book:

Wikipedia's Article about the series

A little snippet about a movie version--have you seen it?

Amazon.com's page--I often enjoy reading the customer reviews

The author's website--above average, and fun to look at!

Reading Group Guides discussion questions (my starting point for our questions)

Recipes

Want the recipes from our Three Cups of Tea meeting? A sweet and a salty, just for you! (This link will take you to the recipe section of my personal blog, feel free to look around!)

Pretzel Snackers

Raspberry-Topped Cream Tarts

March Meeting

We plan to meet again
March 28
7:00
We will read
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

3 Cups of Tea

Thanks for a good time of discussion and fun last night! A few themes we explored from Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea"
...complexity of the issues involved in education, terrorism, aid to developing countries, personal sacrifice, and family responsibilities
...importance of doing something for a cause outside yourself, whether big or small
...similarities and differences between Mortenson and Christian missionaries
...value of seeing a bigger world than just suburban Denver or even the USA
...mixed responses to Mortenson's character, decisions, personality, and philosophies
Lots of other things, too, those are just the first that come to mind! Hope you can join us in March!

Movie Coming Soon

I just disocvered that they are making a movie of My Sister's Keeper, which was our book club read for October. It is due to come out at the end of June, so maybe we can go see it together!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sister's_Keeper_(film)

Three Cups of Tea

As promised in the evite, here is some information about our upcoming book:

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/ The main website promoting the book. There are teen and children's versions of the story too. I'm going to see if the library has the kid's one (good for those of you who need just 32 pages and pictures!)

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/wp-includes/documents/3CTReadingGuide.pdf A reading group guide that will probably provide the basis for many of our discussion questions.

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/wp-includes/documents/3CTQA.pdf An interview with Greg Mortenson

February Meeting

I just sent out the invites for the February meeting. Please come!

Saturday, February 28
7:00 p.m.

Reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

OK, so with a title like that how can you not read this post?!! I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It was an enjoyable read, quick and uplifting but not too light and fluffy. The story takes place just after WW2. A London author is put in touch with a "literary society" from the German-occupied island of Guernesy. Told entirely through letter back and forth between the main characters, the book talks about life during and after the war and narrates the gradual friendships and entertwinings of the Islanders, the author, and her friends. There is a bit of romance, some humor, many creative situations, and some good underlying themes about the value of reading and the value of relationships and how those two things can fit together. A possible future book club read, if people seem interested. Give it a try, at least to figure out what a Potato Peel Pie is!!

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