November 15 Meeting at Nancy's

Over the river and through "The Woods" to Nancy's house we go. We all enjoyed a nice meal and great discussion of "The Language of Flowers".  It's hard to imagine a bad evening with the Good Time Girls. I am thankful this Thanksgiving for being able to be a part of such a wonderful group of ladies.

 Everyone said they liked the book.  We discussed the potential seen in Victoria as a child and as a mother. She had an amazing ability to speak the language of flowers to her customers; a premarital counselor, of sorts. Her life, in and out of foster homes, caused her to struggle with the meaning of family; with Elizabeth, with Grant, and with her own newborn daughter.

 The importance of food was evident in Victoria's everyday life, whether hungry or gorged. It was more than just nourishment.

 We agreed that Victoria is a survivor, wise and strong. She finally learned to ask forgiveness and experience true love and mercy. If I may quote a wise person we all know and love (Pam): "We'd all be in sorry shape if we only got what we deserved".  Well said!

 My wish for this group is a big bouquet of freesia!!



Nancy

October 18 Meeting at Grace's

"Well Here I Go”

 First let me say I love you girls and how much I enjoy our times together, congratulations to us on starting our Fifth year.

We had a wonderful evening as usual, great friends, great book, great minds. The general consensus is that everyone seemed to enjoy the book.  And what never ceases to amaze me is how we can discuss anything. 

“The Invisible Thread”

“An old Chinese Proverb” An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet – regardless of time, place and circumstance.  The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.  We discussed how this proverb holds true in our own lives. 

When asked “what would you do if you were Laura” some said they would have helped, others felt that there are panhandlers out there that really don’t need the help.

Laura felt that somehow her mother was instrumental in making her turn back to Maurice that day he asked for money on the street.  At first she walked away but something in her made her turn back. Her turning back to help this young man also helped her.  They were both missing something in their lives.  They developed a lifelong relationship that not everyone has the privilege of experiencing. 

We discussed how when Laura was growing up the times dictated how woman would just put up with their lives because so many were dependent on their spouse and would not make any waves.  I think that is what made Laura a stronger person.  It took her awhile but she finally did take up for herself against her husband Michael.  She truly loved him but he did not love her enough in return to give her the one thing she wanted most out of life and that was to have her own family and to be a mother.

It is amazing how the things we take for granted were so important to Maurice - simple things like having a brown bag lunch and a family dinner at a large table with people who cared and loved each other.

I am tired of writing now.  I hope this will do.  Kathy do whatever to edit this.   

“Whew I am done until next year."

Grace

Sepember 20 Meeting at Louisa's

Fall is creeping slowly our way.  There is a coolness in the air and light is fading but we have book club tonight and our lively bunch of women have gathered once again, so let's get our glass of wine and toast to all that is good.  First of all a big fat congrats to Edna who doesn't require chemo....YEH!!!!!! and Roe's mom-in-law just turned 90.  Good job Evelyn!

Louisa is making the most of  her retirement.  She laid out a wonderful assortment of treats for tonight, mostly lots of wine from her retirement parties and baked huge potatoes which we topped with all sorts of ingredients, just too good.  She also made her "world famous oatmeal butter cookies" - yum yum

OK we are done with the eating part of our meeting, on to the discussion of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Louisa picked this book because it was a big hit with the kids at school and then became a must read for adults as well.  Rue and Katniss were the favorite characters. Rue who added tenderness to a very brutal story and Katniss because she represents a positive, strong and smart model for teenage girls.  Louise posed several questions to reveal the contents of this saga.  It's entertaining, and incredibly disturbing all at once.  Despite the many alarming images, there is little if any gratuitous gore. The descriptions emphasize the horrible plight of the tributes and the gross desensitization of the Capitol dwellers. Although it is fiction there is a lot of scary truth to the story ie government control over our lives. It's happening now with the likes of NYC mayor's proposed ban on the sale of large sodas in the city.   Where will it end? Having seen the movie, I was quite please that the movie pretty much followed the book.  The book does however give a lot of context as to how the characters feel and how things have come to be the way they are. I will read the rest of the trilogy because I am interested and hoping that this world gets turned around.

Next month we begin our fifth year of our book club.  We passed around a sign up sheet to host the 2012 - 2013 meetings .  We will lose one of our members. Pat Fogle emailed us earlier this month and opted out of the club, so we now have an opening.  We will miss you Pat. We will either fill the vacancy or go out to dinner on the open month.

Grace will host the October 18 meeting on Louisa's big 60th birthday. We will read "The Invisible Thread" by Laura Schroff. Alas, Louisa won't be there, she'll be out celebrating with her daughter.

I have a suggestion for this upcoming year.  I would like to give each member a chance to write their description of the book they have chosen.  I have been writing the blog over the years but feel that you are only given my take on the book and the discussion that follows.  I know I don't always agree with your point of view and now you have the opportunity to express yourself.

Starting with October, that means you, Grace, can write the blog after the meeting.  I can send instructions on how to post the blog through emails or you can simply send the "manuscript" to me and I will post it.  I will update the blog to make all the necessary changes.

I will post next years schedule ASAP.  Please send me your book title when you've decided what book you would like us to read.

Take care and keep reading,
Kathy G

August 16 Meeting at Alice's

I don't know why but it seems like a long time since our last meeting.  I guess summer is winding down, the days are getting shorter and there is a coolness in the air.....

I digress; tonight we meet at Alice's and share news of the past month, some good, some not so good.  Alice has prepared a wonderful summer meal for us and we toast to our good health.  We reviewed some of the clubs guidelines for our new member -- Nancy Miller.  I will also email the list of members information to be checked for errors and changes.  Grace announced that the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence will be held at Shepherd University on September 24 through 28 and will feature "Building Bridges, Past and Present" with West Virginia Storyteller, Gretchen Moran Laskas.  Our very first book "Queen of the Big Time" by Adriana Trigiani back in 2008 was the recipient of this award.   Louisa gave us the title of the book to be read for our September 20th meeting - "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.  And for some reason we reviewed "50 Shades of Grey", I guess we just can't get that book our of our minds.

Alice then started the discussion of  "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith.  She is reading the book series and had the DVD of the BBC television comedy-drama series.  We found it hard to believe that this book was written by a man.  I enjoyed the main character, Precious Ramotswe.  Mma. Ramotswe's cases are amusing - they range from imposters, missing husbands, lost children, to stolen property and more. What is interesting is the way the premier lady detective solves her cases and handles herself in particular situations and with others.  Grace couldn't find the alligator episode plausible and I'll admit , it was a stretch - Mma finding the missing husband's watch in the ONE alligator?  Edna thought Mma's handling of the stolen magical items very clever.  It was an enjoyable and easy read, plus there are more adventures with Mma Precious Ramotswe in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series  - 14 in all.

Sharon will post her doughnut muffin recipe in the comments on the blog.

I had a thought, maybe next year each member could take turns writing the review  of the meeting.  The person who hosts the meeting could do the write up of the next meeting.  I thought it would give a different perspective of our meetings.  I LIKE the idea!!  how about you?

Enjoy the rest of the summer and "see you in September, see you when the  summer through"

Bye bye, so long, farewell

KAthy G

July 24 Meeting at Pam's

 Taylor greeted us at the door while music played in the background.  Our newest member Nancy arrived and introductions were in order.  Pam then read a cute poem about living with our children before we lined up for dinner. 
Our meeting was postponed from last Thursday but we still only had six people attend.  It is summer after all. Edna's in London, Alice and Pat are out of town, Roe had another commitment and Ellen forgot because of the rescheduling.
Now down to the book discussion.  Pam asked if everyone liked the book and most said they did.  A lively discussion of homosexuality commenced and most were OK with that except Nancy who didn't care for the book and thought, like I did, that it portrayed Christianity in the negative.  I found it ironic that the gays criticized the Christians because they wouldn't accept homosexuality.  On the other hand, the homosexuals couldn't accept the fact that the Christian believed what they were taught in the Bible.   Sharon brought up the fact that there is a male chromosome for homosexuality but not a female one and that lesbianism might be a choice.  Grace thought the husband was weak and influenced by those around him.  I could understand why the husband didn't want his embryo / child to be brought up in a life style he didn't agree  with.  The trial to determine custody of the embryo was a zoo but pretty consistent with today's media influenced trials. I was intrigued by the Music Therapy and Louisa wanted to know what happened to Lucy! The book ended like a "modern" Disney movie,i.e. they all lived happily ever after -- two mommies and one daddy.  "Oh my........"

Next month we will read something a little more tame, "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith.  The meeting will be held on Thursday, August 16 at Alice's home.

Stay cool and hope the rest of the summer is  uneventful.  I think we've had enough of these storms.
Now off to the beach!

KAthy G
PS The Smucker's Goober Peanut Butter & Chocolate Stripes was a big hit.  Thank you Dana.

June 19 Meeting at Ellen's

After my pina colada, I slowly remove my sundress, one strap at a time.  I slip beneath the cool water, feeling the water caress my skin.  It tickles my feet, then my thighs and then oh my it's.......

Everyone gathers around for the feast we call book club. Before we partake of dinner, new grandmom Pat shared her pictures or should I say albums of her new granson, Calvin; "who is the smartest, cutest, most intelligent child ever!!"  Despite the rule that the "book" will not be discussed during dinner, we broke the rule and start to review this unlikely popular book that everyone is talking about, #1 on the New York Times best-seller list, "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James.  Ellen who selected the book didn't like it.  The consensus was some really like it, others liked it some, others not so much and most thought it really wasn't well written.  Pat felt uncomfortable because it presented dominant / submissive sex as being the norm. Someone said the book has sparked a lot of conversations about whether women secretly desire to be submissive to their men.  That was mostly dismissed. I don't think our group would qualify as submissive.   I found Grey's desire to hurt and cause pain very disturbing.  Why would you want to hurt the one you love? Although, after reading the first book, I did want to know what became of the characters and hoped Grey got his "sh**" together.  Luckily in the next two books there is more to the story than just kinky sex,  but don't fret, there still plenty of sex.
 
Is this porn?  Pornography is often distinguished from erotica, which consists in the portrayal of sexuality with high-art aspirations, focusing also on feelings and emotions, while pornography involves the depiction of acts in a sensational manner, with the entire focus on the physical act, so as to arouse quick intense reactions.  You make the call.

Our next meeting on July 19, we go to Pam's house and will review "Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult, which Pam describes as controversial.

We missed your comments, Edna.  Sorry you couldn't make it, Alice and Nancy.  See ya next month.

I think I'll just strip naked and tie my self to the bed post and see what happens next,
Good night,
KAthy G

April 19 Meeting at Sharon's

The evening started off with a BANG but I won't go into details.  We settled down to a wonderful meal of chicken enchilada and salad and although it wasn't in keeping with the book, it was all good.  We ate like we we preparing for the Iditarod. Dessert was served to ease us into the discussion of "Winterdance" by Gary Paulsen.

Sharon liked the book and found it out right funny, which several others agreed.  The poor guys was getting beat to death.  He almost seemed like a cartoon character, it was down right amusing.  Alice related several stories of people she knew who lived in the wilderness they call Alaska.  She and her family  witnessed a smaller dog race up in Corning.  Louisa took a cruise to Alaska and saw the training ground of Susan Butcher.  Susan Butcher is noteworthy as the second woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1986, the second four-time winner in 1990, and the first to win four out of five sequential years. Sharon related that the animal rights groups are protesting the inhuman treatment of the dogs in the Iditarod but the mushers counter that the sled dogs are well cared for. They say they take better care of the dogs than they do of themselves, which is probably true.  Edna commented that some pets are treated better than humans.We all agreed that this was one tough race and that this is crazy.  No one was signing up for it any time soon. 

For May's Meeting we decided to go out to dinner at the "Black Eyed Susan" in Williamsport, MD. Everyone can read a book of choice and feel free to discuss it on May 17.  We will decide where to meet as the date gets closer. 
Check out the reading list as several people have now revealed their book choice.
June 21's meeting will be at Ellen's and we will read "50 shades of Grey" by E.L. James - shame on you Ellen, we'd expect something like this from Edna........ha ha.  Can't wait to start reading it.

Great seeing you all, especially Ellen who looks "marvelous"!

GEE,
KAthy G
Hello to Pat and Linda.  Grace is cruising the Mediterranean so I'm sure she just doing fine.

March 15 Meeting at Kathy's

I'm so glad they are all finally gone.  What a bunch, they are more interested in eating than reading the book and they call themselves a book club....
Did I say that out loud!

Suffice to say, everyone really liked the book and I don't think they were just being social. They did look me in the eye when they said it.  The book didn't just give pause to Asperger but to growing up being a little different and I think everyone could relate to that.  Grace found his childhood to be sad because his inability to make friends, but again I think everyone has been in that situation at some time in their lives.  Linda related her experiences teaching mentally challenged youth and both Alice and especially Louisa have spent years in the school systems observing the intermingling of special ed children into the "normal" classroom.  Great strides have been made to improve the lives of handicapped but some question, at what expense.  Round and round we go, topics are covered from his naming convention - he called his brother “Snort,” and later,“Varmint, his pranks - when he sent his Biology teacher a sex toy, his technical skill - creating special effects for KISS and how his extreme focus kept him away from drugs and alcohol abuse somewhat, despite the fact that it was readily  available.  Alice expressed how this book had touched her personally.  John Elder Robison's life is an amazing story that not only addresses Asperger but dealing with people in general because we are all a little "retarded" sometimes, to quote one of our own.

I don't know about you but I'm exhausted!

Next month we go to Sharon and will have read "Winterdance" by Gary Paulsen.  Hopefully it won't snow but if it does you can always bring your dog sled.

If anyone has their book selection, please let me know and I will post it.  You can always add it in the blog's comments and everyone will be notified.

Wishing Ellen all the best and missing Pat and Roe,
Till next time happy reading,
KAthy G

February 23 Meeting at Rosemary's

February's meeting was moved up a week, which made it possible for our beachcomber friends, Edna and Grace to be with us.  It also enabled us to get a hold of the "book" which was in short supply.  It was worth it because we really liked the book, but, I'm getting ahead of myself.  First we had our chit chat around the cheese, crackers and wine.  Afterwards, we gathered at the table, said grace and enjoyed the good food that Rosemary put before us.

As dinner was completed, we discussed the March meeting.  We will meet in three weeks, on March 15 at my house (Kathy).  I have selected the book by John Elder Robison. "Look me in the eye: My Life with Asperger".  Sharon gave us the name of her book - "Winterdance" by Gary Paulsen and if anyone else has their book selection please let me know.

There was an overwhelming yes in response to" did we liked the book", in fact several members had already recommended it to their friends.  Grace liked the writing style of Kimberley Freeman who interlaced the life story of a grandmother with her granddaughter's. "Wildflower Hill" spans three generations of women as it fluctuates between Beattie’s third-person past and Emma’s firsthand accounts of life as a prima ballerina in modern-day London, followed by her unexpected return to Sydney and Wildflower Hill.  Both Beattie and Emma find themselves having to start over. Freeman's complex characters were capable of love and hate, shame and redemption.   We had a Plethora ( you like that) of characters to love, hate, sympathize and understand.  The ending left us questioning, will there be a sequel??  Also, where in the world is Tasmania??

Enjoy this wonderful winter complete with daffodils peaking their heads out of the ground.  I hope they don't have an unexpected surprise!

KAthy G
Linda and Pat, so sorry you missed it.  A speedy recovery to Ellen, we're all pulling for you.

January 19th Meeting at Edna's

A very happy new years to everyone as we gather around Edna's table for a joyous reunion.  It's been a very busy two months and it sounds like everyone had a wonderful holiday. Edna with the help of Glennie prepared a wonderful meal with recipes from Angelique, Myrtle Beach and of course a fish dish -  in keeping with the title of the book.

Rosemary  opened up discussion on changing the February Meeting to the 4th Thursday, February 23 since several people will be out of town the previous week.  All agreed.  Louisa announced that North Middle participated in WV Physical Activity Day by everyone in the school dancing the "Cupid Shuffle".  This will be  televised on the 11 o'clock news.  Several sad news were announced and we tried to get back to discussing the book, which is sorta the reason we are here.

I decided to tape the meeting to help me write this blog.  I think it gave me too much info but it was  amusing reliving the evening. Amy Tan takes a good hard look on global economics, tourism, Burmese politics and Western influence on other cultures in this book "Saving Fish from Drowning".  She has a way of creating fiction so that the reader perceives it as true.  I actually Googled to see if tourist went missing after I read the first chapter.   Ellen found Amy Tan to have a great imagination and Edna found it clever to tell the story through the ghost narrator Bibi.  We thought the tourist were ignorant about the land they were entering and hardly prepared to go into such a hostile area.  We had an active discussion about travel in remote areas outside the US with killings, kidnappings,  bugs, unsanitary conditions and wild animals.  Louisa and others commented that the book could have been shorter and Tan could have left out a lot of the details but then that is exactly what drew Edna to the book.  I was surprised to find the tourist survive their ordeal,  we were sure they were being lured into to jungle to meet their demise.  All in all a good story.

As I said before we will meet next month at Rosemary's on February 23. She has chosen "Wildflower Hill" by Kimberley Freeman for us to read.  Enjoy and stay warm.

'missed you Linda, Sharon and Pat.

Don't mess with the Nats,
KAthy G