Saturday, December 22, 2007
Voting
I have added a Poll to vote for the books you want to read. You are allowed to vote for more than one. This way we can get an idea of what other books people want to read so we can maybe plan for the next couple months. If this doesn't make sense, maybe Y'all can clarify in the comments.
Book on the Way
I have decided that since it is such a busy time of year, we should start our new book on January 1st. How does that sound to all of you? I will post a survey in the upper corner to vote on the book sometime this week so keep checking back and get ready for January!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Did you read?
Hello all you book clubbers. Did anyone read Pride and Prejudice? I have to admit that I am a terrible person and did not read this month. In fact, I didn't read any books this month at all. I did watch the movie, the one with Keira Nightly. It doesn't give this story justice, they cut out too much and add too many lines that could have been left unspoken. I still enjoyed it none the less.
Any ideas for next month? Feedback feedback! We need your feedback!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Pride and Prejudice
I'm very excited to read this month's book selection, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. How about you? Are you Jane Austen fans? Maybe when we are done we can all watch, "Becoming Jane," and the A&E version of "Pride and Prejudice" (my favorite!). Well, get going, I really want us all to read this one and share thoughts!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Library
I am suggesting a few more books "Love In the Time of Cholera," "Pride and Prejudice," (It's a classic!) "Eat, Pray, Love," and "Kite Runner." These are in addition to "Atonement," "A thousand Splendid Sun," "Dear John," and "A Thread of Grace." Check out your library and see if any of this are available. Anyone else have recommendations. Any preferences?
Monday, November 12, 2007
Finally Read...
I finally finished the book from last month: Three Cups of Tea. I found it extremely interesting. I really don't pay attention to the news or the war, or anything going on in the middle east, and I found his perspective enlightening and inspirational. Holy cow though. He married one awesome woman. There's no way I would let my husband be gone that much for any cause. Am I awful or what?
I concur about reading older books. Outside In had a huge waiting list at the library, and I'm not one to buy books I haven't read before, so I didn't read. I'm ready for another one though... sorry. No suggestions as of yet. I'll try and think of one. And, I just checked our library for the Cholera one. No dice. They don't even have it. Is it new?
I concur about reading older books. Outside In had a huge waiting list at the library, and I'm not one to buy books I haven't read before, so I didn't read. I'm ready for another one though... sorry. No suggestions as of yet. I'll try and think of one. And, I just checked our library for the Cholera one. No dice. They don't even have it. Is it new?
New book?
Has anyone read the selection for this month? I did and it is not so great so you might as well cancel your hold at the Library so we can start a new one. Can you believe it has almost been a month? I get the feeling that if our book selection is unavailable at the library, then people won't read it. Is this true? If so, maybe next month we can pick an older book that will be more readily available. As for new books has anyone read "In the Time of Cholera"? I saw it at Costco and it looked like a good one. Feel free to share your thoughts about "Outside In." Don't be shy.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Book of the Month: Outside In
This month we will be reading: Outside In, By: Courtney Thorne-Smith. It won the reader poll by a whopping 50% of the votes.
Get your reading glasses on and put that library card to good use. Comment whenever you like but we will start a new book on Nov. 15. Also, you can always comment on a previous month's book, I know some people aren't finished, but we would still love to hear what you think.Have fun!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Reading Rocks!
Hello! Is anyone reading this months book selection? If so I want to hear what you think! So start leaving some feedback. I put a poll in the upper right corner where you can vote for the next read.
Here's summaries of the books so you can make a better decision:
Atonement, by Ian McEwan:
We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama The Trials of Arabella to welcome home her elder, idolised brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting preoccupations come onto the scene. The charlady's son Robbie Turner appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the Fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Amo" bar; and upstairs Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present...
Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks:
It's a touching story of young love that lasts a lifetime. The main character, John Tyree, first met the love of his life, Savannah Curtis, on the beach in North Carolina. At the time, John was home visiting his father while on a short leave from the military. Savannah, a college student, was in town with some of her peers working on a Habitat for Humanity project.
On the outside, Kate Keyes-Morgan seems to have it all: a starring role on the hit television series Generations, a handsome husband who is also her manager, a model-thin figure, and a career that, after an earlier slide, is finally back on track. At the age of thirty, Kate knows what it’s like to have the tabloids turn on you, and she never wants it to happen again. Thank goodness her husband, Hamilton, is there to manage her every move—even if the strict dieting and morning weigh-ins are becoming more than she can manage.
But when Hamilton leaves her for another actress on Generations, the ruthless diva Sapphire Rose, Kate suddenly finds herself in charge of her own life. Now she must decide whether she’s ready to stop playing by the Hollywood rulebook and discover who she really is. With the help of her wise-cracking friend and tough-love makeup artist, Paige, and Michael, a high-powered film agent who secretly dreams of becoming a novelist, Kate begins to question her role in an industry that venerates appearance, money, and fame above all else, and that applies ceaseless pressure on women to always be thinner, younger, and more beautiful, at any cost.
A Thousand Splendid Sun, by The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.
Chronicles the Italian resistance to the Germans during the last two years of WWII. Three cultures mingle uneasily in Porto Sant'Andrea on the Ligurian coast of northwest Italy—the Italian Jews of the village, headed by the chief rabbi Iacopo Soncini; the Italian Catholics, like Sant'Andrea's priest Don Osvaldo Tomitz, who befriend and shelter the Jews; and the occupying Germans invited by Mussolini's crumbling regime. In the last camp is the drunken, tubercular Nazi deserter, Doktor Schramm, a broken man who confesses to Don Osvaldo that while working in state hospitals and Auschwitz, he was responsible for murdering 91,867 people. Meanwhile, Jewish refugees in southern France, including Albert Blum and his teenage daughter, Claudette, are fleeing across the Alps to Italy, hoping to find sanctuary there. Russell pursues numerous narrative threads, including the Blums' perilous flight over the mountains; Italian Jew Renzo Leoni's personal coming to terms with his participation in the Dolo hospital bombing during the Abyssinian campaign in 1935; the dangerous frenzy of the Italian partisans; and the bloody-mindedness of German officers resolved to carry out Hitler's murderous racial policy despite mounting evidence of its futility. The action moves swiftly, with impressive authority, jostling dialogue, vibrant personalities and meticulous, unexpected historical detail. The intensity and intimacy of Russell's storytelling, her sharp character writing and fierce sense of humor bring fresh immediacy to this riveting WWII saga.
Here's summaries of the books so you can make a better decision:
Atonement, by Ian McEwan:
We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama The Trials of Arabella to welcome home her elder, idolised brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting preoccupations come onto the scene. The charlady's son Robbie Turner appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the Fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Amo" bar; and upstairs Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present...
Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks:
It's a touching story of young love that lasts a lifetime. The main character, John Tyree, first met the love of his life, Savannah Curtis, on the beach in North Carolina. At the time, John was home visiting his father while on a short leave from the military. Savannah, a college student, was in town with some of her peers working on a Habitat for Humanity project.
The two were an unlikely pair from the beginning. John was somewhat of a rebel who ran off right after high school to join the Army, while Savannah was a pure, hardworking, Southern girl. But, as they say, opposites attract. From the beginning, theirs was a powerful bond that unfortunately was always separated by time and distance. John had his obligations to his military duty and Savannah had her obligations to completing her education.
However, the two remained very committed to each other, despite their distance, until the unexpected events of September 11th changed everything, not only for the world, but also for this young couple's future.
On the outside, Kate Keyes-Morgan seems to have it all: a starring role on the hit television series Generations, a handsome husband who is also her manager, a model-thin figure, and a career that, after an earlier slide, is finally back on track. At the age of thirty, Kate knows what it’s like to have the tabloids turn on you, and she never wants it to happen again. Thank goodness her husband, Hamilton, is there to manage her every move—even if the strict dieting and morning weigh-ins are becoming more than she can manage.
But when Hamilton leaves her for another actress on Generations, the ruthless diva Sapphire Rose, Kate suddenly finds herself in charge of her own life. Now she must decide whether she’s ready to stop playing by the Hollywood rulebook and discover who she really is. With the help of her wise-cracking friend and tough-love makeup artist, Paige, and Michael, a high-powered film agent who secretly dreams of becoming a novelist, Kate begins to question her role in an industry that venerates appearance, money, and fame above all else, and that applies ceaseless pressure on women to always be thinner, younger, and more beautiful, at any cost.
A Thousand Splendid Sun, by The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.
Chronicles the Italian resistance to the Germans during the last two years of WWII. Three cultures mingle uneasily in Porto Sant'Andrea on the Ligurian coast of northwest Italy—the Italian Jews of the village, headed by the chief rabbi Iacopo Soncini; the Italian Catholics, like Sant'Andrea's priest Don Osvaldo Tomitz, who befriend and shelter the Jews; and the occupying Germans invited by Mussolini's crumbling regime. In the last camp is the drunken, tubercular Nazi deserter, Doktor Schramm, a broken man who confesses to Don Osvaldo that while working in state hospitals and Auschwitz, he was responsible for murdering 91,867 people. Meanwhile, Jewish refugees in southern France, including Albert Blum and his teenage daughter, Claudette, are fleeing across the Alps to Italy, hoping to find sanctuary there. Russell pursues numerous narrative threads, including the Blums' perilous flight over the mountains; Italian Jew Renzo Leoni's personal coming to terms with his participation in the Dolo hospital bombing during the Abyssinian campaign in 1935; the dangerous frenzy of the Italian partisans; and the bloody-mindedness of German officers resolved to carry out Hitler's murderous racial policy despite mounting evidence of its futility. The action moves swiftly, with impressive authority, jostling dialogue, vibrant personalities and meticulous, unexpected historical detail. The intensity and intimacy of Russell's storytelling, her sharp character writing and fierce sense of humor bring fresh immediacy to this riveting WWII saga.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Book of the Month: Three Cups of Tea
The book we will be reading for this month is:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time.
By: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
I was hesitant to choose this book because it is non-fiction. It is the book I had in mind when I started the book club, but had decided against it. I went on to Amazon.com to find another book and this book immediately came up on the screen under a category that had nothing to do with it, so I took it as a sign.
I definitely enjoyed this book mostly because of the way it made me feel when I was finished. If you are afraid of non-fiction books, this one will surprise you because it actually reads like a fiction. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.
So get your library cards ready to go. If you decide to buy this book, I recommend buying it on
You can also check out the book
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time.
By: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
I was hesitant to choose this book because it is non-fiction. It is the book I had in mind when I started the book club, but had decided against it. I went on to Amazon.com to find another book and this book immediately came up on the screen under a category that had nothing to do with it, so I took it as a sign.I definitely enjoyed this book mostly because of the way it made me feel when I was finished. If you are afraid of non-fiction books, this one will surprise you because it actually reads like a fiction. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.
So get your library cards ready to go. If you decide to buy this book, I recommend buying it on
Amazon because 7% of the proceeds goes toward the schools.You can also check out the book
Website.
Read on.
Here's How it Works
Thanks for the comments. Keep 'em coming! We definitely need lots of suggestions.
I decided that I will choose the first book to get us started After that we will all be involved in the pickin'.
I wasn't sure if you all would want to comment or make posts, I think some people are comfortable just commenting and that is fine, but I will send you an invite to post if you'd like. I just need your email address so you can email me at jenmlowryATgmailDOTcom to give me your address then check your mail, including junk mail, for the invite.
We will read one book a month and you are more than welcome to comment about the book throughout the month. You can also leave links or pictures or any other info that might aid in the reading process, (I always like to do a little research while I read) but whatever you do:
DO NOT SPOIL THE ENDING!
If you do, we may kick you out of the club (just kidding). No, but really, don't spoil it for people who may not have finished the book.
We will start our first book tomorrow, Sep. 15, 2007. We will start a new one on Oct.15, 2007. You are welcome to openly comment about the book and it's contents the week before (the week of Oct 8th).
We can work out the quirks as we go. Let me know if these things work or don't work for you or if you have any better ideas!
I decided that I will choose the first book to get us started After that we will all be involved in the pickin'.
I wasn't sure if you all would want to comment or make posts, I think some people are comfortable just commenting and that is fine, but I will send you an invite to post if you'd like. I just need your email address so you can email me at jenmlowryATgmailDOTcom to give me your address then check your mail, including junk mail, for the invite.
We will read one book a month and you are more than welcome to comment about the book throughout the month. You can also leave links or pictures or any other info that might aid in the reading process, (I always like to do a little research while I read) but whatever you do:
DO NOT SPOIL THE ENDING!
If you do, we may kick you out of the club (just kidding). No, but really, don't spoil it for people who may not have finished the book.
We will start our first book tomorrow, Sep. 15, 2007. We will start a new one on Oct.15, 2007. You are welcome to openly comment about the book and it's contents the week before (the week of Oct 8th).
We can work out the quirks as we go. Let me know if these things work or don't work for you or if you have any better ideas!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Away We Go
Lets get this club started! I am excited to start reading new books and hearing all of your thoughts. Let me know what suggestions you have like should we read one book a month or two? What are some of your favorite books to read? Also, remember please do not judge a book by it's cover. I hope you will all give every book we choose a fair chance. Even if you don't like the book choice one month, you may love it the next. Input, input please!
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