Check out this website for the author
Kate Morton
http://www.katemorton.com/
Saturday
Summer Reading
Check out this website for the author
Kate Morton
http://www.katemorton.com/
The Help June Meeting, 2010
Lori hosted the June Book Group meeting-yummy food and good friends great way to start the Summer... I'm not going to mention the dog treats or pooh pie, you had to be there!
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"
What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing "about what disturbs you." The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies--and mistrusts--enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. Assured and layered, full of heart and history, this one has bestseller written all over it. "
What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing "about what disturbs you." The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies--and mistrusts--enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. Assured and layered, full of heart and history, this one has bestseller written all over it. "
Sunday
May Meeting
I have been most tardy in adding commentary from our meetings. I looked at the blog and realized the last time I updated the meeting notes was in January. I will attempt to make this a regular habit but quite often life gets in the way.
For the month of May we met at Betsy's house and discussed Deborah's pick 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. Only a few members actually finished the book but most everyone read enough to join in the discussion. The book is set in Edinburgh and follows the happenings of a variety of interesting characters. It was originally published in the daily paper The Scotsman in segments. The author was inspired by Armistead Maupin's serialised novel Tales of the City.
For the month of May we met at Betsy's house and discussed Deborah's pick 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. Only a few members actually finished the book but most everyone read enough to join in the discussion. The book is set in Edinburgh and follows the happenings of a variety of interesting characters. It was originally published in the daily paper The Scotsman in segments. The author was inspired by Armistead Maupin's serialised novel Tales of the City. As a group most felt it was a easy read, enjoyable but didn't have a lot of depth. Not a lot happens in the book. It is more a humorist look at life. Jane compared it to Seinfeld... A book about nothing. Lot's of interesting vignettes. We discussed the characters and the fact that a lot of the happenings are never referred to again or even explained. The book did include some food references but very few of our food items came from the book. Rory made the mushroom risotto that Domenica makes for Pat in the beginning. We had several yummy salads, chocolate dipped strawberries and cheesecake. I did a coffee tasting for the group in honor of the Big Lou's coffee bar.
As usual the conversation got of track by the end of the evening and we were entertained by Annette's story involving canned pork-and -beans and breast. (you had to be there.) A few of us are now wishing we were part of the Gustine Reunion planning committee just so we could witness the Olympic games.
Next month it is Lori's pick. She recommending The Help months ago and we finally decided to not wait for the paperback to arrive.
We have our next 3 books chosen so that folks can read up over the summer. We are skipping July due to the number of vacations and moving right to August. Jane is hosting the August meeting with a book that Linda actually recommended at the first gathering, the Forgotten Garden. Kitty is hosting the September choice. I'm not sure who to credit the recommendation to. It is the Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman. This is the book that brought Suzi, Jane and myself together over ice cream at Leatherbees and formed the idea of the Book club. Then in October is Suzi's choice of The Graveyard book.
I can't wait for the food from The Help. Good ole Southern fare.
Read on
Beth
Wednesday
May, 2010
Our book for the month of May is 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith, the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and many more novels. Check out his website for up to date information.
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/mccallsmith/main.php
Sunday
March 27, 2010
the Little Giant of Aberdeen County
by Tiffany Baker
"...the kind of book you find yourself stealing time from workday chores to read."
USA Today
"Baker enters Alice Hoffman territory in this parable about beauty and ugliness, meanness and mercy and magic...."
The Hartford Courant
"This fun, folkloric story is part Ugly Duckling, part Tim Burton's Big Fish...For anyone looking to vanquish the cruel realities of the real world, this one's for you."
Marie Claire Magazine
Tiffany Baker website to read about the author
http://www.tiffanybaker.com/news.html
by Tiffany Baker
Book group selection for April
"...the kind of book you find yourself stealing time from workday chores to read."
USA Today
"Baker enters Alice Hoffman territory in this parable about beauty and ugliness, meanness and mercy and magic...."
The Hartford Courant
"This fun, folkloric story is part Ugly Duckling, part Tim Burton's Big Fish...For anyone looking to vanquish the cruel realities of the real world, this one's for you."
Marie Claire Magazine
Tiffany Baker website to read about the author
http://www.tiffanybaker.com/news.html
March, 2010
by Dennis Lehane
Book club choice for March
check out website link for more info
http://www.dennislehanebooks.com/books/givenday/index.html
Wednesday
February Book Club choice
The House at Sugar Beach-in search of a lost African Childhood
by Helene Cooper
Check out the video link and hear the author talk about the
book in her own words.
http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=27812683001
by Helene Cooper
Check out the video link and hear the author talk about the
book in her own words.
http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=27812683001
Sunday
January meeting
What a wild meeting we had! First off, sorry for not posting a review of the last couple of meetings. The holidays got the better of me. I just couldn't keep up. I'll try to do better this year. 
We met on Friday January 29th at Suzi's house to discuss The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield . Everyone loved the book. But we had some strong opinions on what happened, what it meant and what the author didn't say. We were split on liking Hester, we were split on liking Margaret, we were split on which twin was saved. There were strong opinions on the time period and what hints the author gave to re-inforce those beliefs. Almost everyone got the location immediately.... but a few of us, ok me, were a little slow in picking up those references. The twist at the end surprised everyone. This book generated a lot of great conversation. (On a side note, I have decided to cast my own group of characters for the movie version. I still believe that John the dig should be a Non-white man!) 
The author did such a wonderful job of creating a mood for this book. She made it a little more difficult for us with the food. The main characters hardly ate. There was mention of soup and salad and cake. Not much else. But we ended up with several tasty salads, soups, chili, angel biscuits, cake, cookies and of course hot chocolate. We ended the meeting with a book exchange which helped some folks clean off their bookcases and make room for the new selections. Overall a fun night with Betsy declaring that she will wear depends next time. I'm so happy we've all made this group successful. See you at the end of February.
Beth
Monday
December Holidays on Ice, 2009
Yummy soup, Holiday cookies and candy, the Christmas pickle, wine and oh yes a book or two...what a great way to wrap up 2009.
Tuesday
Holidays on Ice
Here is our reading for November-December,
Remember the next meeting is now Friday December 11, bring cookies for the cookie exchange and lots of wit and wine.
Monday
Thursday
Meeting #3. We met on Friday September 25th at Beth's house to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Rory was the official hostess and once again we had an amazing spread of food. We had fish & chips, potato pie, hamburger pie, Pea salad
, scones, Pork and some kind of delicious German dish whose name I can't remember. This book got a big thumbs up from the entire group. It was just what we needed after the very heavy and thought provoking book from last month. 
We discussed the book in detail including our favorite characters, who should play them in a movie, who was the true heroine in the book and why the writing style worked so well. Once again this story took us to a place in the world that we knew little about. Robyn brought her delightful mother, Flo, along for the meeting and she talked about how her book group read this book and reminisced about what their life was like during and after the war. Interesting that for us it was all about the characters and for them it was all about memories.
For this reader, it made me yearn for the days of letter writing.
Next month we will shake things up a bit.
The meeting is the first Friday in November due to Halloween. We are meeting at Suzi Byrd's house and discussing Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I'm a little worried that Jane Austen will haunt us but at least the food will be interesting. Will folks go with the delicate British party food or the guts and brains? You'll have to show up to find out.
Happy reading.
Beth
, scones, Pork and some kind of delicious German dish whose name I can't remember. This book got a big thumbs up from the entire group. It was just what we needed after the very heavy and thought provoking book from last month. 
We discussed the book in detail including our favorite characters, who should play them in a movie, who was the true heroine in the book and why the writing style worked so well. Once again this story took us to a place in the world that we knew little about. Robyn brought her delightful mother, Flo, along for the meeting and she talked about how her book group read this book and reminisced about what their life was like during and after the war. Interesting that for us it was all about the characters and for them it was all about memories.For this reader, it made me yearn for the days of letter writing.
Next month we will shake things up a bit.
The meeting is the first Friday in November due to Halloween. We are meeting at Suzi Byrd's house and discussing Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I'm a little worried that Jane Austen will haunt us but at least the food will be interesting. Will folks go with the delicate British party food or the guts and brains? You'll have to show up to find out.Happy reading.
Beth
Monday
Hope and Glory
This Film (by John Boorman) would be a wonderful compainion to the Guernsey book. I remembered seeing it years ago in the theater 
maybe it's time for another viewing.
maybe it's time for another viewing.Potato Peel Pie Recipe
Potato Peel Pie Recipe from the author
Here’s a recipe for a potato peel pie, but I warn you, it tastes like paste. The more authentic it is, the nastier. These ingredients will make a very small pie (expand at will):
1 potato
1 beet
1 Tablespoon milk
Peel the potato and put the peelings in a pie pan. Don’t cook the peels, because you’re in the middle of an Occupation and you don’t have any fuel. Boil the potato and the beet together in salty water, but not for very long, due to the fuel problem. Just until you can stick a fork in the potato. Take them out and mash them up with the milk. Pour the glop in the pie pan. Bake at 375 for as short a time as is consonant with digestion (fuel again), say, fifteen minutes.
The finished product will look quite attractive and pink. If you squint, you can almost imagine raspberries. Don’t be fooled. It looks a lot better than it is. However, if you forgot that you were in the middle of WWII and added a bunch of butter and milk and salt, it could be quite tasty.
Kathy's Potato Peel Pie from a blog site on
line Friday Friends
She said it she made it like a quiche. With peels from
Yukon gold potatoes, a leek, butter, eggs and jack cheese.
And Celtic Sea Salt.
It was really good.
And so much a part of the theme of the book.....
This one sounds much better and here is photo
Here’s a recipe for a potato peel pie, but I warn you, it tastes like paste. The more authentic it is, the nastier. These ingredients will make a very small pie (expand at will):
1 potato
1 beet
1 Tablespoon milk
Peel the potato and put the peelings in a pie pan. Don’t cook the peels, because you’re in the middle of an Occupation and you don’t have any fuel. Boil the potato and the beet together in salty water, but not for very long, due to the fuel problem. Just until you can stick a fork in the potato. Take them out and mash them up with the milk. Pour the glop in the pie pan. Bake at 375 for as short a time as is consonant with digestion (fuel again), say, fifteen minutes.
The finished product will look quite attractive and pink. If you squint, you can almost imagine raspberries. Don’t be fooled. It looks a lot better than it is. However, if you forgot that you were in the middle of WWII and added a bunch of butter and milk and salt, it could be quite tasty.
Kathy's Potato Peel Pie from a blog site on
line Friday Friends
She said it she made it like a quiche. With peels from
Yukon gold potatoes, a leek, butter, eggs and jack cheese.
And Celtic Sea Salt.
It was really good.
And so much a part of the theme of the book.....
This one sounds much better and here is photo
Our Book for September is:
The Guernsey Literary 
and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Sunday
August meeting
We held our 2nd meeting on Friday August 28th to discuss Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. 10 members showed up and we had a delicious assortment of Chinese food.
The table include long beans, shrimp fried rice, soup, crab wontons, walnut chicken and dim sum. Plus, fortune cookies and black rice pudding for dessert. We ate with chopsticks provided by Suzi and sat outside and enjoyed the warm summer evening all while swatting at the pesky mosquito's.
Deborah was the host for the evening and everyone seemed to enjoy her book selection. It generated a lot of great conversation. Could we have survived that life? Would we put our daughters through foot binding if it meant a better life for
them? Are we still held back by societies expectations of beauty? All members agreed that the book was beautifully written and showed us something about a time in history that we knew little about. Some people felt it was a little depressing and we disagreed on the likability of the main character. Jane brought photo's of foot binding and Beth bought fans and wrote Chinese proverbs on them for each member.
Overall it was a fun evening and a really interesting discussion.
Rory is hosting the next book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society. Jane has added a calendar to the blog (see the right hand column). We also choose the October book, Pride & Prejudice & the Zombies. It seemed like the perfect book for the month of Halloween. Suzi will host that meeting. More to come on that next month.
For members who missed the last meeting, we hope to see you at the next one. Read on!
Beth
The table include long beans, shrimp fried rice, soup, crab wontons, walnut chicken and dim sum. Plus, fortune cookies and black rice pudding for dessert. We ate with chopsticks provided by Suzi and sat outside and enjoyed the warm summer evening all while swatting at the pesky mosquito's.Deborah was the host for the evening and everyone seemed to enjoy her book selection. It generated a lot of great conversation. Could we have survived that life? Would we put our daughters through foot binding if it meant a better life for
them? Are we still held back by societies expectations of beauty? All members agreed that the book was beautifully written and showed us something about a time in history that we knew little about. Some people felt it was a little depressing and we disagreed on the likability of the main character. Jane brought photo's of foot binding and Beth bought fans and wrote Chinese proverbs on them for each member.Overall it was a fun evening and a really interesting discussion.
Rory is hosting the next book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society. Jane has added a calendar to the blog (see the right hand column). We also choose the October book, Pride & Prejudice & the Zombies. It seemed like the perfect book for the month of Halloween. Suzi will host that meeting. More to come on that next month.
For members who missed the last meeting, we hope to see you at the next one. Read on!
Beth
Tuesday
Beth's visit to Julia's kitchen
On her journey to the East Coast Beth visited the Smithsonian display of Julia's kitchen, here are a few 
photos.
photos.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Our first meeting
Welcome!
We had our first book group on Friday July 31st and discussed Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. 12 members showed up and it was a fun and lively discussion. Everyone went above and beyond with the food. We had; Crepes, baked cucumbers, beef bourguignon, potato salad, tapenade, asparagus, gratins, creme puffs, fruit tarts and much much more. And let's not forget the gimlets!
I thought I'd recap what happened for
those who missed the meeting.
Before we started the book discussion, we made some decisions on our meetings. Typically we'll meet the last Friday of the month. But, that will probably change for October, November and December. Due to the holiday's we'll make a few adjustments to those months. Everyone should bring their calendars to the August meeting so that we can go ahead and plan it out.
At the end of each meeting, we'll take recommendations for the next book. If your book is picked, that makes you the hostess. The hostess has a few responsibilities. 1- they choose the location. Typically their house or someone else's house. I volunteered my house to anyone who would like to host but needs a location. As long as no one minds the humping dog, you are welcome here. It is completely up to the hostess. 2-
They should come prepared with some discussion questions from the book to jump start the discussion. Many publishers provide the questions on their websites or in the back of the book. Or you can create your own or ask the group to all bring questions. 3- they should supply the Non-alcoholic drinks (if folks want to drink, they need to bring their own booze :) and they should supply the plates, napkins and utensils. That's it.
At each meeting we'll bring food that is inspired by the book. Our first choice was easy because it was all about food but it will get harder when the subject isn't so obvious. But, it will be fun to see what everyone picks up on.
You don't have to read the book to attend but you can't complain about us spoiling the ending. We know that life will get in the way from time to time and it will be difficult to attend every meeting. We'll leave you on the invitation list for as long as you want. Even if you don't show up very often, we'll still be happy to see you.
I've got the e-vite already set up on my computer so I'm happy to send it out each month. You just need to tell me where you are holding
the meeting and I'll send it out the next day. IF anyone wants to do their own invitation, it won't hurt my feelings. Just say the word.
Jane did a great job of setting up this blog. We'll try to post notes from each meeting within one week of our meetings. We'll give an update of what happened and what to expect for the next meeting. Everyone is welcome to leave comments on the book or the meeting or anything else that crosses their minds. It's up to you guys if you want to use this forum to discuss parts of the book that we might have forgotten during our meeting or just to send updates on what is coming up.
Okay.... I think I've gone on enough. Our next meeting is Friday August 28th. We are reading and discussing Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Deborah is the hostess this time and we are meeting at my house at 7pm. I'm guessing we'll be eating Chinese food but I haven't read the book so I haven't been inspired yet.
Next post will be about the books and not so many guidelines. Sorry.
Get reading!
Beth
We had our first book group on Friday July 31st and discussed Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. 12 members showed up and it was a fun and lively discussion. Everyone went above and beyond with the food. We had; Crepes, baked cucumbers, beef bourguignon, potato salad, tapenade, asparagus, gratins, creme puffs, fruit tarts and much much more. And let's not forget the gimlets!
I thought I'd recap what happened for
those who missed the meeting.Before we started the book discussion, we made some decisions on our meetings. Typically we'll meet the last Friday of the month. But, that will probably change for October, November and December. Due to the holiday's we'll make a few adjustments to those months. Everyone should bring their calendars to the August meeting so that we can go ahead and plan it out.
At the end of each meeting, we'll take recommendations for the next book. If your book is picked, that makes you the hostess. The hostess has a few responsibilities. 1- they choose the location. Typically their house or someone else's house. I volunteered my house to anyone who would like to host but needs a location. As long as no one minds the humping dog, you are welcome here. It is completely up to the hostess. 2-
They should come prepared with some discussion questions from the book to jump start the discussion. Many publishers provide the questions on their websites or in the back of the book. Or you can create your own or ask the group to all bring questions. 3- they should supply the Non-alcoholic drinks (if folks want to drink, they need to bring their own booze :) and they should supply the plates, napkins and utensils. That's it.At each meeting we'll bring food that is inspired by the book. Our first choice was easy because it was all about food but it will get harder when the subject isn't so obvious. But, it will be fun to see what everyone picks up on.
You don't have to read the book to attend but you can't complain about us spoiling the ending. We know that life will get in the way from time to time and it will be difficult to attend every meeting. We'll leave you on the invitation list for as long as you want. Even if you don't show up very often, we'll still be happy to see you.
I've got the e-vite already set up on my computer so I'm happy to send it out each month. You just need to tell me where you are holding
the meeting and I'll send it out the next day. IF anyone wants to do their own invitation, it won't hurt my feelings. Just say the word.Jane did a great job of setting up this blog. We'll try to post notes from each meeting within one week of our meetings. We'll give an update of what happened and what to expect for the next meeting. Everyone is welcome to leave comments on the book or the meeting or anything else that crosses their minds. It's up to you guys if you want to use this forum to discuss parts of the book that we might have forgotten during our meeting or just to send updates on what is coming up.
Okay.... I think I've gone on enough. Our next meeting is Friday August 28th. We are reading and discussing Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Deborah is the hostess this time and we are meeting at my house at 7pm. I'm guessing we'll be eating Chinese food but I haven't read the book so I haven't been inspired yet.
Next post will be about the books and not so many guidelines. Sorry.
Get reading!
Beth
Sunday
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