Sharon
September 21 Meeting at WMP hosted by Sharon
Strains of "Good Night, Irene" filled our War Memorial Park
picnic pavilion as the GTG book club ended our discussion of Luis
Alberto Urrea's book by the same name. The fiction book was based on
the author's mother's service during WWII with the "Donut
Dollies", a Red Cross unit that provided a taste of home for the
soldiers. Most of us hadn't heard of women being on the front lines
where they faced many of the same dangers endured by the fighting men
and suffered much of the same emotional and physical aftermath. It
was an interesting read. We closed with the singing of some old songs
led by our excellent club musician Pat Fogle, firing up her snazzy
accordion. Sorry Louisa, Alice, Carol, Edna and Rennie couldn't be
with us.
August 17 Meeting at WMP hosted by Roe
Our book club met at War Memorial Park, Thursday Aug 17 at 5:00 to discuss the book "Leaving Time" by Jodi Picoult. Prior to discussing the book we shared baked ziti, and an assortment of sandwiches and desserts. We then planned to enjoy the music of the Navy Band who performed at the park.
Most of those present (we missed Pat, Grace, Sylvia, Sharon, Louisa and Drika), enjoyed the book and were unprepared for the supernatural climax. Some of us shared our experience with paranormal occurrences, such as a "séance" or felt a spiritual presence at some moment in their life. I myself am a little uncertain about spirits and Angels. Part of me wants to believe that Angels exist . I haven't had any supernatural experiences, just an aura that my angels are around me and not always spiritual😀.
I thought the facts and insight into the elephant community and their behavior patterns were very interesting. Amazing creatures!
Thanks Kathy for my elephant-shaped dollar.
I had thought it would be clever to make one for everyone in the book club, but after looking at the video I realized I don't have the patience or persistence to do just one!
Thanks again Kathy, I love it!
Love Roe
July 13 Meeting at Kathy's
We had a really good turn out at book club tonight. We were only missing Edna, Louisa and Roe. It was hot as hell so we met in the air conditioning. It was great seeing everyone since it been way too long since we’ve been together.
After much banter, we enjoyed our fried chicken, salads and other accompaniments. I was asked why I picked this book “The Erotic Stories of the Punjabi Widows. I read it several years ago and remembered that the subject matter was interesting. Widows in this culture were considered useless, a non entity. In India, many widows are considered to be unlucky or unworthy. There's a variety of demoralizing customs associated with widowhood. She may be stripped of colorful clothing and allowed to only wear white. Her hair is shaved and she is told to give up all adornment such as jewelry or makeup. This book of fiction described how widows banded together to better themselves by signing up for a class to learn how to read and write English. They got sidelined because they got a hold of a erotic book and it inspired the ladies to write or create their own storied about what they wanted in life. They wanted to feel like a person, be recognized and loved. Yes, there were erotic stories, but they were italicized and you could read around them. The main point of the book was the empowerment of these women. Only a few people read the whole book owing in part of us meeting a week early. I know Alice really enjoyed the book as much as I did.
Alice and I attended the WMP Concert in the park afterwards, interrupted by a rain storm.
Next month Rosemary will host at WMP and we will read “Leaving Time” by Jodi Picoult.
Kathy G
June 15 Meeting at WMP, hosted by Edna
The June Bookclub was held on Thursday, the 15th, at War Memorial Park. There were only half of us there. We missed Grace & Pam, who were at Longwood Gardens and Alice, who was traveling around Ireland. Also missed were Pat and Louisa, who had health concerns. Drika, you are continually missed and our newest member, Rennie, who had a last minute home emergency.
As per usual, the picnic supper was plentiful enough to supply half of the Park. I fixed potato salad and ham sandwiches and filled in with cheeses, pickles, olives, chips & dips, etc. Sharon brought some chicken salad and Sylvia & Kathy brought brownies & popcorn mix to go with the caramel apple pie, Angel food cake & berries with fresh cream. Does it sound like anyone went hungry??!!
We ate about 5:15 and started our discussion around 6:00pm. The book was Angel Encounters by Karen Goldman. I had seen the book at Sue’s when we visited after Mike’s passing and I thought it would be a comfort for me to read; plus I wanted to hear accounts of peoples’ real life encounters with Angelic forces. While everyone at the meeting stated that they do believe in angels, most of the stories were just ok. Carol thought that a lot of them were LSD encounters more than Angel encounters. A few people brought up personal encounters that either they had or someone they knew had happen. I thought after reading it, the book was not quite up to what I was hoping for. Everyone agreed that her style of writing was repetitive and not very good.
Members; Carol, Kathy, Roe, Sylvia, Sharon and I were joined for the evening of music by friends who sat and ate and shared our company which was very enjoyable. The band, Cashmere, was great!!
The next Bookclub meeting for July will also be held at War Memorial Park at 5:00pm on the second Thursday, July 13th hosted by Kathy. Sorry I will miss seeing you then, but I will see all in August, hopefully; when I return from England!! Ta’ra & pip-pip Cheerio!!!!
The next Bookclub meeting for July will also be held at War Memorial Park at 5:00pm on the second Thursday, July 13th hosted by Kathy. Sorry I will miss seeing you then, but I will see all in August, hopefully; when I return from England!! Ta’ra & pip-pip Cheerio!!!!
Edna
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April 20 Dual Meeting with Pat & Alice
FOSTER by Irish author Claire Keegan was my choice for March - it was a short novella but had a powerful message and spirit. Taking place in the 1980's in rural Catholic countryside of the Republic of Ireland, it was rough to read at times, feeling for this family and their struggles. The writing is spare but the love for this 9 year old lassie is clear by her "foster" parents for the summer, relatives whom she's never met before being dropped off with no warning or preparation or goodbye hug from her Da.
There is also a poignant movie now based
on the book made in 2022 just after the book was published- the Irish
language is spoken throughout and English too- central character young
Cait is brought to life visually and every part of her summer. It was a
lovely sight to see this film adaptation of this bittersweet story. I
could watch it a few more times.
Thank you Pat for sharing the evening with my little bit of Ireland.
Slainte. Alice
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We missed Edna and Grace and welcomed Rennie!!
Enjoyed great food, especially Sylvia's crab quiche, Rennie's lemon cake, and Grace/Pat's ice cream cake ( thanks for the lesson, Grace!). It was fun making it AND eating it!
Lessons in Chemistry was a fascinating and amusing book for us all! The book is set in the 1960s and is Bonnie Garmus's debut novel at the age of 64. We all have many memories from this era!!! And what an inspiration to us all, having a debut novel at 64! The book stirred memories, inspired, celebrated women, made us laugh out loud, taught us about love, and to me spoke of the beauty of family... not only the one you are born into, but also the one you choose
Pat
February 16 Meeting at Sylvia's
GTG Book Club met at Sylvia’s on February 16. Crab quiche, salad and croissants were served for lunch, with pound cake and fruit with whipped cream for dessert. Even with only six members attending, a lively discussion followed re this month’s book “Mad Honey” by Jodie Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylon.
The story is about Olivia and her son Asher who had relocated to her hometown in New Hampshire where she assumed her father’s bee-keeping business and where Asher is a high school hockey star; and also about Ava and her teen daughter Lily who also relocate to this small town to begin a new life. Asher and Lily meet and begin a teenage romance. Tragically Lily dies and Asher is arrested for her murder.
It is a heartbreaking story about life’s injustices, first love, parental love…and bees. The story involves an intense court case, a shocker in the middle, and a twist at the end. Olivia’s story is written by Author Jodie Picoult, and Lily’s story is written by co-author Jennifer Finney Boylan.
In other business, Rennie Tressler was approved as a new member.
We missed Louisa, Grace, Edna, Rosemary and Alice.
Sylvia
January 19 Meeting at Applebees
We all met at Applebees in Charlestown and Louisa was able to join us. The meal was so so but the company was great. We did discuss the book "A Man called Ove" a bit. Ove was a grumpy yet loveable man who finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Despite being a curmudgeon, he was helpful to his neighbors and they turned in great numbers at his passing. We enjoyed the book and decided to see the movie "A Man called OTTO" which didn't disappoint.
K
