June/July 2017 Book choice

Our first summer read was a historic foodie book Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee by Thomas J. Craughwell 

Here is a brief overview by Goodreads:

This culinary biography recounts the 1784 deal that Thomas Jefferson struck with his slaves, James Hemings. The founding father was traveling to Paris and wanted to bring James along “for a particular purpose”— to master the art of French cooking. In exchange for James’s cooperation, Jefferson would grant his freedom. 

Thus began one of the strangest partnerships in United States history. As Hemings apprenticed under master French chefs, Jefferson studied the cultivation of French crops (especially grapes for winemaking) so the might be replicated in American agriculture. The two men returned home with such marvels as pasta, French fries, Champagne, macaroni and cheese, crème brûlée, and a host of other treats. This narrative history tells the story of their remarkable adventure—and even includes a few of their favorite recipes! 


Sally hosted the dinner party 

End of year cookie exchange and book dinner 2014

And another year comes to a close. We have read some great books this year, traveling around the world and through time. Our end of the year book is The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Suzi hosted the dinner in her charming holiday decorated cottage, with comfortable chairs, pillows and books galore! Lots of interesting discussions on what you would would do if you could relive your life, what choices would you make, how would you do things different and why? The discussion was lively, the soups/salads were delicious and the treats oh so yummy. It was a most gay and delightful way to say farewell to 2014 and welcome in the new year and new reading.

June 2014 Bookclub Dinner

A cooling Delta breeze created the visitors as the arrived to celebrate the May June book choice "Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore" at Michele's home of loveliness. It was a small but lively group with a variety of Google inspired salads and NYC vs SanFran. dishes as well as sourdough bread and the classic Rice a Roni . What do you read "on" an electronic devise or an actual printed book? Is one better than the other? What is the future of bookstores? These and many other questions were discussed. Also we are setting our plans for the next 5 selections taking us into 2015!

March Book Group Dinner

For our March group we met at Kitty's lovely home in East Sac to

discuss March by Geraldine Brooks. This is the story of the father from Little Women during his time in the war. For fans of Little Women, the father has always been a bit of a mystery as he is missing for over half of the book. At the start of Little Women they read a letter from father where he tells them to be his "Little Women". This books shows us the terrible things he sees and ordeals he has been through while away for the war cause. It is interesting because he is not well liked by the other soldiers because of his outspoken beliefs. He has a relationship with a slave but we are left wondering if it was physical or not. Some of our group was convinced it was. It is left open in the book.

Overall the group liked it and it was a good discussion. I would not rank it at the level of Little Women but it was a interesting tale. Also gave us some new insights into Marmee and her famous temper. We had some nice vegetarian dishes in honor of his diet of no meat. We didn't necessarily honor the no eggs and milk rule. Suzi brought a delicious chocolate chip cookie in a skillet that was full of chocolate goodness. Who could resist.

April is Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford. Same author who wrote Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Should be fun!

February Book Club dinner

Molly hosted the February dinner and as always she was a lovely and generous hostess. The rainy weather and health issues kept several members home, but the event was still cheerful and filled with book talk and sinfully good food. Our book was the Holy and the Broken, which we agreed was a good idea for a book but most agreed it went on a bit to long (like a broken record?) There was a lot of talk about art created by a artist and what happens when it  becomes public (or public property). Can you truly own art?

January Book Club dinner

The January 2014 Bookgroup dinner was hosted by Jane at  her artistically eclectic Elmhurst home. The food choices were culturally diverse from American KFC to treats found at a proper English tea. All were enjoyed and the book talk was as diverse and varied as the dinner choices.

Holiday Cookie Exchange and Book Club dinner

In December we met at Betsy lovely home in Elk Grove to discuss Dead End in Norvelt and to share delicous Holiday Cookies. Yes, it is the annual cookie exchange!
The book is actually a young adult book about the summer vacation in a small town that is slowly dying and how a young boy makes new friends, learns a bit about history and deals with his parents.
 " Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. "

 The book was pretty good and an easy read. We like something easy for December but this might have been a little too easy. We discussed the characters and the action. I would say overall all it got mixed reviews. Fun and fast but not exciting enough to hold our attention. The real excitment of the evening was the company and the delicious cookies. As usual, everyone out-did themselves and we had a ton of cookies to choose from. Betsy made her delicious vegetarian minestone soup, bread and cheese. Plus, Judy brought a salad. Beth did her annual coffee tasting with Starbucks Christmas Blend. We left there full and happy. We decided on our next 6 books! Nice Job everyone
. January- Death comes to Pemberly- recommended by Suzi
February- The Holy and the unbroken; Leonard Cohn, Jeff Buckley and the unlikely ascent of Hallelujah- recommended by Rory
March- March recommended by Beth
April- Songs of Willow Frost- recommended by Lori
May- Mr Pemumbras 24 hour bookstore- recommended by Molly
June- Behind the Beautiful Forevers- recommended by Jane.
It's going to be a great 2014 !

Coffee tasting

November Book Group Dinner

Simone hosted the Ghost Bride dinner party in her cozy Elmhust cottage. Food varied from Chinese and Asian selections to beyond the grave and heavenly. The book talk was just as varied and spirited. I enjoyed the graphic novel feel of the book and really learned a lot about the Chinese view of the after life, customs and traditions surrounding, life, marriage, death and beyond.  

January 2013 Bookclub dinner

Betsy once again agreed to host book club at her elegantly appointed home and all who attended had a grand time indeed. The food traveled the globe from India and Ethiopia to Italy, England and the USA. Cutting for Stone was a epic family saga and one of the longest books this group has taken on. Two guests in attendance had completed the book and several more were just a chapter or two away from the end. The discussion covered such topics as earliest memories, what makes a good Dr. and how do we effect and connect to the ones we love. Beth provided a sip of Ethiopia with a coffee tasting and Lori brought her own birthday cake to round out the evening with singing and well wishing a plenty!

Happy Birthday Lori!

October beehive book dinner

Our October dinner was hosted by Mary Beth and Rory at their hauntingly adorable home in the pocket area.

There was not a lot of food/meals mentioned in this book but we managed to connect to the season and symbols quite well. Fiendish foods, goblin greens and other tasty treats filled the tables and our tummies.

A Monster Calls had many surprises and questions. The book talk last for several hours and way into the night...we covered life, living, action vs thought and dying...big topics for an evening discussion.

September 2012 Book Club Meeting

Molly hosted our September gathering at her elegant and charmingly eclectic home. Most members had not completed/started/purchased the book choice so the literary discussion was limited yet we still had hours of conversation.

Judy shared stories from Italy, Beth from Seattle and Rory her journey home. The rest of us had humorous tales of family/work adventures from the summer and the food was varied and as delicious as the talk!

August Bookgroup Dinner

Our end of summer group meeting was held at Lori's book-filled villa, a grand jolly time was had by one and all. The book made for interesting discussions regarding surgery, body parts and how much of "us" belongs to us? What about the needs of the scientific community and humanity? Is one persons freedom to much to sacrifice for the better of many?

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