January 17 Meeting at Edna's

"And Merry Christmas, everyone" 

Yes, you read it correctly.  It was not "Christmas with Tiny Tim" or "Christmas with the Kranks"; but our "Christmas in January" book club dinner/meeting had just as much going for it!!
Everyone seemed to enjoy listening to the Christmas music playing on the tree and the gum drop lights in the kitchen!  I must admit I am glad I left it all up so that I could celebrate with my friends and fellow readers!!! 

The evening had a great send off with an old favorite: bourbon slush! After slushing our way through our snacks (something had to be used to suck up the bourbon); we retired to the dining room where we feasted in true Christmas fashion!!

Our discussion of the book "The Middle Place"  turned out better than I had anticipated.  I shared with the group how the book had seemed to call to me because of the breast cancer theme and because of the family dynamics. Several others also had experiences similar to this.  Louisa spoke how  eerie it was that her daughter is experiencing some of the same feelings now that she is dealing with her Dad's cancer.

The middle place, where childhood and parenthood overlap, seemed to strike a chord in several other members as well.  Nancy said how coming to the  meeting was an oasis of peace for her right now as she is sandwiched between the worry over her son and daughter-in-law's pregnancy and taking care of her Mother.  Everyone had some comment to share that brought more discussion. Some people had a hard time getting through the book and found it repetitious but most everyone felt that it had a lot of good writing in it. 

I found the story more upbeat than a downer.  I thought the way it was written was more humorous than your typical cancer story.  And the e-mails in the book written to her friends keeping them updated on her progress reminded me of the reason why I am in such a great book club with such a great group of people!!! Here's to many more such gatherings!!!  And so we go on to next month, Feb. 21st at Roe's house where we will dissect Cary Grant!!!

Until then adieu, dear friends!!
Love, Edna

A special thanks to all for their lovely food and wine contributions.  Kathy's  rutabaga was an interesting addition!!!
Sorry about Alice's Dad.  We understand why you did not feel like coming out.
Missed you also, Ellen and Pam!!

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.