Happy Easter!

Let's Read!

Hey Girlies! So I know I fell off the face of the planet. And that was rude. I'm very sorry! It seems like Book Club has come to an end? I'd like to start again, if anyone else wants to? I miss getting together and chatting. I miss you faces! Let me know!

Sam

Tara Road Discussion

Since everyone missed Book Club this month, I thought I would post a couple of questions about the book. Answer if you wanna.

What role does the house on Tara Road play in the story? Can you parallel the restoration of the house to Ria and Danny's relationship?

Does Binchy portray the characters in this story sympathetically? Even Danny?

Do you think Ria is a loyal friend? What do you think you would have done differently or the same if you were in Ria's postition?

February's Book

After wandering through the YA section at the library for an hour or so and not really seeing anything that jumped out at me for book club, I made my way to the *gasp* Adult Fiction section!



The book I chose for our reading pleasure this month is......

(And for those of you who can't read that itty bitty writing,)

Tara Road

by Maeve Binchy

Ria Lynch and Marilyn Vine have never met. Their lives have almost nothing in common. Ria lives in a big ramshackle house in Tara Road, Dublin, which is filled day and night with the family and friends on whom she depends. Marilyn lives in a college town in Connecticut, New England, absorbed in her career, an independent and private woman who is very much her own person.
Two more unlikely friends would be hard to find. Yet a chance phone call brings them together and they decide to exchange homes for the summer. Ria goes to America in the hope that the change will give her space and courage to sort out the huge crisis in her life that is threatening to destroy her. Marilyn goes to Ireland to recover in peace and quiet from the tragedy which she keeps secret from the world, little realising that Tara Road will prove to be the least quiet place on earth.
They borrow each other's houses, and during the course of that magical summer they find themselves borrowing something of each other's lives, until a story which began with loss and suffering grows into a story of discovery, unexpected friendship and new hope. By the time Ria and Marilyn eventually meet, they find that they have altered the course of each other's lives for ever.

PS Can everyone get me currant email addresses?

and

I just found out this was an Oprah book. :)

January Book Club

We missed those of you who did not make it tonight and glad to see those who did. Miranda did a wonderful job on the cucumber sandwiches and the tea. Yummy!! Its always fun to get together. Looks like the next will be on 1/13 lets plan on 7:30 for now. Love ya all and happy reading.

This month I am going for a mystery... Again.

When Laurence Fife was murdered, few mourned his passing. A prominent divorce attorney with a reputation for single-minded ruthlessness on behalf of his clients, Fife was also rumored to be a dedicated philanderer. Plenty of people in the picturesque Southern California town of Santa Teresa had a reason to want him dead. Including, thought the cops, his young and beautiful wife, Nikki. With motive, access, and opportunity, Nikki was their number one suspect. The jury thought so too.

Eight years later and out on parole, Nikki Fife hires Kinsey Millhone to find out who really killed her late husband.

A trail that is eight years cold. A trail that reaches out to enfold a bitter, wealthy, and foul-mouthed old woman and a young boy, born deaf, whose memory cannot be trusted. A trail that leads to a lawyer defensively loyal to a dead partner -- and disarmingly attractive to Millhone; to an ex-wife, brave, lucid, lovely -- and still angry over Fife's betrayal of her; to a not-so-young secretary with too high a salary for too few skills -- and too many debts left owing: The trail twists to include every turn until it finally twists back on itself with a killer cunning enough to get away with murder.

A gut-wrenching read (but in a good way.)

I just finished The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated polygamous community without questioning her father’s three wives and her twenty brothers and sisters. Or at least without questioning them much—if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family.

This was a quick read (I read it in about 4 hours) and so well written! It was hard reading it knowing that stuff like this really happens.

December Meeting

Hey Ladies,

So fun to see you tonight. Sorry we missed you Liana, hopefully all is well with you and we will get to see you next time.

Next months book will be...

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott. It should be fairly easy to get at the library. (I just checked and they have multiple copies available now... well not now seeing as they are closed, but you could go tomorrow to some library and get the book [you get what I'm saying right?]) *AHEM* Anyway, we will be meeting on Thursday 12/9. We already know some people might not be able to make it and that sucks but December is a very busy month and it might be hard to switch it around. So let's just plan on that date at 7:30, hope to see you there.
If you have any questions please leave a comment or you can call/text me.

Book club for November

Hey all! I told Tami I would send a txt to remind everyone about book club, but just thought I would do it on here instead. (I know we are suppose to do an e-vite, but I'm lazy. You can get mad at me on Tuesday!) Anyway, reminder that Tuesday is the book club for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It will be held at Tami's house starting at 6:30pm. She is serving us dinner, so come hungry! She lives on my street, but I don't know her house number. Tami, could you leave a comment with the house number for everyone? If anyone is lost, they can call me. Thanks all! See you in a few!

Sam

She Said. Read. Recommends.

Remember that cool sidebar thing-a-majig we have for anyone to add other books (read: non book club books) that they have read and would recommend... well I added one. But I just thought I would type up a post about it just in case people don't look at the sidebar. Anyway... here it is! :) Great to see most of you last night. I had a really good time.

I read this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Pretty science fictiony but still very entertaining. It's the first in the series and the only book of the series out at this time. Also, I guess it's going to be made into a movie... so no time like the present to read it before you have all the movie people jumping on the band wagon. :) LOL!

November Book Club Book

I have chosen Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford for the book club read for November.  It's an amazing book!  I'm so excited to host book club next month.  I've got some exciting things planned!  If the library doesn't have any copies you can get them on Amazon for less then $6.00.  It's worth buying this book.  You'll want it for your library. 


In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.
This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.
Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel’s dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice–words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.
Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart. 

October's Book: Eat Pray Love

Hi ladies, Sam here. So Tami had surgery on both her feet, and while she can walk - sorta - she is not quite up to having us all over. So we decided to trade months. So I will be hosting October, and she will host November. AND I was so proud of myself, because I already knew what book I wanted to read! So I spoke with Melissa to make sure we had the months right, and then started reading my book. This morning I was thinking how proud everyone would be that I picked a book so quickly, and that it was not a self help book. And then it donned on me - so far only three of us even know what the book was!! I swear I DO have a brain, and some day I may even USE it!! Oh wow!! Anyway, sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, here is the book. And I have a copy and should probably finish sometime early next week, so if someone wants to borrow it, just let me know. Thanks!

Sam

This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

September Book

By the time this posts, I'm sure all of you have either read or are reading this month's book. Long have we waited for...

Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

DOWN WITH THE CAPITOL!!!

August BookS!!

Okay ladies! I've picked our books for August book club. Yes! I said books! :) These books are quick reads and I figure you will want to move right on to the next one after you finish the first!

The first book in the series is:

The Summoning

Chloe Saunders sees dead people. Yes, like in the films. The problem is, in real life saying you see ghosts gets you a one-way ticket to the psych ward. And at 15, all Chloe wants to do is fit in at school and maybe get a boy to notice her. But when a particularly violent ghost haunts her, she gets noticed for all the wrong reasons. Her seemingly crazed behaviour earns her a trip to Lyle House, a centre for 'disturbed teens'. At first Chloe is determined to keep her head down. But then her room mate disappears after confessing she has a poltergeist, and some of the other patients also seem to be manifesting paranormal behaviour. Could that be a coincidence? Or is Lyle House not quite what it seems...? Chloe realizes that if she doesn't uncover the truth, she could be destined for a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital. Or could her fate be even worse...? Can she trust her fellow students, and does she dare reveal her dark secret?

Followed by:

AND

We'll see you the second Tuesday in August! If this isn't going to work, let me know. My schedule has opened up a bit.

Reminder about June's meeting

We did decide that we would meet on Tuesday until Liana can meet on Thursday's again. :) Let me know if anyone has a problem with this or if anyone has any questions.

See you on June 8th!

June Book Club

The Thirteenth Tale

by Diane Setterfield

Vida Winter, a famous novelist in England, has never been forthcoming when it comes to her past. Her entire life is a secret, and for fifty years reporters and biographers have attempted to discover the truth. With her health quickly fading, Ms. Winter enlists a bookish amateur biographer named Margaret Lea to bear witness to the tragic story of the Angelfield family, their eccentric beginnings as well as their demise. Margaret, who has family secrets of her own, must unravel the mysteries of the past in order to reconcile not only Miss Winter with her ghosts, but also Margaret with her own.

It has just been brought to my attention that...

The book I chose is completely inappropriate. I knew there might be some "scenes" but there are more than some and apparently they are "SCENES". So we will be switching to the other book that I was thinking about doing for this month. It is called "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein.


If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

I finally decided on reading this book. So hopefully we will all enjoy it. Here is a little description:

A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.

But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.

If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all—the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love . . .

My Blog

As asked for, here is my blog link. http://www.believeinyourself1.blogspot.com/. :) Hope you enjoy reading my craziness. :)

Sam

Scared by a book? Me? No......

So, I'm listening to this book last night in bed cause I was having trouble trying to fall asleep. ANYWAY, I got so scared that I was afraid to get out of bed to go to the bathroom! Well, I finally got over that but when I got back in bed, I had to snuggle up close to Russell and make sure every part of me was covered up by my blankets. Lol!

Anyway, it's pretty good, and really creepy (at least last night it was ;)

You should check it out.

Oh yeah, MAJOR cliff-hanger ending. I would get book 2 when you get book 1, just to save you a trip.

As seen on stepheniemeyer.com!

Surprise!
I have a new book coming out. It's called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Well, it's more of a novella than an actual book—my version of a short story.
Actually, this has been a surprise to me, too. The reason why it's a surprise was that I never intended to publish this story as a stand-alone book. I began this story a long time ago—before Twilight was even released. Back then I was just editing Eclipse, and in the thick of my vampire world. I was thinking a lot about the newborns, imagining their side of the story, and one thing led to another. I started writing from Bree's perspective about those final days, and what it was like to be a newborn.
This story was something that I worked on off and on for a while, just for fun, in between the times I was writing or editing other Twilight novels. Later, when the concept for The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide came up, I thought that might be a good place for Bree. Her story is a nice complement to Eclipse; it explains a lot of the things that Bella never knew. So I dusted it off and finished it up for placement in the Guide.
At the same time, it came in handy for the Eclipse film. Melissa (Rosenberg, the screenwriter) had a ton of questions about what exactly was going on in Seattle, how Victoria managed things, what Riley was like, etc. I let her read what I had then, and later gave the whole thing to the director, David Slade. David asked if Xavier, Bryce, and Jodelle (Riley, Victoria, and Bree) could read it as well, so all the parties involved would end up having a really strong foundation for their characters before the cameras started rolling. I was pleased that this side of the story would make it into the film and was looking forward to including it in the Guide.
(Keeping it confidential: Here is Jodelle next to the bucket of waterlogged ashes that were once the pages of her copy of the Bree manuscript.)
Then I got the news: my "short story" was nearly 200 pages long when typeset. It was too long to fit into the Guide—without ending up with a tome as heavy as the Oxford English Dictionary. My publisher approached me with the idea of releasing the Bree story on its own. One of the major benefits of this plan was that it would be out before the movie, so people would get to know Bree before they saw her in the film. That made sense to me, and we decided to go ahead with it.
There was one thing I asked for: since this story had always been an extra for me, and was meant to be released with the Guide, I wanted to be able to offer it to my fans for free. You all have bought a ton of my books, and I wanted to give you this story as a gift. My publisher was awesome and embraced this idea. We still wanted to also produce a physical book with a cool cover (see below) that you can add to your set if you like, but starting at noon on June 7th until July 5th, it will also be available online at http://www.breetanner.com/.
One other aspect of this release is the plan to give a more important gift to people who really need it. One dollar of each book purchased in the US from the first printing will be donated to the American Red Cross for their relief efforts in Haiti and Chile and other parts of the world where people are in great need. We're going to have an option online as well, so you can choose to make a donation if you want when you read the story online. I hope you will. I think that we can really help a lot of people with this.
I really hope you all enjoy this story. I had a blast writing it. I'm glad that after all this time cooling her heels in my files, Bree finally gets her chance to shine.
Thanks for all the support,
Steph