Boston Book Club Blog

Donna's Top Reads of 2011

2012-01-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

I was a little off my pace from 2010 and finished 26 books in 2011. Here are my favorite 8, in order of when I read them:

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman

Rachel's 2011 Top Ten

2012-01-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

In alphabetical order by author:

The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes
Open City, Teja Cole
Townie, Andre Dubus IIIA
Visit From the Goon Squad, Jenifer Egan
Gun with Occasional Music, Jonathan Letham
The Leftovers, Tom Perotta
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart
My Own Country, Abraham Verghese
Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson

Books Read in 2011

2011-12-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here is what book club read together in 2011:

Running the Books by Avi Steinberg (Beth)
Gift of the White Light by James N. Frey (Manda)
Everyone Loves You When You're Dead by Neil Strauss (Wendy)
The Honey Trail by Grace Pundyk (Cynthia)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (Donna)
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami (Rachel)

Donna's 2010 List

2011-01-04T07:18:00.001-08:00

I kept a resolution last year and really amped up my reading and finished 28 books in 2010! Here are my favorite 9 in order:

1. One Day by David Nicholls
2. Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
3. The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
7. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
8. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackosn
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Beth's Favorite Reads of 2010

2011-01-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

2010 was not a big reading year for me so I am just going with my top 8, in no particular order. For 2011, I resolve to keep track of the books I read and the movies that I watch. The books in bold are the ones I would highly recommend to everyone.

1. The Help Kathryn Stockett
2. The Book Thief Marcus Zusak
3. Queen of Whale Cay Kate Summerscale
4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot
5. *The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean - Susan Casey
6. The Lost City of Z David Grann (I just learned that this is going to be a movie starring Brad Pitt! I can't wait, but it won't be out until 2012.)
7. The Price of Thieves Chuck Hogan - the book was great, the movie was disappointing.
8. Born to Run Christopher McDougall - this book made me think I could run 50 miles barefoot, but then I came to my senses.

2010 Top Ten (per RW)

2010-12-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

Here are my top ten books read in 2010 (in alphabetical order by author):

The Garden of Last Days, Andre Dubus III
The Widower's Tale, Julia Glass
A Good Fall, Ha Jin
Chronic City, Jonathan Letham
Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
Black Swan Green, David Mitchell
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
Netherland, Joseph O'Neill
Rules for Old Men Waiting, Peter Pouncey
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Books in 2010

2010-12-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

So sad. Our book club blog seems to have been abandoned; no one takes notes and posts our choices. We even missed celebrating our 10 year anniversary in February 2010. For posterity sake, here are the books we read this year:

Eat, Pray, Love--Elizabeth Gilbert (Cynthia)
The Book Thief--Markus Zusak (Wendy)
The Help--Kathryn Sackett (Jen)
To the Lighthouse--Virginia Woolf (Donna)
Orange is the New Black--Piper Kerman (Rachel)
A Good Fall--Ha Jin (Anne)
Murder Must Advertise--Dorothy L. Sayers (Paula)

Jen's favorite books of 2009

2010-01-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
2. Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani
3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
4. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
5. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
6. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
7. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
8. The Laws of Harmony by Judith Ryan Hendricks

Donna's 2009 List

2010-01-05T06:03:00.001-08:00

Another year of not reading enough! My Top Reads of 2009 List is short (as are some of these books):

1. Disquiet -- Julia Leigh
2. Amsterdam -- Ian McEwan
3. The Comfort of Strangers -- Ian McEwan
4. The Liar's Club -- Mary Karr
5. That Old Cape Magic -- Richard Russo
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson

Rachel's 2009 List

2009-12-31T08:09:00.000-08:00

Top ten books read in 2009:
(In order read throughout the year)

1. I See You Everywhere, Julia Glass
2. Christine Falls, Benjamin Black
3. Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner
4. Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner
5. The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass
6. War Trash, Ha Jin
7. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
8. Home, Marilynne Robinson
9. Man Gone Down, Michael Thomas
10. The Known World, Edward P. Jones

Next Book

2009-10-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

Anne's turn and, yes, we actually voted for this complex read!

Kindred Meeting

2009-09-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Where: The Friendly Toast
When: Aug 24, I think.
Book: Kindred by Octavia Butler (and published by Beacon Press)
In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Manda, Paula, and Rachel
Missing: Wendy - I think she was in Canada at this point handing out Dark and Stormies all over New Brunswick. Or maybe she was in Maine. And really, what is the difference between Maine and New Brunswick anyway?

Anne, Rachel, and Cynthia and I arrived a little early and we got the best seat in the house - a semi-circular booth next to a life sized hamburger. I promptly lost all interest in the revolving Schlitz globe. While waiting for the others, we went a little crazy and ordered some appetizers. The sweet potato fries with Tabasco sauce and brown sugar seemed like a good idea at the time. They were weird, but I couldn't stop eating them.

Since it's been like 3 weeks I can't really remember enough to create a coherent narrative so I'm just going to list things:

Lots of photos were taken and they are all on Facebook. I love Donna's fierce face photo.
Everyone was disappointed with their food, but not their drinks
I totally copied what Cynthia ordered. I can admit that now.

As for the book, everyone liked it, even Anne's niece, but we didn't get to really discuss it since it was so loud. Since I can't remember what was said, I am just going to talk about me and what I think. One thing that struck me was that Dana was worried about getting some sort of stomach virus or worms from eating bad meat. It's details like that really made me love this book. (Yes, I said love.) I am constantly thinking about going back in time - what it would be like and where would I want to go, but bad meat was not something I ever considered. I also thought that I would be a genius if I went back in time because I would know so much stuff - I can read, write, do algebra,swim and ride a bike but I'm not sure now if that would help, because it only helped Dana a little bit. Most of what I know is really only relevant to our current time period. Most going back in time books are a bit glamorous - the protagonists go to interesting, vibrant places and they meet famous figures from history and get caught up in major historic events like the French Revolution. But this book turned that concept on it's head - Dana went back to a horrific time period filled with violence and she didn't get even leave the farm. Saving stupid Rufus' life was the only excitement that she got. (At least she got to wear pants) So even though time travel is not real (not yet, anyway) this book cleared up my naive ideas of what it might be like.

Crossing to Safety

2009-05-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

Meeting: May 14, 2009
Book: Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner
Location: Zoe’s Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Present: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Manda, Rachel (notes), and Wendy
Absent: Paula (sister’s wedding, I guess that is a good excuse)

Pre-book discussion:

Manda’s in IT?!?: Manda talked about her new life in IT (same job, different department)
Donna’s trip to Switzerland: Donna made us all jealous as she talked about her trip to Switzerland, day trip to France, and other adventures.

Book discussion:

Positive reviews
Everyone liked it (even sympathetic to Charity)
Learned about polio

Post-book discussion:

Should we get dessert?: We had a lengthy discussion about dessert. Should we eat at Zoe’s, should we go somewhere else? Should we get crepes? (The look on Anne’s face said no). We did not get dessert.
Wendy’s news: Wendy has been spending lots of time with a special friend named Adam. We grilled for more information. He owns his own place, his mother runs an antique store, he travels a lot, he keeps a clean house, and he works a lot. We are psyched. Wendy was taking the next day off of work to go to Brimfield with Adam. Nice!

At Swim-Two-Birds Meeting

2009-03-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Date: February 27, 2009
Location: M.J. O’Connor’s downtown
Present: Rachel, Anne, Wendy, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Manda

Donna was 30 minutes late due to a mysterious disabled train on the Green Line. Manda was 35 minutes late due to driving and taking a wrong exit.

Only Rachel and Donna finished the book. Not my best pick, although I did let people vote this time.

Anne, Beth, and Manda tried to read it and got about 50 pages in. Cynthia couldn’t get past the first 5 difficult pages. Beth had the same trouble but gave it a second try.

Manda wanted credit for reading the introduction. Beth read the intro. too and informed us all that she knows a lot about “Flann O’Brien.”

Rachel thought the book was very funny, but she’s not sure she understood it all. She also thought it read quickly.

Manda was slowed down by the historical characters in the book, but she liked the narrator and the parts about his life.

I thought it was very creative and liked how he combined so many genres of literature. I agreed with Rachel and thought it was funny and also definitely did not “get” all of it.

Since no one else read much of the book, we moved on to more interesting topics such as Wendy’s latest dating stories (“let us indulge in a night of passion!”) and the fact that former member Libby is now on facebook.

Steven then crashed book club and Anne has the documentation to prove it (i.e. photos).

Lastly, Wendy’s good-luck Thai phallus was rubbed on Manda’s lottery ticket and on Steven.

Next Book

2009-01-16T08:32:00.001-08:00

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien

Happy reading!
Donna

Donna's Top 2008 Reads

2009-01-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

Sigh. Didn't do so well with my reading again this year, so I have a shorter list than Jen and Rachel. Here they are in no particular order, except when I read them chronologically:

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Run by Ann Patchett
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

I did read others but they weren't my favorites.

Donna

Jen's Favorite Reads of 2008 (in alphabetical order)

2008-12-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

1. Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
2. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
3. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
4. The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
5. Niagara Falls All Over Again by Elizabeth McCracken
6. A Person of Interest by Susan Choi
7. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
8. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
9. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
10. What is the What by Dave Eggers

The Wanderers Book Club Mtg

2008-11-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Location: The Daily Catch

Date: Wednesday, November 5

In attendance: Anne, Cynthia, Donna, Paula, Rachel, Wendy

Book: The Wanderers, by Richard Price

So let’s start with the food. We met up at The Daily Catch, an Italian restaurant (a nod to the Italian characters in the book) on the waterfront where they serve up the pasta in the skillet, smothered in all the sauce and garlic. Yum. Rachel and Anne both went with pasta w/ red sauce. Paula had her fave: linguine w/ white clam sauce. Though they brought out the wrong dish initially (and actually suggested she just eat what they brought….WHAT?), our waiter did eventually get it right…and I think it was pretty good. Cynthia got crab cakes and fries and Donna went w/ clam chowder and a calamari salad. I had the striper special with a creamy horseradish sauce that I wanted to smother all over my face. OK, that’s gross. But it was that good. We also had an order of fried calamari, of course! And tiramisu for dessert, which I seemed to eat the most of! The verdict: the service wasn’t great (our waiter was nice, but not very attentive), but the food – especially the pasta dishes – was quite good.

Before the book chat started, we did some catching up. Manda couldn’t make it because she had just flown in from Chicago and had been up til the wee hours whooping it up on election night in Grant Park in Chicago. Pretty cool. Rachel was also hooked on the TV til 2:30 and got up at 5:30…she was incredibly lucid in spite of the sleep deprivation. Anne almost didn’t make it because she was swamped with work, but she pulled it out and even found parking. I spent some time bitterly complaining about my job…not in the happy place (though the meal helped!). Paula shared that she had been sick for 3 weeks, and Rachel shared that she had been too. This made Anne look very nervous. Cynthia debriefed us about her high school reunion in Kansas City—she and Steven visited the park they were married in. Awwwww…..

As for the book…not so good! Anne and Rachel were fairly positive, but Donna did not like it (Beth weighed in via email…also not a fan. Uh oh, I’m 0 for 2 w/ Beth and my picks!). Anne had loved Clockers and therefore had high expectations—so she was rather disappointed. Donna hated the language and dirty talk (none of us liked that) and thought the gang was kind of lame…and Richie as the leader was extra-lame (though I thought the gang was pretty realistic for the time period..more of a social club than anything). We agreed that most of the parents were awful, as well as many of the characters, which made it hard to get into the book. Rachel thought the forced marriage was poignant, but we had some debate over whether or not Buddy really loved Despie, or if he was just infatuated.

There was some disagreement about the humor in the book. Rachel thought it had moments where it reminded her of Welcome Back Kotter, but Donna was quick to interject that is was too disgusting to be funny! Rachel brought up the story about the guy whose male part went “wah wah” (her words…love it!) as being kind of funny. Overall, I thought the book was quite bleak, in spite of the occasional moments of humor.

Finally, Paula wondered if the social studies teacher was Price’s alter ego, while Anne wondered if the character Turkey (he’s the smart one who puts in a brief appearance walking C home) was based on Price. We knew that Price grew up in NY in the projects during this time period, so we wondered how much was autobiographical.

So a mixed review all in all. Cynthia gave us a choice for the next selection and the memoir by Chef Jeff won out. Excited!

Cheers, Wendy

Ann Patchett

2008-08-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to second Jen's enthusiasm for Ann Patchett. I had read Bel Canto a few years ago and loved it. Jen had given me The Magician's Assistant when she left Boston (one of the benefits of living around the corner from her-- and I also got some plants that are still living). I read the The Magician's Assistant a few weeks ago, and The Patron Saint of Liars this past weekend. I haven't read Run but I'll get it out of the library soon.

-Rachel

Fun Home

2008-07-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

We discussed Fun Home at the Cambridge Commons and Anne, Beth (me!), Cynthia, Donna, Manda, Rachel and Wendy were present and accounted for. I chose the restaurant so we could eat outsde and have sliders but we couldn't sit outside because the picnic tables were too small and Wendy and I were horribly disappointed in the sliders. They were dry, overcooked and they didn't have any special toppings. But the fried pickles and the sweet potato fries were very good. Still, I don't think I will be going back there anytime soon.

The book itself was much better than the food. I think everyone finished it and I think they liked it or at least found it interesting. That is more than we can say about the sliders. I had a notebook with me but I didn't take any notes! We all agreed that we sometimes had trouble understanding her references to other works of literature like Proust, Wlder and Joyce. I asked if anyone thought that her father really killed himself or maybe it could have been an accident. Nope, everyone pretty much felt that he had killed himself. Case closed. I totally loved it and I read it over a 36 hour period. I felt that it was really dense and I read t too fast, it was like candy. I meant to read it again before we met, but I only got 1/4 of the way through. It was interesting to see Allison Bechdel us the same style as Dykes to Watch Out For in this longer form. She didn't really modify it at all, not that I could tell, but it still worked. I think it it helped to balance the serious, dark material of the book.

After, we took a lot of pictures in front of the Iguana Mural outisde the the Lizard Lounge. We did this in the hopes that Rachel and Anne would be inspired to join Facebook and use the photos for their profiles. After, Wendy and I (Beth!) walked over to Burrdicks for some hot chocolate but we gabbed and so long at Manda's car while I flirted with the little boy in the window of the restaurant that Burrdicks was closed by the time we got there. As I type this, I am reliving the disapointment all over...

Over the next few days a book club miracle happened... Anne and Rachel joined facebook! Now we have all current bookclub members on Facebook and even a coule of alums!

Tonight I was on Facebook checking out what my friends were up to and I noticed that Donna's status read: I wonder if bookclub blog will ever be updated. I had totally forgotten until I saw that! So we can thank Facebook and Donna for this blog. Amen.

SATC

2008-06-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hi bookclubbers!

If you haven't seen the Sex and the City movie yet, I recommend it for scenes at the New York Public Library.

ciao,
jen

Next Book

2008-05-21T07:46:00.001-07:00

Our next book will be Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Maybe Isaac and Andy can read along with us because there are lots of pictures.

Thank you!

2008-05-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Hi bookclubbers,

Thanks so much for the card for Isaac. It was great to hear from y'all. In regards to Beth's question about when he will be reading, we hope very soon. I've already started daily storytime. And now that my cd player is working, he'll have to listen to my books on cd during feedings.

So what are you reading lately?

xoxo,
jen

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant

2008-04-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

For fans of Anita Diamant's Red Tent or lovers of local lore and history, this book is a must. The novel is character-driven and interweaves the stories of the last residents of Dogtown, on the outskirts of Gloucester. I think it would make excellent company for a trip to the north shore beaches this summer.

Happy reading,
Jen

Crime-stoppers

2008-04-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

I'm probably the last to know, but I just finished reading the article "Dog-eared Afternoon" in the April 2008 issue of Harper's and learned of Mel's involvement in the capture of some of world's most bumbling book thieves. I can't decide on my favorite part of the story, maybe their decision to keep the rare books in the same room that they were growing marijuana. Or maybe that one of the con-men stayed on campus after the heist to take an exam.

Anyone else been fighting crime lately?

jen

The Big House

2008-04-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt
Thursday, March 13, 2007
The Summer Shack, Cambridge

In attendance: Anne, Cynthia, Donna, Manda, Beth, Rachel, Wendy, and Paula

Since it’s been over month since we met (sorry!), my notes are somewhat indecipherable (something about family therapy and fluff?). I’ll do my best.

After admiring Donna’s straight hair, and a heated conversation about Eliot Spitzer, we got down to business discussing the book. Well, for about 5 minutes. You see, this is the sign that not many liked, finished, or even attempted to read the book. I’m going to go back to assigning smut again for my next pick. Kidding. Sort of.

Donna earns points for doing some extra research and bringing A Trip Around Buzzard’s Bay so we could see pictures of the house. Donna had never heard the term Boston Brahmin, which is not surprising if you consider she hand never heard of the Molasses Flood of 1919. Not everyone is obsessed with weird local history like I am. I really liked the book, but I think I was alone. Beth mentioned that she was jealous of the family’s summers at the shore, especially that they had the free time to spend there. Rachel liked the book, but wasn’t very interested in the family’s psychological issues.

This is really all I have related the book in my notes. My end of the table drifted off into a debate over the virtues of ham and fluff. Now I really know the book wasn’t a good choice, since the rest of the conversation sounded like a discussion relating to a previous book!

Paula

Big House meeting notes coming soon, I promise...

2008-04-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know that I plan to post our notes from our last meeting soon. I'm hoping to do it this weekend.

I'm terrified that Donna is going to add me to her list.

Paula

Sigh.

2008-03-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight we meet for The Big House, and there is still no posting about Northanger Abbey from Anne. I guess Stephen Colbert didn't do the trick. Maybe a tongue-lashing tonight will get you in gear!

--Donna

On Notice

2008-03-03T12:53:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Jen's suggestion, Anne is at the top of my "On Notice" list! Also, can you tell I am sick of the snow?! --Donna

Northanger Abbey...

2008-02-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

Another day, another non-posting about our October meeting for Northanger Abbey from Anne! Because Anne did not read the book, she OFFERED to take notes for me of our meeting and post them on the blog. Well, 4 months later there is still nothing. I told her on our Quechee outing that I was still expecting her to post something. Well, this past weekend, she mentioned that I did not seem upset that she hadn't posted anything and I needed to be more forceful. Far be it for me to be timid, so here is your first warning, Anne! Maybe you'll be embarrassed now by the tens of people reading our blog to get your act together!!

Donna

Quechee Part II

2008-01-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

I was talking with my sister Christine today and her birthday is coming up. She had just sent out evites to all her friends to meet at a bar next Sunday so they can watch the Patriots game. She then said "There's no way I'm driving up to Vermont to go antiquing, that would be so boring." She's wrong! Plus, let her try to deal with a late November birthday. It's not easy. Anyway, our conversation reminded me that I needed to write Part II of the birthday trip blog.

When we last left our intrepid birthday travelers, they were about to cross a busy street to get a good look at the Quechee Gorge. Thanks to a cross walk and flashing lights, we made it across safely. (Reminder -it's about 10 degrees outside, windy and there is snow on the ground). The Gorge is beautiful - I could not make myself type gorgeous. We stood out on the bridge and tried to smile while Wendy took pictures of us bundled up and huddled together. My teeth hurt when I opened my mouth to smile. After the photo shoot, we walked down the icy path to get a better look at the gorge. Wendy sent me her photos, but I am having severe computer problems and I can't post them.

We walked back to Quechee center and went to the antique mall. It was huge! Within the first five minutes, I found what I was searching for but didn't know I needed - a real bowling pin that said happy birthday on it. I LOVE it. IT was $7 on sale! I just need nine more and you can all come over and bowl at my house. I also wanted to get a duck decoy but I had no idea they would be so expensive. They start out at $300. Apparently, some really good decoys sell for six figures in fancy auction houses. After about an hour, we moved on to the Cabot Cheese store. Donna and I tried all the free samples. It was just like the Big E! I forgot what our favorite cheese was. Wendy and Anne were off tasting the Vermont fruit wines. Weird. Next went we to the glass blowing studio. I walked in with Anne and told her that I hated blown glass. I thought it was tacky. But then as we walked through, I changed my mind and came to realize that I did like some of the glass. I proceeded to point out every item in the store and tell Anne if I liked it or not. I'm not sure why she didn't tell me to just shut up already.

Next we drove to Woodstock. We were looking in the window of a restaurant and some said "Oh, they have dancing at 10:00!" Then someone (Donna?) did a Liz Lemon impression and said "10 at night?" Woodstock is small, but they have two bookstores. Of course went in both. We stopped in a cafe and I had the best eggnog ever - McNamara's. It has a hint of mint in it. Also, there must be a law that every retail store in Woodstock has to have a cat or a dog in it to add to the charm. We were getting a bit tired because it was 4:00 and almost time nap time so we headed off to Killington to the Vermont Inn. I though it was really nice, (but then again, the last hotel I stayed in was a Motel Six on the edge of Baltimore) Let's just say, the Vermont Inn had enought towels for the four of us and there were no cigarette burns in the bedcovers. Only one other couple was staying at the Inn, so we pretty much had it to ourselves. Our room was really big, it had a fireplace. I lied down nex to it for awhile, but I was worried I was going to fall asleep and burst into flames so I moved. Donna entertained us with the story of the Day She Straightened Her Hair. You should have her tell it to you. And we might have talked about Blue Angel a little bit too. Since it was cold and we were tired, we decided to go easy on the town of Killington and stay at the Inn to eat dinner. At this point I can't really remember what everyone got, but I do know I tasted everyone else's dinner and liked them better than my own. Donna had mussels, Anne had a complicatd chicken entree and Wendy had salmon, I think. I had crab cakes and a salad. Ehh.

After dinner we went to our ginormous room and played Trivia Pursuit - the Silver Screen edition. The questions were hard! One of the cards lead us to Gerald McBoing Boing. You should check out Gerald on youtube if you don't know who he is. I thought Wendy was crazy for bringing her laptop, but I was happy she did. At about 10, everyone got into bed and I continued to read more movie Trivia Questions, but this time from Entertainment Weekly. They were easier because they were multiple choice. I knew Wendy had fallen asleep when she stopped shouting out answers. One minute she was awake, then boom - she was asleep. Pretty soon Donna and Anne turned out their lights but I was not sleepy. I thought about checking out all the other rooms, but I was too scared because I thought the old inn might be haunted by a child ghost. So I just read for awhile and feel asleep. I guess everyone forgot that they promised to play midnight basketball with me. Oh well.

You know, in retrospect, I'm not sure if one bathroom is enough for four women. Anyway, the next morning we had breakfast at the Inn and then headed down south to Boston. Anne had to work later in the day and a winter storm was about to start. Wendy humored me and we stopped at the cafe in Woodstock again so I could get more eggnog. I was just as good the second time. We did make one more stop at the New Hampshire Liquor Store at the border.

Since Vermont was a success, I've decided for my 40th birthday we are all going to London for three weeks. I need to start saving now.

Beth

Blue Angel

2008-01-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

Blue Angel, by Francine Prose
January 8, 2008
Zaftig's in Brookline, Mass.
6:30 pm

In attendance: Anne, Cynthia, Paula, Donna, Manda, Beth, and Rachel (note taker)
Absent: Wendy

Beth took the wrong train and ending up in Brookline Village instead of Coolidge Corner. She must have walked pretty fast because she arrived before we even ordered food. Good thing it wasn't snowing!

Anne commented on the prevalence of the norovirus and then got up to wash her hands.

Cynthia asked us what blue cheese tastes like and we tried to come up with our best analogies. It is not easy to describe a taste. Anne compared the strength of blue cheese to the strength of horseradish. This caused some consternation. Cynthia, always thinking, asked the waiter if she could try some blue cheese before ordering her dish. He obliged and her response was "it tastes woodsy."

Everyone finished the book except Paula who is excused because, you know, she is a little bit busy these days. Wendy presented her opinion of the book through Beth. She "HATED IT." In contrast, Anne "REALLY LIKED IT." Our opinion of the book seemed to be split and in a scientific manner we rated it on a scale of 1-10.

Anne=8
Rachel=8
Manda=6
Donna=6
Cynthia=5
Beth=3
Wendy=1 (I assume)

Donna thought that she had read the book before but once she started reading she realized she hadn't. She thought that it was a stereotypical college book and she has read similar books before (hence the reason she thought she had read this one). She was interested in reading the book but felt that she knew what was going to happen. She also hated the characters in the book and since that was the case she needed more to carry her through.

Anne like the scenes of the writing classes the best. She also enjoyed the irony of the professor explaining what entails good writing in class and then the main story of the book following these examples. She found this very "meta" (go Anne with the fancy deconstruction!). She pointed out that the professor stressed that good satire does not require a political point.

Beth responded that she thought that the point of the book is that colleges are to politically correct. She also thought that Angela's writing in the book was better than the writing in the actual book. She also did not like the clean ending. She thought it was unbelievable that a manuscript left on a chair would end up getting published.

Anne did not think that the professor would sleep with Angela and was surprised when this happened. This caused Donna to exclaim, "She is a bitch." (I don't think those words have ever been uttered at book group before). Donna did not think that Angela was a victim at all. Anne felt sorry for Angela and did not hate her. Neither did Manda.

Donna pointed out that this book has the most sex we have ever read so far in book group. The Last Picture Show had a lot of sex, but it was not as explicit as this book. Always glad to pick a winner!

-Rachel

The Next Book, and Paula's Top 7

2008-01-11T05:21:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

As discussed on Tuesday, the next book is The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home, by George Howe Colt.

And my top reads for the year:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2. Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, American Academy of Pediatrics
3. The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, Vicki Iovine
4. Baby 411, Denise Fields and Ari Brown
5. Baby Bargains, Denise Fields
6. Diaper Diaries: The Real Poop on a Mom's First Year, Cynthia Copeland
7. The Baby Knits Book, Debbie Bliss

Yup, the only fiction I managed to read and finish was Harry Potter. Although some might consider some of these baby books to be fiction!

Donna's 2007 Top Reads

2008-01-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

I didn't do as well as intended this year either, although I did stick to my resolution (inspired by Rachel) to keep track of the books I did manage to read. After whipping through Harry Potter in 3 days though, I sort of lost track for a month or so. Here is my Top 6 list, kind of in order:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
The Tender Bar, JR Moehringer
The Ruins, Scott Smith
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz

2007 Top 10 sort of

2008-01-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Jen and Sandy!

Well, 2007 was not a stellar reading year for me. For example, the only book I read during my week long vacation at the beach was Harry Potter Six. I’m having trouble remembering 10 books I read this year outside of book club so this list is a little random and contains many books I read in November and December. For 2008, I resolve to keep track of the books I read.

1. Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City
2. Omnivore’s Dilemma
3. The Corner (Drugs and life in Baltimore) David Simon
4. Maximum City (Modern Bombay)
5. The Magician’s Assistant Ann Patchett
6. Best American Comics 2006
7. Rejection Collection Vol. 1 (Rejected New Yorker Cartoons)
8. Mealtime Magic (Cookbook)
9. Heartburn (Nora Ephron)
10. Harry Potter Six and Seven

Best of 2007

2007-12-31T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hello from Iowa!

Here are some of my favorite books that I read during 2007:

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
2. The Nightwatch, Sarah Waters
3. Run, Ann Patchett
4. Talk, Talk, T.C. Boyle
5. The Giant's House, Elizbeth McCracken
6. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
7. Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping, Judith Levine
8. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst
9. There is No Me Without You, Melissa Fay Green
10. Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City, Nick Flynn

In other developments, Sandy and I are expecting a baby. Little McSmithley is due at the beginning of June 2008.

Happy New Year!
jen

2007 top ten books

2007-12-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Here is my list for top ten reads in 2007 (in no kind of order). Be sure to post your favorite books read in 2007 as well.

-Rachel

1) Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
2) Native Speaker, Chang-Rae Lee
3) A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby
4) Brooklyn Follies, Paul Auster
5) No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July
6) Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
7) The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
8) Ghost Written, David Mitchell
9) The Emperor's Childern, Claire Messud
10) Theft, Peter Carey

Almost on the top ten list--
Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld
Libra, Don DeLillo

More snow

2007-12-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

Book club was canceled for the second time in a row due to snow! I can't take much more of this, but Rachel assures us that the next meeting will go on no matter what.

Beth

Snow!

2007-12-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

For the first time in book club history, a meeting was canceled due to snow. Rachel, I think you made the right choice.

Quechee Part I

2007-12-10T18:12:00.000-08:00

On Dec 1, Anne, Donna, Wendy and me went to Quechee, Vermont to celebrate my 35 birthday. We got the idea of going to Quechee from Jen on blog the she posted right on this very web site. Jen told us about the Farmer's Diner in Quechee which only serves local food so we had to check it out.

Wendy and I were late getting to Donna's house. Anne was there before us. It was my fault, I forgot to pack my glasses and contact things. Wendy arrived to pick me up on time, but one of my other six housemates was in the bathroom so I had to wait to get my things. Inexplicably, everyone in the house was up at 8:00 on a Saturday morning. That never happens. We finally hit the road around 9:00. Ironically, our first stop was McDonald's (somewhere in New Hampshire) which is not really known for it's local food. But we just got coffee. I wanted to get hash browns but Wendy talked me out of it. I got a yogurt fruit parfait instead. I recommend it because the fruit they use is in a heavy, sweet syrup so it really is like a sundae. We drove some more and stopped at a grocery store somewhere in New Hampshire to use the bathroom. Anne also bought some gloves. We noticed some differences about suburban grocery stores. Anne almost lost her mind waiting in line because people were paying with checks! Also, people also seemed to want more personal space and gave us a wide berth even when we weren't in their way.

At this point I would like to mention how cold it was. I think it was about 14 degrees when we arrived in Quechee and that was the high for the day. It was also very windy. But at least it was sunny.

We arrived at the Farmer's Diner about noon. We sat in the dining room, not the diner itself because the booths were too small for the four of us. The decor was country chic - you know, hay bales, toy tractors, very yellow. Lots of yellow. For appetizers, we ordered hush puppies and cheesy fries. I was partial to the hush puppies, but Donna likes the fries. For an entree, I got a bacon cheeseburger which was very good. I know Donna got a portabella burger because later in the day she said something like " all I had for lunch was a mushroom". I'm not positive, but I think Anne got the corned beef hash breakfast. At any rate, she definelity got breakfast food. I can't remember what Wendy had. After the hush puppies, it was all a blur to me. When it came time for dessert, we were all really, really full, but we ordered apple crisp and somehow managed to find space for it. A couple of teeneagers sitting near us performed a dine and dash, but we missed the action becasue we were full up to our eyeballs in local cuisine. Overall, I enjoyed it, the food was good, but it didn't taste radically different from non-local food to me. I think I will have to go back in the summer.

Immediately after lunch we decided to talk a walk to the Quechee Gorge. The manager of the Farmer's Diner was worried that we were going to freeze to death walking the 1/4 mile to the gorge. We stopped in the vistors center to warm up before our treacherous decent into the gorge. We signed in the guest book just in case we got lost and we talked a bit a nice older gentleman volunteering at the visitor's center. I can't remember his name but he was wearing a rugby shirt. He didn't seem to be impressed that we were visiting from Boston. Wendy left the center wondering about his life. Was he from Vermont? Did he retire there? Where did he live? What did he do in his free time? My opinion was that he was a retired professor, but we never did go back in to find out. He was wearing a wedding ring though.

Okay, I'm tired, I can't type anymore. Bed time.
Coming up in Part II - the gorge, antiquing, eggnog, and our crazy, wild night at the Vermont Inn.

Run by Ann Patchett

2007-11-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

I read it and loved it. My mom thinks it's better than Bel Canto. I'll call it a tie. They're both good in their own way. This story has more character development. That's all I'll say. Has anyone else read it yet? What do you think?

From the far side of the Mississippi,
jen

Stocking stuffers

2007-11-12T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hot off the presses! Get a copy of the year's most sought after book:

Illegitimate Children of the Enlightenment: Anarchists and the French Revolution, 1880-1914 by C. Alexander McKinley

That's Sandy - for those in the know.

For anyone with a friend in collection development, pretty, pretty please ask them to consider ordering a copy of this fascinating book.

And if book club wants to discuss it, I'm sure I can get you an interview with the author.

*jen

Baby News!

2007-09-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

Paula and Paul have a son! Andrew Paul Aloisio was born on September 24, 2007 at 7:33 p.m. weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. Congratulations!

The Friendly Toast

2007-09-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Anne and I visited the Friendly Toast diner in lovely Portsmouth, NH on Sunday Sept 2. Hilary and Bill Clinton were also in Portsmouth that evening, but it was just a coincidence. They didn't know we were going to be there.

This road trip started because Wendy told us how great the Friendly Toast is and we take diner recommendations from Wendy very seriously. So we started out from Boston and somehow missed the exit from 93 to 95. Whoops. Those exits really fly by when there isn’t any traffic. We decided it would be prudent to take a little hike before we pigged out at the diner, so we went to Odiorne State Park. I promised Anne we would take a walk on a rocky beach even though I wasn’t sure if I could find one. I was really sweating it out because the first part of the hike not very pretty, we got a little lost and the bugs were biting, After a mile we came to a clearing and there was a beautiful rocky beach and jetty out into the ocean. There was also an informational sign that explained everything we needed to know about clam worms. Apparently, they are 3 feet in length, they come out of the sand and break into the clams and eat them. We didn't see any, but we were scared the whole time that we would.

After we worked up an appetite on the hike, we went to the Friendly Toast. At first, it seems to be an uber-hip hangout for art students. The wait staff all had 5 visible tattoos, asymmetric, messy haircuts and ironic clothes. Some of the patrons were also hip, but there were also families with young kids too. Kitschy, weird art like paintings of clowns and monkeys covered the walls. My favorite and Anne's favorite decoration was a golden, glittering, rotating, Schlitz globe. It was hypnotic. It would be great for a baby's room. I ordered an almond joy pancake (chocolate chips and coconut) and sweet potato fries. I know that's weird, but I couldn't decide. The pancake was enormous. When the waitress brought it to the table, I thought “wait a minute, we didn't order a pizza.” It was very good, but I got filled up too fast. I only could eat about a third of it. The sweet potato fries were good, but not excellent. (Sorry Wendy) Anne ordered a vegetable omelet with breakfast sausage. She said the eggs were a little bland, but all the veggies were very fresh and the sausage was excellent. The bread is all-homemade so her toast was excellent too. I think the greatest thing about the Friendly Toast was that Anne suddenly became a math whiz. She figured out how to split our bill in 1.37 seconds. It happened so fast I assumed she was wrong, but no, she was right. Then at the register, the waiter gave Anne $15 back in change, but she handed it right back to him and said we only get a nickel for change. Again, it happened so fast, the waiter was stunned and the other patrons in line just gazed at Anne in amazement.

After the lunch we did a little shopping. Anne tried to get me to buy a meat thermometer, but I’m just not ready yet. I need to do more research. We went into an art gallery with the usual stuff - jewelry, crafts, and paintings. Nice stuff, but nothing noteworthy. Then we went up the stairs to the second floor and they had an old huge wooden TV set that was transformed into an aquarium. The inside of the aquarium was set up like a little living room for the fish. I couldn't stop looking at. I just stared and stared. It was such an obvious but genius idea. I wanted to buy it, but it cost about $1800. So no TV aquarium for me. We then went into a book store and Anne told me what her next pick for book club is going to be. It’s a secret so I can’t tell anyone what it is, but I will tell you it’s an unusual pick, I would even go so far to say it’s a shocker. But you will all have to wait and see.

We are planning another outing to the Friendly Toast soon so everyone can experience it. I want to have like five or six of us the next time so it’s more of a challenge for Anne to figure out the bill.

Beth

Next Read

2007-09-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

The next pick is a classic since it's my turn! I hope we all enjoy Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, a satire and homage to the gothic novel.

Addy Will Know

2007-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Listen to this cool song about a librarian - it rocks! There's even a contest to identify the books alluded to in the song. If I had more free time, I'd put my Veronica Mars sleuth skills to the test. Maybe bookclub can work on it collectively.

From the great state of Iowa,
Jen

Paula's Book Club Baby Shower

2007-08-31T06:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the 2nd Book Club Baby Shower at Donna's!

New book by Ann Patchett - set in Boston!!!

2007-08-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh - I am soooooo excited. One of my favorite authors has a new book coming out this fall and it is set in one of my favorite places - Boston. While I doubt that the bookstores will be open at midnight on October 1st for me to scoop this off the shelf - I would if I could. Forget Harry Potter - this book has me waiting with bated breath.

far from Boston,
Jen

Rendezvous in Black

2007-07-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Rendezvous in Black by Cornell Woolrich

Location: Lucky's Lounge in Boston
Date: July 2, 2007

After a bit of a delay due to the passing of Wendy’s grandmother, we finally got to meet at Lucky’s Lounge (Jen, we reminisced fondly about your party there!) to discuss Rendezvous in Black—where else BUT Lucky’s would you want to meet to discuss a dark, noir murder mystery that explores what might happen when a man’s heart is completely shattered…

The reviews were mixed. Let’s start with the strongest. Beth Hated it (definitely w/ a capital H, perhaps requiring all caps). In fact, she declared that it was the most despised book ever! Ouch! Sorry Beth! You know that my Catholic Guilt Complex feels very badly about that! She thought it was completely misogynistic, what with the hunting down and killing of innocent women. I admitted that at times I was rooting for the killer, at which point Beth declared, “What is wrong with you?!” Hopefully this won’t have a lasting negative effect on our friendship!

On a more positive note, everyone else seemed to enjoy it on some level, though Donna, Manda, Rachel, and Cynthia all commented on the clunkiness/cheesiness/hackiness/corniness of the writing. I thought it was very much in the style of much of the noir detective stories of the time – which I love – which is admittedly a bit of an acquired taste. Anne thought it got better as it went along, though the ending was anticlimactic. In contrast, Donna actually liked it better at the beginning. Finally, Paula did not read it—she thought it would be too dark for her and she is staying focused on happy, positive thoughts.

Other talk included some updates from Anne about her neighbors, including the infamous Danielle. There was also some interesting talk about a new show called, "Confessions of a Matchmaker," which is—you guessed it—about a straight-talking matchmaker. Ah, new things to add to my cable-watching repertoire! And Donna shared her lovely photos from her vacation in paradise...beautiful!

Before we adjourned, Book Club experienced a first: Cynthia gave us a choice about our next book selection. Beth happened to already be reading Omnivore’s Dilemma and said that it was changing her life…high praise! OD won out in a 5/8 vote, with Donna abstaining from casting her vote because she was unable to make an informed decision.

As for Lucky’s, we had some tasty treats: lots of shared entrees, yummy appetizers, and some not-so-mini mini-burgers. We also sampled their very tasty cocktails (I was feeling more than a little buzzed from my one) and there were rumors…unconfirmed…that Rachel had five, count ‘em, 5!! Since our meeting was on the eve of a holiday (July 3), there was even talk of moving the party to another watering hole. Book Club gone wild! Perhaps if Wendy – Book Club’s newest convert to the drink – hadn’t had to rush home to meet with her neighbors about her porch rebuilding project, this plan might have come to fruition. Alas, after Lucky’s, everyone went their separate ways...at least that's what they told me...

~Wendy

Summer Bummer

2007-06-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is enjoying June and the unofficial beginning of summer. Although it is Wednesday, I only just finished reading the "Summer Reading" issue of the New York Times Book Review from Sunday, June 3rd. Joe Queenan's essay on the last page is about the age-old tradition of the high school reading list. He has some pretty strong feelings about Thomas Hardy's "Return of the Native" that you might guess at from the title. Check out the article - especially if you are a fan of classic literature.

I'm almost finished with "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Despite some of the author's opinions of vegetarians, I LOVE the book. For anyone who EATS - this is a must read. I guarantee you'll learn something new.

If I remember correctly, somewhere on this blog Beth mentioned that she would visit Iowa if/when I perfected chocolate coconut ice cream. Pack your bags!! I can also make that with almonds if you prefer an Almond Joy ice cream. The guest room awaits you!

*Jen

Underfoot in Show Business

2007-05-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Underfoot in Show Business by Helene Hanff

Location: Harvard Gardens, Cambridge Street
Date: May 9, 2007

This may not be the most elegant post to the bookgroup blog because I have the base ball game in the background and my cat keeps biting me. Ow. But to begin…

Manda got rockstar parking in front of the restaurant and luckily did not have a ticket when she realized later that she did not pay the meter. Even though Anne lives the closest to the restaurant she was the last to arrive. To be fair, she does have to take the commuter train home from work. We waited for Anne to begin the discussion of the book, but not for ordering baked brie and truffle infused french fries.

There was not much “discussion” per say since we all enjoyed reading the book and thought Helene Hanff was great. Anne pined for the cheap life in New York (though I imagine she could do without the bedbugs). We enjoyed reading about the early days of television and the life of a struggling playwright in New York.

Donna gets extra credit for bringing biographical information about Helene Hanff. Beth gets extra credit for going on to read 84 Charing Cross Road. I did not know that Helene had a secret affair with an important unnamed married man (I thought maybe she and Maxine were special friends, but I guess I was reading too much into the book).

Afterwards everyone who lives in Belmont (meaning most of us) got a ride home with Manda. Wendy dutifully went on to the gym to train for her half marathon. (Go Wendy!) Anne, Beth and myself got ice cream. We are not training for a half marathon.

-Rachel

There is no me without you

2007-05-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

I recently listened to There Is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Green on CD. It's about AIDS orphans in Ethiopia. Yes - it's a depressing topic. But her writing reminds you why it's important to care. She tells the story of one woman running an orphanage in Addis Ababa but intersperses compelling statistics and history of the epidemic. AIDS doesn't get the front page coverage that it once did and her book reminds us why it should. Even if you don't have time to read the book, check out her web site linked above. And give Bill Clinton some applause for brokering deals for AIDS drugs this week.

peace,
jen

Next pick: Rendezvous in Black by Cornell Woolrich

2007-05-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

It's dark, written in the 1940s, begins in the midwest, and examines what happens to a man when he loses the love of his life...totally up my alley and I hope yours as well...

Be sure to read this alone at night with all the lights off!

And just so you don't all think I am a total slacker, I did finish up Manda's book selection this weekend and really loved it. What a great choice, Manda!

Cheers, Wendy

Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City

2007-04-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

Who - Everybody and Paula brought a surprise guest
What - Discussion about Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
Where - Zoe's Diner, Harvard Square
When Friday March 30, 2007

Five people actually showed up 15 minutes early. That gave us plenty of time to read the giant menu and change our minds 10 times.

Feelings were definitely mixed about the book. I loved it and Manda loved it. She finished it in two days. It's my own pick so I may be biased (but I readily admit that Winner of the National Book award was awful, terrible, painful...). I think I had trouble seeing some of the flaws. Rachel couldn't understand how anyone could let their own father sleep out on the streets in the winter, just a few blocks away from your own warm apartment. Others (me, Anne) felt that the father was not much of a father, he took off and didn't care where his sons were or who they were living with so why should his adult son care for him now? People felt more sympathy for the father than the son, some felt the father was a charmer with so much potential but he just got sidetracked by his addiction. I felt little sympathy for the father, I though he was just a loser, a major pain in the butt and I probably would have never even kept in touch with him. I thought it was fascinating the way Nick mirrored his father's own life, but was he able to to pick himself up, go to school and become a writer and have the life his father only dreamed about. Donna didn't see it that way. She thought Nick was a cocky young guy with an unemotional writing style reminiscent of Dave Eggers. (Donna was really happy when she learned that Manda decided not to chose Dave Eggers new book for our next reading selection.) Other commented that it was really a fascinating look inside the workings of the Pine Street Inn. It was also funny to see how much Boston has changed since the 80's and early 90's. Despite having a low income, Nick lived in a huge loft apartment in Chinatown (okay, it was above a strip club) because no else would want to live in such a scary part of town. Now you would have to be a millionaire to live there because the entire area has been transformed.

I actually tried to take a few notes but the only quote I wrote down is from Wendy - she said she didn't finish the book because she'd been out drinking 4 night a week so she hasn't had time to read any other books outside of school. Don't worry Wendy, if you end up on the streets, someone from the book club will take you in. We won't let you sleep on the Commons.

Rachel's serving of Macaroni and Cheese was so large that everyone got a taste and there was still plenty left over. It was really good. I got the Potato Scramble, but it was pretty disappointing. The best thing about it was the buttery wheat toast. My vanilla coke was delicious though. I also tried some of Paula's sweet potato french fries - they were tasty and crisp.

After the meeting, Cynthia literally strong-armed Wendy and gave her a serious talking too about a certain issue that we can't go into here because it's not that kind of blog. Then everyone bought shoes as Burkes. Then at the Redline bar, Anne started asking questions about love and relationships. I referred her to the library and Dr. Phil, but apparently Anne really was looking for bad advice from her friends.

Beth

The Last Picture Show

2006-12-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Book: The Last Picture Show, by Larry McMurtry
Date: December 18, 2006
Location: The Border Cafe (more on that below)
Who was there: everyone but Anne (she had to work)
Who finished the book: EVERYONE!

What people thought: It seems that everyone enjoyed the book, although we were somewhat scandalized by the, um, farm animal scene. No one believed that these things actually happen in real life, but since McMurtry grew up in rural Texas and based this book on his hometown, perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt. We were amused by McMurtry's matter-of-fact tone when he described this scene (and I think others). Donna did not like McMurtry's depiction of women, specifically Jacy, who she did not find believeable. However, we did like how the characters of Lois and Genevieve were written. We wished we could have found out more about Genevieve's husband and home life.

Lessons learned:

1. Everyone read the book, which makes me think I should assign more "classic trash." I think that's going to be my misson from now on. Although I don't think this book truly qualifies as "trash."

2. Do not lie to the host at the Border Cafe. They will threaten to make you move if your whole party is not in attendance. Fortunatly, the parking gods were kind to Manda so we didn't have to move and were able to eat the very tempting chips.

3. I should not have a margarita if I am going to try to post complete and/or accurate minutes later.

-Paula

Top 5 of 2006

2006-12-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Iowa!

My reading list for 2006 was quite feeble. So here's my top 5 reads:

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - Loved this book! She does something I'm not courageous enough to do - travel solo to Italy, India and Indonesia.

2. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon- A great tale of family from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

3. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - I recommend this as an alternative to the many self-help books on grief.

4. Three Junes by Julia Glass - I enjoyed how this story moved between 3 different places and time.

5. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson - Technically I haven't finished this, but so far I think it's great - and she's never disappointed me before.

Wishing you plenty of time to read in 2007.

cheers,
Jen

P.S. I forgot to include The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. It speaks as much to current events as it does to history.

Next Pick -- Midaq Alley

2006-12-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

My pick for next month is Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz.

http://www.amazon.com/Midaq-Alley-Naguib-Mahfouz/dp/0385264763/sr=8-4/qid=1166481875/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/105-2289611-7111624?ie=UTF8&s=books

Happy reading!

Anne

Top 10 2006/ Rachel's List

2006-12-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

I won't list my top 100 books for 2006 like the New York Times (as if I really read 100 books this year) but here are my top ten:

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
Any Human Heart, William Boyd
Three Junes, Julia Glass
Flesh and Blood, Michael Cunningham
My Life as a Fake, Peter Carey
Acts of Faith, Philip Caputo
Never Let me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
The Great Fire, Shirley Hazzard
Drop City, T.C. Boyle

-Rachel

Which books were your favorite this year?

Better Late than Never Minutes: March by Geraldine Brooks

2006-12-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

I think this qualifies as the latest minutes ever posted for bookgroup, but better late than never...

Book: March by Geraldine Brooks
Date: November 2, 2006
Location: Zaftig's in Brookline
Who was there: Wendy, Anne, Beth, Paula, Donna, Manda, Rachel
Who was not there: Cynthia (alas)
Who finished the book: Just kidding, we don't record that!

General group overtone/opinion of the book: No one really loved the book because of the writing but the story helped carry the book along so that it readable. Some of us recoiled at the description of Mrs. March's temperament and efforts to control her anger but Paula was astute enough to point out the connection to Jo's temperament and the writing style of the era that Geraldine Brooks emulated.

Some of us enjoyed the second half more with the quickened storyline pace, and some of us preferred the first half and the descriptions of Concord. We agreed that Mr. March was not sympathetic (he lost the family money, he put his ideals above his family, and he generally continued to make the wrong decisions throughout the book).

We could not remember if the book had won a Pulitzer but then agreed that it must not have. We were wrong.

-Rachel

Book Club's Favorite Books of 2006!

2006-12-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

Today I was talking with Rachel about the New York Times' list of the 100 Best Books of the Year. We both realized we had only read one book on the list. This made us sad. Then I thought it would be fun for book club to list the best books we’ve read this year (but they didn’t have to be published this year.) Because of school, (ironically) I didn’t read a lot this year so I only have a few books to recommend.

Sweet and Low - Rick Cohen, All the family drama behind the Cumberland Packaging Company, creators of Sweet n Low. If you have eaten out with me this year, I probably pulled out a pack of Sweet n Low and told you all about this book. (And if I haven’t, I would be happy to do it) I read this book over Memorial Day weekend when I was visiting my friends Andrea and Scott in North Carolina. I must have referenced the book five times a day over the course of the weekend. I could not stop talking about it. They were polite enough not to tell me to shut already about the history of sugar substitutes.

The Know World -Edward P Jones. I had tried to read this before, but I got confused. The narrative style is unusual because a character will be in the present time of the story, but then the narrative might slip at any moment into that character's past and then well into the character’s future, beyond the time period that the story covered. It has an epic feel because we experience the most important points of each character's lives even though the main action of the book only covers a few months of time. Once I got used to it, I really started to love it. (Thanks for reminding me Anne!)

Horse Heaven -Jane Smiley . You don’t need to like horses to like this book. It’s a sophisticated soap opera at the race track.

Little Children -Tom Perrotta. You guys have all read it so I don’t need to explain any further.

Focusing on the Range - lusciously produced photo book about the Mount Holyoke and Mount Tom Ranges. Difficult to find.

Book to Definitely Avoid -
The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island - Linda Greenlaw. It looks quaint and funny, but it’s just boring. Seriously, just keep browsing on past it.

next book

2006-11-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

Not sure who's posting "minutes" from our last meeting, but I wanted to make sure to post the next pick. We will be reading The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry, courtesy of Paula.

--Donna

Banned Book Week!

2006-09-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's banned book week. But why is it just a week? It should be a whole month. Who do I have to talk to at ALA to get it changed? I wish I knew about this list when I was 11. It could really have been useful.

The BPL has a nice selection out on display. I should pick a banned book for my month because you know how subversive I am. Maybe Captain Underpants or How to Eat Fried Worms.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

Don't forget to vote for your favorite banned book.

Beth

"Cascada video library"

2006-09-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

I had these three words written in my notes from our last meeting and just plugged it into good old Google to jog my memory. I forget who brought it up, but this is a music video (courtesy of Youtube.com) that takes place in a library and an old card catalog is featured prominently. Enjoy! --Donna

What is the worth of words?

2006-09-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

What do you guys think of this article? Alarmist? Any truth to it? I feel like the opposite (kind of) could be true -- that people will need to assimilate many small pieces of info and construct a larger (but quickly digestable) meaning from said info. (be patient. the page can be slow to load.) -- m

Recommendation -- Life and Death in Shanghai

2006-09-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, just read a book I loved -- Life and Death in Shanghai. It's the memoir of a woman in China during the Cultural Revolution. The author, Nien Cheng, is just an amazingly unique and stubborn person and I loved her. I realized that I know next to nothing about Mao -- evil genuis or what!? It helped me understand why Americans were so suspicious of (could be would be) communists in their midst in the 50s and 60s. Inspired, I have started my very own blacklist. ;-) -- Manda

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

2006-09-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

Meeting Date: Friday, September 8, 2006
Location: Felipe's Taqueria in Harvard Square
Present: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Manda, Rachel, Wendy

First off, I wanted to reiterate my attempt for a themed restaurant for the book, but the Orinoco and Brazilian places (in honor of Tony's quest for the Lost City) just didn't work out. So we found a nice big table and had Mexican instead.

I think the overall opinion of the book was that it was good but that the big switch in tone after little John died was too jarring for some. People thought that it just didn't even seem like the same book. Rachel was "thrown" by the sudden change, and Wendy liked it until Tony's journey to South America. She also felt that it wasn't fair that Tony's life was finally turning around, and then he gets lost, and sentenced to a life of reading Dickens for eternity! Beth added that John's death seemed like a contrived plot device.

All agreed that John Beaver was a loser and not really developed. Wendy questioned the appeal of Beaver to Brenda, and we thought it was just because she was bored. Manda hated how mean Brenda was to Tony and was waiting for him to tell her off -- we were all happy when that happened!

Everyone seemed to agree that the priest who repeated his sermons was funny.

I loved it -- I thought it was very funny and I even liked the end because it reminded me of the gothic fiction that I like so much since it had all the elements of tragedy for poor Tony.

Manda liked it and thought it was very entertaining.

Beth couldn't say that she liked it, but she did read it very quickly and didn't know why.

We wondered what the title meant. Rachel thought the style of writing was very similar to Oscar Wilde. Beth read that Waugh wrote another ending for the American audience but didn't know what had been changed. I am eager to see the movie version now.

We talked a lot about Erin's new adventure and job opportunity in Virginia. We are going to miss her, but it sounds like she and her family will have an amazing time there. We presented her with a book on Virginia Curiosities and some "Virginia is for Lovers" paraphernalia. Book club wishes you all the best, Erin!

The next pick is Rachel's and she has chosen March by Geraldine Brooks as the next book.

Manda wants everyone to add their latest picks for books, movies, etc. to the blog. I'll add my latest favorite read which has already made its way to Anne and Rachel and that is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Happy reading ladies,
Donna

P.S. I found this online article about the book that explains the title, mentions the American version, and more:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/English151W-03/handful.htm

Pride of Family by Carole Ione

2006-07-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

I can't promise a witty nor detailed post but I want to get down in writing our last meeting before too much time goes by:

Date-- Sunday July 16, 2006

Attendance-- Anne, Paula, Cynthia, Donna, Rachel, Wendy, Manda

Location-- Cynthia and Steven's house in Belmont

Weather-- Hot

Food-- Cheesecake, grilled tofu, corn salad, bean salad, (and more) cooked by Cynthia and Steven

Book discussion-- Donna did not like this book. She found the writing very poor and the author annoying. We all agreed that the narrative was a bit jumbled but Manda brought up the point that the non linear narrative brought more depth to the book and made it more than "just a boring history" (or something along those lines, the quotes are for effect).

Our favorite character was Bebe.

We wanted to know more about Sistonie.

We were not as interested in Frank nor the search for Frank.

As archivists Paula and Rachel were shocked that the author wanted to take home her grandfather's scrapbook about her great grandmother from the NYPL. (Do I have that right, who's scrapbook was it again?)

We liked learning about the intellectual life of Boston in the late 1800s.

Overall we liked the stories in the book and enjoyed learning about the characters but did not think the book was written nor contructed very well. The authors self discovery came across as self absorbed and her story muddled the stories of the other characters. Despite that criticism the individual stories were vivid and the places the stories took place came alive, especially Saratoga.

--Rachel

Next pick

2006-07-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

I'll let someone else make comments from yesterday's meeting for Pride of Family, but I wanted to post the next book which will be A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh. Happy reading! Donna

Peyton Place Meeting

2006-06-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Peyton Place Meeting
June 3, 2006
Location: Wendy’s living room in Dorchester
In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Paula, and Wendy

After much date deliberation, we were finally able to meet to discuss the scandal-rific Peyton Place. We met at my house and ate incredible amounts of unhealthy snacks that featured high-class ingredients like Ritz crackers, Cool Whip, and brownie mix…YUM! Reviews on Peyton Place were mixed, but the discussion was lively. Here are some highlights:

Characters:
Most of us disliked all of the characters—a small problem! We thought Allison was supposed to be Grace Metalious, but many of us found her prissy (Donna’s descriptor…love that one) and annoying (me!). Selena had her moments of being admirable, but made bizarre choices like covering-up her step-father’s murder. There seemed to be a strong anti-male bias in the book, what with the enema-loving, peeping-Tom Norman; the quasi-rapist Tom (Anne was not into how Tom supposedly opened up Constance sexually through what appears to be a rape scene); and the ultra obnoxious Rodney. Beth reported that Rachel read a Vanity Fair article about Metalious that portrayed her husband as a nasty character, which certainly might have influenced her depiction of men.

Scandal:
Although PP is not very scandalous by today’s standards, there were certainly elements that we found disturbing (the alcohol binging scene; the rape of Selena by her step-father; Norman and his enemas administered by his mother). Erin noticed that what Metalious was most criticized for at the time (her treatment of sex, such as Rodney and Betty’s scene on the beach) is not what scandalized or disturbed us the most. We were perplexed as to why her treatment of sex ‘rocked a nation to its core!’ when sex had been written about well before Peyton Place ever was secretly read in bedroom closets. Paula suggested that it might have been a combination of the conservatism of the 1950s when it was published and the fact that Metalious was both a woman and a mother.

Also, several of us had the experience of telling older co-workers about reading the book and getting big reactions. Beth’s co-worker called the book ‘smutty’ and remembered her mom throwing the book in the trash. Anne’s co-workers were very excited that she was reading the book and couldn’t stop talking about it. So although the book seems somewhat forgotten in the literary canon (not surprising, as we all decided Grace wasn’t exactly an amazing writer), its impact certainly lingers on in the baby-boomer generation.

Favorite confusing / disturbing moments:

The alcohol binge scene: what is up with that? Many of us found that this plot diversion was both bizarre and incredibly gross!
Kathy losing her arm at the fun house…What? Huh? Why?
Norman’s scary old voyeur lady neighbor and her coincidentally-timed death when Norman happens to be hiding under her porch (at least, I think that is where he was when she died…my recollection for plot details is becoming a bit fuzzy by now).

Plot/Writing:
Many of us liked the twists and turns of the plot, but some just didn’t work. Beth pointed out that after Kathy loses her arm (at the fun house…I mean, where else do people lose arms?) and Allison goes to NYC, it seems as though Metalious is just going through the motions. Anne was frustrated by Metalious’ writing and all the plot twists. Donna and I liked the twists, though they were often unbelievable. Donna compared it to a soap opera—and certainly the television version of PP helped to shape the soap opera genre.

Memorable comments:
Anne: A key life lesson from Peyton Place: if you reveal your breast in a car, you will die!
Cynthia: (Of the town) I’m glad I didn’t live there!

Final thoughts:
Although many of us had mixed feelings about the book and the writing, we all finished it (!) and the book generated a great discussion. Paula said that she likes reading pivotal books like this, as they are so embedded in American culture. We wondered whether any book has made such an impact since – perhaps Valley of the Dolls, Thornbirds, or Judy Blume’s adult novels? – but we are not convinced that any book has created such a stir…although as I write this, I do remember quite a bit of controversy when Rushdie’s Satanic Verses was published. And there was the whole Madonna coffee table sex book…talk about contributing to American culture! : )

The next book is Cynthia’s pick: Pride of Family: Four Generations of American Women of Color by Carole Ione.

Happy reading! Wendy

Thai fertility photo...part 2!!

2006-03-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

I just found a picture of the infamous peen tree on my old computer...I think it surpasses the other Thai fertility pic!! This tree is LOADED with some serious good fortune...

Winner of the National Book Award Recap

2006-02-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Winner of the National Book Award Meeting
January 26, 2006
Location: Zoe's Diner in Cambridge
In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Paula, Rachel and Wendy

Wow, it's so hard to post something after seeing those amazing pictures of Wendy in the fertility garden. (scroll down and you'll see them) First of all, that's a great picture of you, Wendy. It took me a second to notice the penises in the background. They complement you well!

My apologies for taking so long to post the minutes. Luckily, I took copious notes during the meeting with an OCLC pen I borrowed from Paula, so even though it's been, ahem, a few weeks, my recap should be pretty accurate. (yeah, right...)

We met at Zoe's Diner in Cambridge. The diner didn't have any connection with the book -- Beth just really likes diners. We met on a Sunday night at 5:00 so the place was dead. Cynthia made the stunning observation that everyone at the table was either wearing the color red or purple. (Donna was wearing pink but that's a a red hue) And then Cynthia pointed out that red and purple was the color scheme of the diner, so we matched.

Our waiter was...how shall I put this? Well, he was someone my mother would politely call "a personality." In other words, he was nuts. He was very animated and talkative, which wasn't so bad, but he kept trying to get us to change our orders. For example, he tried to talk Erin and Donna into splitting a greek salad instead of ordering two, he tried to get me to order a vanilla coke when I wanted cream soda, and he told Cynthia to order turkey sausage because the regular sausage tasted like his shoe. How does he know what his shoe tastes like? Gross. Wendy noticed that he stuck his finger in his ear when he was taking our orders and then we were all very worried about him handling our food. But we managed to order and he managed to bring us our food and then talk turned to the book.

No one liked it. (sorry Jincy) This was a bummer because book club is always more lively when we disagree. (See: Hitchhiker's Guide. Also, remember Sheltering Sky???)

Here's what some of the bookclubbers had to say:

Beth hated* it. She was disappointed because she picked the book after reading the first two pages, which she loved, especially the description of the mother being struck by lightning. But as she continued reading, she started to hate* it because the characters were a bunch of misanthropes.

Donna and Erin also liked the beginning. Donna said she related to the narrator because she was a librarian and had delivered mail and these are things Donna had done. Erin liked the description of the Northeast.

Wendy thought it was alright but she thought that was because she has so little time to read outside of school and she's pretty much happy with anything she can get her hands on these days. She thought Abigail was charasmatic at moments and she liked the set up -- she enjoyed the way the book poked fun at the ghost writer. Erin pointed out that we were never given any insight into the real story of Abigail's life.

Paula thought it was just okay. She thought the characters were one dimensional and this left her with an annoying feeling.

Rachel disliked it too. She thought it was clever at times but that the story didn't carry as a novel. The characters were too implausible but she enjoyed the part when they made fun of people who write in books. She said this as I was taking notes in my book. I was SAUCED. (right, Wendy?)

Okay, so now I am at the dessert part of the evening because my notes just say "banana bread" and "baklava." Wendy told us some good stories about her trip to St. Louis. I didn't have any Ashley and Dan stories this time. (still don't! I am starting to miss those two...)

Next up: Manda picked In Cold Blood.

See you all soon!
Anne

* according to my notes, Beth changed "hated" to "intensely disliked" later in the evening.

Thai fertility photo...

2006-02-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

I don't have an electronic version of the 'penis' tree, but I do have this 'garden' shot, which actually reminds me more of the scene in Bangkok 8. This picture was taken by my friend Perri's younger brother in their yard in Long Island. Shortly after this, several of the sacred objects wound up on one his friend's front lawns...kids today!!

Book recommendation: Shadow of the Wind

2005-12-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

Last year for my birthday Donna gave me Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. What a great book! Not only is it beautiful to read with great descriptions Barcelona and lots of fog, but there is also a great mystery. I don't want to give to much away but there is a "cemetery of forgotten books" and great book lover characters.

-Rachel (forgot to add my name before)

Bangkok 8 Meeting

2005-12-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

Bangkok 8 Meeting
Location: Thai Smile, Harvard Square
In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Paula, Rachel and Wendy

First off, I’d like to say this is the least depressing book Anne has ever picked.

Rachel went first. She didn’t like the book at all. (This was not a surprise to me- she mentioned this once or twice over the past month.) She thought it was poorly written. Specifically, the lines “her ovaries shuddered” made Rachel shudder. But actually most other readers seemed to like the book more than Rachel did.
She was the lone voice of dissent.

In case anyone was wondering if the penis statues at the Hilton were just fiction, Wendy assured us they were not. She told us about her own experiences with Thai fertility artwork and most memorably the “penis tree. “ Unfortunately, she forgot to bring her example to the meeting, but maybe next time. (FYI - The Book Club LOVES visuals aids of all kinds)

Erin thought the book showed an interesting perspective of Thai prostitutes - that they were portrayed as tough business women and they weren’t sentimentalized - is that a word? Donna really liked the mother and her business sense.

I have to confess I didn’t finish and I don’t have a good reason.

Thank God! Anne just called. I almost got her to write up this blog for me, but we decided she will write a future blog. Anne said she really liked it, she thought Bangkok seemed like a vibrant city and she would like to visit someday. She also enjoyed the book because she never knew what was going to happen next and the resolution surprised her.

After dinner, I interviewed Cynthia for the blog, but I think I scared her. I have to work on my approach. But she did say she thought parts of the book were crass, but then she felt bad for calling the book crass, And then I said no, I really liked brutally honest answers when I’m getting exclusive interviews for the blog.

In a dramatic last minute change of mind, I announced our next book would be “Winner of the National Book Award” by Jincy Willet. (That is just a partial title.)

After noting the number of black puffy jackets in the group, I think we should name ourselves The Puffy Jacket Book Club. The two of us who do not have puffy jackets will be forced to buy one and then we can sew “Book Club - Stand Back 60 Feet” on the back of our jackets so people will know who we are when we’re out on the town. This is just an idea.

After, I forced everyone to go to Burdicks and since it was so crowded, people had to wait in the freezing cold outside while I waited inside for nectar from the gods. But at least they had those puffy black jackets to keep them warm.

Beth

Hitchhikers Meeting

2005-12-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Manda, Paula and Rachel.

Special Guest: Paul

Foreword: I know I’m missing a lot of what people said, but it’s been about month now and I have forgotten. I’m really going to take notes next time. Rachel and I brainstormed over a meal at Bugaboo Creek about what we remembered and this is what we came up with. We were interupted by the talking bison telling bad jokes. So please add your comments.

It was the most contentious book club ever. Donna opened up and she didn’t hold back. She hated Hitchhikers and she thought there was no point to it and it really wasn't that funny. I pointed out the Hard Boiled Wonderland didn’t have a point and didn’t really make any sense either, but everyone loved that. Rachel jumped in and explained the whole philosophy behind the Hardboiled, but I think everyone likes it because there was a librarian in it. I asked Donna don’t you think it’s funny that mice were really smart and Earth was designed by architects? No, she didn’t think it was funny.

I enjoyed Hitchhikers so much I read the next in the Series - the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I loved the scene in the Restaurant at the End of Universe, its worth reading just for that. I told a whole story about the computers and tea not realizing it was from the second book and no one knew what I was talking about. I started the third book, but I guess I had my fill, because I never finished it.

Rachel didn’t like it either, but she sees the books influence in modern pop culture. She tried to say that the OC is really influenced by it. But I wasn’t buying that. Douglas Adam’s writing reminded me of a funnier, less serious Kurt Vonnegut. For some reason this really angered Rachel. I don’t know why.

We let Paul out of the kitchen to make comments since he read the book as a youth and again along with Paula. As a teen he thought it was the funniest book ever, but this time around he didn’t think it was that great.

No one really wants to see the Hitchhikers movie now.

We all calmed down and sat down for dinner. Paula and Paul made a great meal -minestrone soup, eggplant lasagna, salad and apple crisp for dessert.

We then heard about Anne’s job and the hiring process of her new job which dragged on and on and on. But we now know that worked out. then we all told stories about every crazy person we ever worked with so that went on for awhilke.

Anne had a Lisa-Dan update. She heard Dan screaming “Lisa, I f**king hate you, I f**king love you, I want to f**king marry you. But you should really hear Anne’s impresson if it. It’s the repetition that is hysterical.

Afterwards we watched the giraffe documentary and someone came up with a great idea that we should videotape a meeting and air it on cable access. We will have to discuss this in detail next time.

Beth

Hitchhikers guide....

2005-11-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

Isn't anyone going to tell me about your discussion of the guide??? I finally finished it.

-Jen

Next Book

2005-11-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

The next book is Bangkok 8 by John Burdett. Here's a brief review from Library Journal:

Burdett evokes an intriguing and exotic Bangkok where hungry ghosts and capitalists throng the busy intersection of the eightfold path and the red-light district. The depiction of the occasional kinkiness and sadism of this world never seems gratuitous and is skillfully refracted through a highly original sleuth. The pace never flags, every page unfolding fresh mysteries of the psychological, cultural, metaphysical, and locked-room varieties.

(Woah)

Happy reading!
Anne W.

Emma Brown by Charlotte Bronte and Clare Boylan

2005-11-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hi Bookclubbers,

I just finished the above book. The first 20 pages were written by Charlotte Bronte but never published. Clare Boylan finished the story. It's a neat concept. I think other writers could have just as much success but write a very different book. If you enjoyed Fingersmith I think you will like this too. It has intrique, romance, and a Victorian setting.

happy reading,
Jen

Tuesday October 18th

2005-10-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

More Boston Reading...

To go back a bit further in Boston history, I'm reading John Adams. It is long, and I've been reading other books inbetween (such as The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) but I'm enjoying David McCollough's John Adams (and no, I'm not reading it for work).

--Rachel

Recommendation - Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg

2005-10-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hi bookclub,

I know we talked about sharing our reading recommendations on the blog, but it took me a while to get around to it. Some of you may have already heard me rave about this book, so bear with me.

I'm recommending Wickett's Remedy for several reasons:
1. The setting - if you have an affinity for Boston's history, you'll enjoy this look at the 1918 flu epidemic. And if you love government documents you'll recognize many Boston city documents as the foundation of this story. There are other primary source materials, like letters and newspaper articles that set the scene.
2. The characters - they seem very true, maybe even ordinary. But they demonstrate how an individual can be impacted by many different historical events - war, disease, etc.
3. Beautiful writing - okay, I admit that I can't do her writing justice, but believe me, it's fun to read.

So what are you reading???

-Jen

The Dante Club

2005-09-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Dante Club
Beth's Version of the Meeting

Okay, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.

In attendance were Anne, Beth, Donna, Paula, Rachel
and Wendy.

We meet at John Harvard’s in lovely Harvard Square.
First item of note was that Donna almost gave away an
important part of our book club history - she
accidentally handed out her business card with the
official book choosing list written on the back of it.
Luckily she was able to get it back and we are going
to give it to Rachel to put in the Archives where we
know it will be kept safe.

We all agreed that the flesh–eating maggots, burning
flesh and eviscerated torsos were all really gross,
but it was not scary like Devil in White City was
scary. (I’m still scared) Donna said she had trouble
getting into this book, but after page 60 or so, she
started to really like it. I had trouble getting into
it too, my interest went in fits and starts. I would
get interested, then lose interest over and over.
Others thought there was going to be a surprise ending -
that maybe Wendy Holmes would turn out to be the killer.
Nope, there wasn’t. Also, this book cleared up a lot about Dante,
especially Beatrice. She was only 14 years old and they never spoke?
It makes it all seem so silly. His poor wife.
Anyway, after reading this book, I am more interested in the
real lives of Longfellow, Holmes and that that other guy.

Rachel brought a copy of Dante so we could check it
out for ourselves. I liked the diagram of the circles of hell.

Anne hasn’t got any new gossip about her new neighbor
downstairs but she does think she’s back together with
Dan.

We did NOT go out for ice cream or hot chocolate after
(which was weird) Instead we went for a walk to go see
the homes of the Longfellow and Lowell. This was
also weird. First stop was Craigie house –
Longfellow’s home. It was closed but we walked around
the outside and it’s really enormous. I’d like to go
back for a tour during the day. We were about to
continue to walk, but two book club members who will
not be named had to pee really badly. But it was a
long walk back to any public restroom so they peed
behind a bush on Longfellow’s lawn. Relieved, we were
all able to continue on to Lowell’s House which is now
the home of Laurence Saunders - President of Harvard.
Nobody peed on his lawn, but there are large slugs on
his sidewalk. Then the evening ended without further incident.

Beth

Invite an author

2005-08-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Quad Cities!

During the (mind-numbing) quiet spells on the reference desk at the DPL I've had plenty of time to catch up on my professional reading. Last night I ran across something that the rest of you might already know about - "invite an author" from the Book Club Cookbook. The kind publishers have found authors willing to meet with bookclubs via speakerphone (or in person) to discuss their books. To find a list, see: http://www.bookclubcookbook.com/invite.htm Maybe y'all are ready to take book club up a notch!

:) Jen

I can't figure out the comments

2005-08-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

I can't figure out how to post a comment to a blog so I'm just creating a new blog. I had no idea there were comments until Rachel told me about them a few days ago.

For those of you who were wondering, Rachel wrote the last two blogs.

I also remember there was a banana gelato and there were two hazelnut gelatos. Someone got both flavors in one cup, but I can't remember who. There was also a discussion about coconut - I had no idea how many people are grossed out by coconut . But I think coconut should be used a lot more than it is in our society, especially when combined with chocolate.

Everything else is gelato blur now.

Beth

The next book.... The Dante Club

2005-08-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

The next book is going to be The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. Since the book is set in Cambridge we should meet somewhere in Harvard Square. I'm thinking we should try and meet the first or second week of September but I'll get back to everyone with a date later this month. -- Rachel

And to answer Jen's comment in the previous post: Gelato flavors were (from what I can remember) peanut butter chocolate chip (Rachel and Paula), tiramisu (who had this?), and coconut chocolate (am I right Anne?). There were more but I've already forgotten! What a memory I have. I should read more to sharpen my mind.

Valperga

2005-08-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

5 August 2005

Donna's apartment, Valperga

Tonight was Wendy and Sabrina's first book club meeting. Welcome! Next month Erin joins us as well. In attendance were: Wendy, Sabrina, Manda, Donna, Paula, Anne, Beth, Cynthia and Rachel. (Paul joined us for the gelato portion to be discussed later). This was our first meeting post Jen moving to Iowa.

Though not *everyone* finished Valperga, enough of us had read enough of the book to join in the discussion (Donna gets the award for most books read). After a plot recap by Donna and Rachel most of us agreed that the first 100-150 pages were the hardest to get through but once you get past the historical background the story really picks up. We all liked Mary Shelley's writing and Donna reiterated how good Frankenstein is to read (note to those who haven't read it yet). Someone commented that Shelley modeled Euthanasia after herself since she disappears in the end. None of us knew the significance of the name Euthanasia but I just looked online and the Greek definition is "good death." I wonder if that means Shelley thinks disappearing is a good way to go.

After eating Donna's pizza and salads and after discussing the book to it's fullest as we always do (no celebrity gossip this time) it was time for gelato. Book club husband and upstairs neighbor Paul joined us for dessert at the Italian store at the end of the street. Returning to Donna's we posed for a picture on Donna's front steps with only slight protest from Sabrina.

Our next book is The Dante Club by Mathew Pearl. Talking points to for next month: Has Anne's downstairs neighbor gotten back together with Dan? What does she do for a job? Is she really a law student at Suffolk? Has anyone ever read Dante's Inferno?

Changsho

2005-06-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Garlic and Sapphires Recap

2005-06-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

Garlic and Sapphires Meeting

Tuesday June 14 Changsho

In attendance were Jen, Beth, Donna Manda, Anne, Rachel and Paula

It was a sort of a weird day. The fifty degree temperature drop threw everyone off and there were paratroopers landing in Harvard Square.

We were seated way, way back in the restaurant which was totally empty except for another group of rowdy women who were breast cancer survivors. Of course they seated us right next to each other. It was weird with just the two groups back there. It’s like the management thought breast cancer and librarianism were diseases that could spread to other customers.

This was Jen’s last book club meeting. I don’t like emoticons but in this instance I feel I must use one to express my feelings :(

At least Jen will still be with us in cyberspace.

Manda was back for her first post baby meeting and we were glad she could make it. We are eagerly awaiting the day that Sabrina starts to read because we really would like some more book club memebers.

We gave Jen her going away gift and then Anne got some presents for her birthday and then we ordered drinks and then we ordered food and then drinks came and then food came and we started to eat and then we remembered that we still had to talk about the book.

So one of these times I really going to have to take notes because all I remember is what I said and I remember what Rachel said because we just talked about it again yesterday. This isn’t going to be very comprehensive and I apologize for leaving out everyone’s comments.

I had rather strong negative feelings about the book so I started with the comment that I didn’t really believe most the things the author wrote about. It started with the very first incident in the book, the woman who talks to her on the plane and knows who she is. From there on it’s a slippery slope, I questioned everything. I don’t for a second believe anything she said about her interview at the New York Times. Others felt the same way, but maybe not so strongly as me. No one believed her story about following the “invisible woman”. Rachel was disgusted by her recipes because they all contained too much meat. I though they just seemed wicked hard. Rachel also though her reasons for quitting as a critic were totally bogus - she was getting carried away with her characters and she wanted to get back to her hippies roots. Rachel though that was bologna. Anne thought she had a drinking problem because of tall the wine she drank. But I think it was one of her characters that had the drinking problem. I think it was Jen who said it was redundant to read the review at the end of each chapter, but Rachel liked reading them. Others asked if she really needed to don the disguises and people generally felt that back then, she probably did, it was important to see what it was like for regular people to visit the restaurants she was recommending. Despite all the problems I had with her use of fiction in a nonfiction book, I still enjoyed reading it and got the sense that everyone enjoyed it too. I finished it quickly and I totally believed her reviews of the food were 100 percent honest and on target. I believed her when she was talking about food and taste, but everything else was questionable. I think I really wanted to believe everything she said because she made it all seem so magical.

Beth

Next book... Valperga

2005-06-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

For our next read, Donna has chosen Valperga, or, The Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

Garlic and Sapphires - my last bookclub dinner

2005-06-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

Book: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
Date: Tuesday, June 14th, 2005
Location: Changsho Chinese Cuisine in Cambridge, MA

I will leave others to comment more thoroughly on our discussion. I just wanted to post to say what a lovely time I had at my last book club discussion. While I intend to keep up with the readings and share my thoughts, it won't be the same. I'll miss all of the meals, especially the ice cream. And I'll certainly miss all of you. If bookclub would like to take a field trip, I'd be happy to host in Iowa. xoxo, Jen

Murder on the Leviathan Meeting

2005-03-31T19:14:00.000-08:00

LEVIATHAN MEETING
Jen’s Place
March 30, 2005

In attendance were Jen, Paula, Cynthia, Rachel, Beth and Roy.

First of all, I think everyone is a disappointed that Manda delivered her baby a little early. I think we were all hoping that she would go into labor during a book club meeting so we could all rush to the hospital with her and have a sitcom like scene in the waiting room. But we’re glad everyone is doing well.

Again, I didn’t take notes so this is just from my memory.

The Pizzaoggi web site is wrong - they do not deliver. We had to send Rachel and Paula off to pick up the pizza. Then the pizza was not ready for them. They had to wait so long, they ended up breaking book club rule #1 - they talked about the book! But it’s not their fault.

Everyone agreed that they liked the first half of the book, but the second half of the book seemed to be bogged down in plot. Well, basically, we talked about all the same things that Donna wrote in her blog. I really don’t have much to add. Jen felt that it was fun to read, but not nearly as good as Agatha Christie. Donna, I totally agree that it was just cruel to have Gauche killed at the end. I wanted to see him in retirement.

Rachel has an interesting story to tell about something that happened at work and it involves a card catalog, but you have to hear her tell it and make sure she does the pose for you.

Jen made a turtle cheesecake that was delicious. It started a conversation - what is caramel really? What about butterscotch? Is there scotch in it? If I drink a whole can of condensed milk will I get sick?

Cynthia is picking next month’s book, but she didn’t even give us a hint as to what it might be. If you refer to your book club log, you will see that the last book Cynthia picked was The Sheltering Sky

Master List

2005-03-31T12:28:00.000-08:00

I am working on trying to post the Excel spreadsheet of our book club history. I'm not sure how to do it here, but I am hoping to have access soon to post my own web page at work and then can link to that from here. Stay tuned!
Donna

Donna's comments on MOTL

2005-03-31T12:08:00.000-08:00

Since I had to miss my first ever book club meeting (I know, so sad), I figured I would post my brief comments to the blog. I loved Murder on the Leviathan! It brought me back to my middle school and high school days when I was enthralled with Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and could not get enough of Agatha Christie mysteries. MOTL recreated that type of mystery brilliantly. I thought the reasoning for some of the suspects being placed in the Windsor cabin was a bit shaky (i.e. not the ones missing their golden wings), but once they were all gathered together and you knew the murderer was among them, it was exciting. I enjoyed the different narratives and how suspicious they all were of one another, and I also liked that we never had Fandorin's direct point of view. The novel itself was very short and to the point (something I enjoy). Having said that, while I was reading, I felt like there were a lot of extraneous and slightly boring stories. Then I felt foolish for not realizing that of course every story was a clue! I was a little surprised by Gauche's actions at the end, because even though I thought he was a pompous idiot, I did not think he would commit murder (regardless of his greed). I felt like a point of view of someone wanting the shawl that badly would have been interesting. All in all, I enjoyed the latest pick.

Renegade Book Club

2005-03-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

My good pal Tracy just sent me the link to her Twin Cities book club blog. Check it out.
http://www.renegadebooks.blogspot.com/

Ardis' Bio

2005-03-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

Who: Ardis
What: Children's Librarian
When: Golly, when did I join? Has it been a year???
Where: scenic, tree city USA Medford
Why: I love books, and I love sharing
Faves: Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Victoria Holt, Janet Evanovich
lasagna, homemade mac and cheese, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Anne's Bio

2005-03-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Who: Anne
What: Librarian
When: I was at the first meeting in February 2000.
Where: Originally from Roanoke, Virginia, the Star City of the South. I moved to Boston in September 1998 to go to library school at Simmons. I am currently living in Beacon Hill with my cat, Bugbite.
How: When I am not answering crazy reference questions, I enjoy studying Spanish, running and films.
Books: Favs include God of Small Things, Motherless Brooklyn, Blind Assassin, Purple America, Sheltering Sky, and Shadow Play (of course!).

Rachel's Bio

2005-03-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Who: Rachel
What: Archivist
When: Way back in February 2000
Where: Martha's Vineyard
Why: I watched way to much tv when I was a child and now I'm trying to make up for it.
Fav's: Motherless Brooklyn, Woman in White, In the Heart of the Sea.

Donna's Bio

2005-03-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Who: Donna
What: Librarian, of course!
When: Original member and List master
Why?: I prefer the classics and try to make my fellow book lovers appreciate them too, whenever it's my turn. Not sure if I've accomplished that at all yet, although The Woman in White and Return of the Native were good attempts. My top five picks are: The Count of Monte Cristo, McTeague, Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Out of Africa, and Seabiscuit.

The rest of my free time is filled with even more pop culture, namely movies and television! I also play floor hockey and love Pearl Jam, traveling, and hosting parties.

Murder on the Leviathan

2005-02-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

Our next book is Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin. Stay tuned for our next meeting date and location, sometime in the end of March.

Anniversary Party

2005-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of photos from the anniversary party/discussion of Seek on Friday at Zaftigs.

p.s. For those of you that couldn't make it, what did you think of Seek????

Boston Book Club Blog

Donna's Top Reads of 2011

Rachel's 2011 Top Ten

Books Read in 2011

Donna's 2010 List

Beth's Favorite Reads of 2010

2010 Top Ten (per RW)

Books in 2010

Jen's favorite books of 2009

Donna's 2009 List

Rachel's 2009 List

Next Book

Kindred Meeting

Crossing to Safety

At Swim-Two-Birds Meeting

Next Book

Donna's Top 2008 Reads

Jen's Favorite Reads of 2008 (in alphabetical order)

Top Ten Books Read in 2008

The Wanderers Book Club Mtg

Ann Patchett

Fun Home

SATC

Next Book

Thank you!

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant

Crime-stoppers

The Big House

Big House meeting notes coming soon, I promise...

Sigh.

On Notice

Northanger Abbey...

Quechee Part II

Blue Angel

The Next Book, and Paula's Top 7

Donna's 2007 Top Reads

2007 Top 10 sort of

Best of 2007

2007 top ten books

More snow

Snow!

Quechee Part I

Run by Ann Patchett

Stocking stuffers

Baby News!

The Friendly Toast

Next Read

Addy Will Know

Paula's Book Club Baby Shower

New book by Ann Patchett - set in Boston!!!

Rendezvous in Black

Summer Bummer

Underfoot in Show Business

There is no me without you

Next pick: Rendezvous in Black by Cornell Woolrich

Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City

The Last Picture Show

Top 5 of 2006

Next Pick -- Midaq Alley

Top 10 2006/ Rachel's List

Better Late than Never Minutes: March by Geraldine Brooks

Book Club's Favorite Books of 2006!

next book

Banned Book Week!

"Cascada video library"

What is the worth of words?

Recommendation -- Life and Death in Shanghai

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

Pride of Family by Carole Ione

Next pick

Peyton Place Meeting

Thai fertility photo...part 2!!

Winner of the National Book Award Recap

Thai fertility photo...

Book recommendation: Shadow of the Wind

Bangkok 8 Meeting

Hitchhikers Meeting

Hitchhikers guide....

Next Book

Emma Brown by Charlotte Bronte and Clare Boylan