Tuesday was our 6th annual Queen Event for our book club. In July, we usually have a free read month – not making any book mandatory reading because honestly, July is a super busy month for people in Minnesota. As it was, 6 of our members were unable to attend due to commitments with work, and kids sports, and one was even out sick with pink eye.
This year we did things a little differently, at our June meeting we each wrapped up a beloved book and then took turns choosing a book that another Bookie had loved. The results were amazing, almost everyone loved the book they picked that was another bookies favorite. It was a lot of fun as we went around the room and discussed from out first reaction about the book we chose, to how we felt after reading the book.
The food as always was fantastic – lots of good fruits salads and vegies, and Sharon’s hubby grilled burgers and hotdogs for us.
Chef Jeff
Of course, the best part of the Queen Event is the speeches, we each get up and sing, or show a talent, or read a poem.. or really whatever…
But the best pic of the evening was…
And I will possibly post a few more speeches but here is the end of Kaydi’s (our new Queen) and then Amy’s which cracked me up…
I am out most of this weekend, be back Saturday afternoon! 😀
Good morning! I did not mean to start with that picture but half asleep this morning… I guess that is what I did and I am leaving it. 🙂
Last night was our Annual Queen Event for our Book Club. Once a year we dress in formal wear and get together for a potluck and book sharing experience. We discussed what we read this past month which was fun because for one, we do not assign a book to read as a group in July, and for two, some of us did do that book exchange last month which turned out fantastic, almost everybody loved the book that another Bookie picked out for them so that was pretty cool.
A big part of our annual event is choosing a New Queen. This is a tradition started 6 years ago now (wow!) where we dress up and all make a bid for Queen of the Bookies for one year… it’s a lot of fun, we sing, we do whatever, and then we vote. The Queen takes care of all book ties (if we can not decide on what to read next) and she decides where we will meet the next month.
She also becomes the proud owner for a year of the scepter, the crown – and the royal throne which is a toilet that I found many years ago when our local State Hospital shut down and I cleaned it up painted it, and now all past Queens have signed it.
We had a blast but it started at 6 pm and we left her house at 9:30. SO much fun! I have many more pics but got home late and need to get ready for work so will post them soon.
In other notes, I feel like I have not been around much. Summer is definitely upon us and I feel like I am flying in a hundred different directions. Tonight after work I am hoping to catch a bike ride, I think there is a chance we may be rescuing another dog (another story), I need to pack and get ready for tomorrow after work when I leave until Saturday with my friend Heidi to our cabin. And I am pretty sure I am not going to take laptop with me because we do not have internet access there anyway.
Tonight I need to sit down and get my posts written up for while I am away. I am just starting to listen to Looking For Alaska by John Green and reading The Crying Game which turns out to also be our Book Club pick for August!
Hows your July going? Big plans? Enjoying your weather? What book is in your hand right now?
Good morning everyone!!! Day 14 today of my cleanse and I am feeling good – definitely notice a difference. I am waking up earlier and I don’t think I am as tired. I added chicken and fish in to my diet on day 10, and even that was no big deal. Coffee…. I miss a little bit but I am going off the cleanse Thursday evening when my friend Heidi and I are going to our cabin for a couple of days for the Beaver Bay Days celebration in Beaver Bay and Silver Bay Minnesota. (It’s tradition – and the have a book sale!)
I was just on Twitter this morning and seen a conversation going that said the Book Expo for 2013 dates had changed. I for one, am thrilled – that means that I do not come right back from New York and go right into the MS 150 bike ride. I will actually have a week in between which is sweet! It does however wind up smack in the middle of Memorial Day Weekend, but if I remember right, before this year it did too.
In other awesome fun news…. it is the Bookies Queen Event tonight. SSSQQQQQUUUEEEEEE!!!! This is our yearly book club event where we dress up in formal wear and give speeches and songs or whatever to put our bid in for Queen of The Bookies.
Why? A silly little thing we picked up 6 years ago from a book we read called Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King. It was supposed to be a one year thing but it became a tradition and we really get into it, finding dresses at sales or second-hand stores. I am hoping the dress I found is ready today, I found it at a second-hand store and it had a faulty zipper but I have it in the shop now so we will see. 😀 If that one does not make deadline, I have a back up. (A lady in waiting is always prepared!) Pics will be available tomorrow, in the meantime here are the links to the past couple of years:
News Journalist, Ellen Gleeson is complete when she sees the little bot in the hospital with the heart condition that is up for adoption. When he becomes hers, she is over the moon in love with her now son, Will.
Two years later Ellen is coming home from another harried day on the job and as she sorts through the mail, a Missing Child flyer catches her attention… the boy in the picture, looks exactly like her Will. How could that even be? The birth mother and father has signed over their rights and a judge had awarded Will to Ellen. Yes the flyer does not stop nagging her and Ellen used her journalist instincts to get to the truth, all the while knowing the truth… may cost her everything.
What Ellen uncovers leaves her shell-shocked and fearing for her and Will’s life. She is the only one that knows what she knows… is it best to cover it all back up and pretend it never happened? Or is it best to do what is right for Will, no matter the painful consequences.
(not a big fan of book trailers, with just a few exceptions… this one is one of the reasons why… they man’s voice… is a little too much I think.)
Why did I read this book? My book club chose this book for our June read.
When Lisa Scottoline’s book was chosen for our June book club read I am the first to admit, I wasn’t overjoyed. I had recently finished an audio book of her’s that left me confused and with more questions in the end than I had in the beginning. HOWEVER… I did say I would try her again.
I just didn’t know it would be this soon. 😀
Look Again is every mothers nightmare. Imagine jumping through all the hoops of adopting a child. When that day finally comes that the child is fully yours you are… ecstatic beyond belief. (I have friends who have adopted – I have seen this first hand). This child becomes as much your own as if you had birthed him or her yourself. You know their every expression, their likes, dislikes, joys, and fears… and you love them so much you think your heart can hold no more…
Now imagine that something, or someone… can come along and take away that pure joy.
Ellen is a protagonist you can root for. She is a strong independent single mom, doing the best she can between work and home. It is apparent in this reading that home is the most important of the two as her whole life revolves around Will.
The storyline is consistently updating, but at first it was not at a pace that held me captive. You spend time learning about where Ellen works, her co workers (BOO!!!! to one of them….) and her hot boss Marcelo (double kudos to Lisa Scottoline for coming up with that name…. it oozes hotness, it really does!) for the first half of the book I could have continued on or put it down… I was not overly committed, mainly I think because I had a feeling as to where it was going.
Well… color me wrong. Once all starts to come together the books pace takes on a fast trot and now I do not want to put it down. Every page, reveals a new twist, a new turn… what I think is about to happen… doesn’t… what does, is something totally left field… totally…
brilliant.
As I flew to the end of this book, tears on some pages, anger on others… I fully appreciated what Lisa Scottoline invested into this book. It is smart and clever. I did not see it coming…
while some (uhem…. Bookies book club members) found the ending a little too neat all wrapped up perfectly with a bow… I think I had bee through so much with Ellen that I liked the neat ending, what some would call the easy way out, I applaud in this case as it was just what I needed.
The Bookies (book club) thoughts:
Oh the Bookies….. a difficult group…. lol… I am kidding! Our discussion was not passionate as it has been in some recent reads, and I admit I missed that, but it was a good discussion. For the most part, the group found this book to be a slightly over average read. A few found it predictable, and said they had figured out how it was all going to go down long before the end. (I had not). While the book did not blow anyone away with “WOW!!!! Why did it take us so long to read this?” It was a good discussion and brought up conversations around adoption, and connections between birth parents.
Oh, and of course we had food to go with the book:
Ellen and Will live in Philadelphia, so we had Phili cheese steak sandwichesSeafood pasta!Thai seasoned chicken on riceThese are for the end of the book…. which, I can not tell you about 😉More about the end… sorry, no hints here 😉
And I don’t know how I missed this picture, but two of us brought lime jello, the abducted boy, Timothy Braverman’s favorite, as well as Will’s.
I am linking my review to Beth Fish reads Weekend Cooking because where there are Bookies… there is food. 😀
On Tuesday we had our June Bookies book club meeting. Usually for July we have a “free read” month where we do not chose a book together but instead just read whatever and when we meet for our annual picnic/queen event in July just chat about whatever we read.
Amy P in out group heard of something a little different that we decided to try this year…
We were all to bring a wrapped up favorite book that we LOVED to let someone else experience. The only rules were that it needed to be a book each of us truly enjoyed, not a book that we had all read together, and we were to put a post it note on the book saying why we wanted someone else to experience it and if the person who picked it could keep the book, or if the owner would like it back.
After we completed our June book review (Look Again by Lisa Scottoline), we each drew a number and in that order opened our books one at a time and the giver had a chance to say out loud to all of us why they enjoyed that book so much.
I brought a long time favorite of mine and a book that holds a special place in my heart:
The exchange was a lot of fun and the cool thing was, no one picked a book they had already read.
We are asked to now read the book we chose and talk about it next month at the Queen event.
The books that people brought as the “best of the best” must read were (from top left and across)
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
First Family by David Baldacci
The Mermaid’s Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Bonesetters Daughter by Amy Tan
Dance Upon The Air by Nora Roberts
The Crying Tree by Naseem Rahka
One Second After by William Forstchen
Wine And War by Donald Cladstrup
One of our Bookies who was unable to attend the meeting sent a book so she could be included in the drawing When it was picked and opened the book was a Baby Names book and inside it the post it note said:
“I do need this book back because we are expecting our first baby!” Kerri
How cool is that? Congratulations Kerri!!! A new Bookie Baby coming in 2013!!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my book club and can not wait to read the book I drew – The Crying Tree. And next months Queen event.… is the highlight of the year… and that is saying a lot!
Have you read any of the books that were chosen as favorites above? If so, which ones did you love?
Alice Howland has a wonderful life. She has three grown children, a loving hard-working husband, and she herself is a well established Professor at Harvard. At age fifty, she is not really too surprised when she starts to forget where she left things like her keys and her Blackberry. She is a little more concerned when she gets lost on the Harvard campus that she has always known very well, but a brief Google check regarding menopause brings up forgetfulness as one of the symptoms. Still… it doesn’t hurt to see a doctor…
Alice is stunned when she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Certainly an active woman like herself, can beat this. Yet what follows is a struggle of losing ones memories…. a family in despair and crisis, and a woman who is fighting the biggest battle of her life, just to be…
still Alice.
Lisa Genova has also written Left Neglected about a brain injury and Love Anthony will be out in 2013, about a boy with autism.
I didn’t want to read this book.
When my book club voted this as our May book club read, I was not thrilled. There are few things that truly frighten me, but the thought of not knowing who you are, or fearing people you have known all your life as they have become strangers in your mind – truly frightens me.
When I posted I was reading this on my sidebar under the Bookies tab, many readers shared what an amazing read it was, and honestly – that helped me dip cautiously into this book.
I read it… in one sitting.
Author Lisa Genova wrote something wonderful here. Brilliantly, the story is told from Alice’s perspective. Seeing Alzheimer’s through her eyes was both frightening and informing. I cringed when she introduces herself to the same woman twice, having forgotten she already had done so. When she is lost inside her own home desperately looking for the bathroom, my heart breaks for her.
Page by page as a reader, you are right there with Alice through good days and bad. This fictional story flowed so well from the very start – moments of laughter and yes, moments of tears…. this book is a MUST READ. If you are in a book club, it is an incredible discussion book as well, with questions in the back of the book.
I knew when I had read this book that our book club discussion was going to be deep and it was going to be good. There was so much to talk about! This week when we met and I started asking the questions from the book, I hardly needed to say a word… the conversation flowed. The ladies in our group has much to say about Alice’s journey, her family, and their own personal connection to Alzheimer’s as well.
This is one of those reviews where we didn’t even really need the questions. The book brought memories of people to our review that I had never met but wish I had. Grandparents were discussed, some still living with the disease, and some who have passed on. How Alzheimer’s affects each person differently was amazing. Some reverted to a much younger time in their life, believing they lived somewhere else. Others who had English as a second language – reverted to their first language. Some remembered a spouse, but could not recall anyone else.
And as in most Bookies events there was food.
Alice mentions enchilada’s early in the book so chicken enchiladas were a must!Fresh salads and toppings!Risotto with spinach for memory!Blueberries and dark chocolate are mentioned in the book as brain and memory enhancers
Some interesting facts about Still Alice: Still Alice was initially a self published book, and approved by the Alzheimer’s Society. STILL ALICE debuted at #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list and has spent 40 weeks on that list. It won the 2008 Bronte Prize and the 2011 Bexley Book of the Year, and it was nominated for the 2010 Indies Choice Debut Book of the Year by the American Booksellers Association. It was the #6 Top Book Group Favorite of 2009 by Reading Group Choices, a 2009 Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, a 2009 Indie Next pick, a 2009 Borders Book Club Pick, and a 2009 Target Book Club pick. There are over a million copies in print, and it has been translated into 25 languages. (as seen and noted on the authors website)
Last night we met to review Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It is a book about a women with Alzheimer’s, and it was a book I absolutely did not want to read. I did of course, read it, and I am so glad I did.
I knew our discussion was going to be good no matter what each of the eighteen Bookies thought of this book. Love it or hate it, this book was going to hit a nerve or a heart string in each and every one of us….
and so it did.
I spent 2 1/2 hours with these amazing women discussing the book, the characters, and people in our own lives that have experienced this disease that honestly, scares the nutter butters out of me. We ate food centered around the book, and we ate food mentioned that is supposed to be good for brain power and memory (dark chocolate and blueberries). We laughed, and we cried.
Driving home after 9 pm, I had to once again think how lucky I am to be part of such an amazing group of women. The topic was not an easy one. One of our members found that it hit so close to home that she could not come and discuss it with us, but instead sent a letter along with another member saying what a painful topic it was, her thoughts on the book, how it touches her personally, and she would see us next month.
And that is what I LOVE about us. We keep it real. A book can generate raves, or it can cause pain and anger, yet we stick together, appreciate each others opinions, even when they differ from our own. I can not even begin to tell you how that makes me feel, what a level of security and trust we bring to each meeting.
Our review will go up on Thursday (I can’t wait!!!) . Today I have a book tour review for In The Bag.
As I head out to work, I will leave you with this, have you hugged a book club member today? 😀
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. I woke up to a light rain (again) pattering on the back deck as I let the dogs out but today… I dont mind. After I write this I will be on my way to work, after work to the store to get my ingredients for tonight’s Bookies review of Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
To all of you who have said to me “I can not believe you have not read this one yet!” or “That is one of my favorite books!” Now that I have read it, I can not believe I had not read it yet either, and yes, I think it is quickly rising in my mind to on of the best books I have read this year. Our review will go up on Thursday.
So as it clouds up over here in Central Minnesota, my mind is circling around ideas of if I can make pumpkin ravioli for the first time ever and serve it to 18 girls in my book club successfully, or….
am I better off making enchilada’s… a safer recipe I am more familiar with…. 😀
In Shelf Awareness this morning, one of those lovely morning reads that pops in my email and makes me smile, this was stated about the best book club reads out there right now:
Top Book Club Books in April
The following were the most popular book club books during April based on votes from readers and leaders of more than 32,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:
1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 2. Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E.L. James 3. Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay 4. The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain 5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 6. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand 7. Before I Go to Sleep: A Novel by S.J. Watson 8. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 9. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue 10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
I have read #1, #5, #7,#8.#9, and #10. How about you? Have you read any of these? Would you agree with their choices? I would have to add Still Alice should be added to that group. I think our discussion tonight is going to be deep, and amazing.
It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of her family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how both she and her mother became plural wives. Yet soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death. And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love, family, and faith.
Temple Garments, referred to as "secret underwear" in the book, were work under all clothing at all times. Even when you went to bed.Members of Joseph F. Smith's family, including his sons and daughters, as well as their spouses and children, circa 1900.
I thought I knew what Polygamy was. I knew there were those who believe in plural wives. I haven’t watched it, but know there is a tv series right now called Sister Wives, about a man and his four wives.
Really I had no idea.
There’s something I really love about Historical Fiction. I love the facts I find within the pages. The 19th Wife is a fictional story, however woven through the chapters is a true story, the story of Ann Eliza Young the all too real woman who was married to Brigham Young and made the bold move to separate herself from what everyone in her circle believed. From the very first pages I was hooked into something new, and different, and felt like I had walked into a world I knew little of.
A large part of this book is told through Jordan’s perspective. Jordan is one of the “lost boys.” As you come to find out, the lost boys are what is referred to when a boy in his early teens usually is excommunicated from the home and dumped out into the world to fend for themselves.
Why?
The crude explanation is, this leaves more women to go around. With the births being almost equally divided into boys and girls, and men are expected to have at least three wives… the numbers just do not add up.
Although Jordan’s life has not been easy (there are some horrifying early years stories of what he did to survive), he is now at peace with where he is at in life and who he has become. Or… so he thinks.
When Jordan’s mother is jailed and possibly going to be executed for a crime he does not believe she committed, Jordan sets his own judgements aside, and walks back into the life he never thought he would return to, to try to figure out what really happened.
The result is a twisting, informative, and all so close walk into the lives of those surrounded by what they believe to be God’s truth. I personally, found it fascinating, like walking on the edge of something dangerous that I did not understand, but knowing I was safe as all was locked in the pages of the book.
I personally think this makes for an incredible discussion for a book group. There are discussion group questions in the back of the book and out group made it through about 4 of them. Our conversation flowed without the guidance of questions, facts and fiction mixed in our voices, from those who were appalled and did not enjoy the book (very few), to those of us who found it interesting and fascinating (the majority).
Honestly, as we reviewed it, I felt this is what a book discussion is meant to be… we were bursting to discuss this book.
As for the food:
Had to use these napkins!
I missed some of the food pics. There was also a delicious looking fruit salad.
In the end, out of the eighteen women who sat down and reviewed this book, the average rating (scale of 1-5), the book rated a strong 4. We felt it was very discussion worthy, informative and really… I could go on and on with this review … but yeah…. it has to end sometime. 😀
I think people who enjoy historical fiction will enjoy this book.
Looking for some other thoughts on it? here are some awesome book bloggers and their thoughts on The 19th Wife:
Happy Wednesday all, hopefully this day finds you well rested and ready to tackle whatever is to come. Yesterday was second Tuesday of the month which for the past 11 years has meant something awesome to me….
Book Club!
Have I gushed recently about my book club? Probably. Am I about to again? Probably.
So last night eighteen of us gathered in my home to discuss the 19th Wife. We laughed, if only we could have had one more… 😛
I absolutely loved our discussion surrounding this book on Polygamy, the mix of truth and fiction together made for an interesting topic and these girls really did their homework. If you are looking for a great discussion book for your group I would recommend this one.
I was hoping that after all was said and done last night I would sit down and write the review and Bookies thoughts on the 19th Wife for the blog today. However, after I had worked yesterday came home, cooked and cleaned and then cleaned up after everyone left around 8:30… I had little energy to do anything but answer a few email.
Watch for it tomorrow. 😀
Oh… and I did mention a dog didn’t I.
His name is….. well, I don’t know.
My friend Kerri sent me a picture of him a couple of days ago. Abandoned in her neighborhood seems to be the answer. she’s called the police, all the animal hospitals and no one has turned in a missing dog. She’s had him since last Thursday but already has a dog, a cat, and a day care, and does not want another dog.
I told her in so many words…. no. With the loss of Elmo last October, Bailey (our shih tsu) has not been the same. I didn’t want him to think “what is this? A replacement program???”
Yet…
she could not find the dog a home. I told her the dog could come with her to book club. If the dog did not freak Bailey out, it could stay over night…. no promises.
Long story short… the dog is still here. He knows how to work a room, laying down not bothering anyone… house broken… we will see. I have a friend who may be interested in him if it is not us. Bailey is neutral right now… not freaking out, but not hanging out either. We will see what happens when I leave the two together in the house ll day while I am at work.
Book Journey 