February 21 Meeting at Dricka's

The book club this month was held on February 21st and we read "the Winner" by David Baldacci. We missed Edna, Carol, Roe, Pam and Pat.

The story started with the impoverished life of LuAnn Tyler who lived with her boyfriend, Duane Harvey, and her daughter, Lisa. LuAnn always dreamed of a better life. When an scam offer to win the lottery was made by mysterious Jackson; LuAnn decided after much consideration,to take the offer.  When leaving her home in a trailer, she discovered Duane assaulted and then later learned he was murdered because he was dealing drugs.  She barely escaped herself.

In New York after winning lottery, she learned she had to leave the country and never return. She traveled abroad for 10 years but decided to return and live in Charlottesville, Virginia where her mother grew up and assumed a new identity,  Catherine Savage. There she met Matt Riggs, who her friend, Charlie, hired to put up a security fence on her property.

She later met Donavan, a journalist, who suspected the lottery was fixed. Jackson whose real name was Peter Crane started to kill all those who brought to light his scheme. Jackson was from an affluent family who lost their fortune and he decided he would regain his fortune by fixing the lottery several times.  In the end he tried killing LuAnn because she disobeyed him by coming back to the US. Thru the aid of Charlie, Matt and the FBI, LuAnn killed Jackson who had kidnapped her daughter.

LuAnn later was acquitted of murdering her husband and paid back taxes and penalties to IRS.  She, Charlie, Matt and Lisa moved to Switzerland where there was an account opened with one hundred million dollars - Jackson'd return of her principal.

We enjoyed a dinner of chicken parm, manicotti, sausage and meatballs etc. Our dessert was trifle, Italian rum cake and apple cake. We enjoyed the company of our fill-in, Sylvia and guests Ruthi and Mary Louise. Till we meet again,
love, Dricka.

January 17 Meeting at Edna's

Wow!!!  To start:  I must apologize to everyone for not submitting the Bookclub blog back in January!!  I am ashamed to admit, I thought I had done it before I left for Florida.   The mind must be really going, ladies!!  Anyway, here's what I think happened from what I can remember. 

The meeting for January was held on the fourth Thursday, the 24th, because I didn't return from England until the Monday, the 21st;  just three days earlier.  I purchased a deli tray and we had sandwiches and I did a homemade chicken veg soup followed by apple pie with ice cream.  I know there were other things brought to supplement the meal by some of the other members that was much appreciated at the time.  We had an afternoon luncheon like we had decided to try for the winter months and it was well attended.  I believe the only two members unable to make it were Roe and Grace.  

The book was by a first time writer and it was called "The Secret Wisdom of the Earth".   Everyone liked it and I did too.  It was one of those reads that once started, you couldn't put down.  It combined a story of grief (the younger sibling died in a tragic accident); prejudice (the gay man was brutally beaten to death); loyalty (the main character fought to save his grandfather's life); tenacity (the townspeople triumphed over big corporation who were destroying the environment by mountain-top removal)!!  And there was a lot of other nuances going on during the story that tied it all together.  All in all, everyone thought it was a good read and I am glad because I enjoyed it very much!!  Looking forward to many more good times over reading in the future!!!

  

Love to all, Edna. 

November 14 Meeting at Grace's

With the  snow and ice forecast for Thursday, it was good we moved our meeting to Wednesday night.  Thank you to everyone who was able to make it on such short notice.  Roe we missed you.

We celebrated our 11th Anniversary and still going strong. Kathy updated our blog with some of our changes for the coming year, i.e., lunch meeting in January and February.

After reorganizing we  got down to our discussion.  Book this month was "The Silent Wife"  by Kerry Fischer.  Apparently, there were several books with this same title, different authors.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the book.   We had a very good discussion about the characters and how deceptive appearances could be in the case of Massimo and Lara's relationship.  Lara seemed to have it all but her husband was very abusive mentally and had many secrets.  Basically, in my opinion he was a creep.

When Massimo's younger brother Nico gets married and he introduces Maggie into the family so many dark secrets start to surface. Maggie tried so hard to fit in and be accepted by the family.  Everyone thought she was a gold digger but in reality she was a very hard worker and very independent. She was also a good mother and a good daughter. At the end of the book, the truth comes out about all the characters.

One of the questions we discussed was "Would you risk everything for the man you love, even if you knew he did something terrible?"  General consensus was it depended on how many other people it
could hurt.

Grace

October 18 Meeting at Carol's

"The Memory Painter" was the book for October. This was not my usual style of book, but I did enjoy it and most of you agreed. In a search for a cure for Alzheimer's, 4 scientists discover a drug which when used allows you to have flashbacks to previous lives. The story dealt with the 4 main characters and how their lives intertwined over the previous centuries. Their lives started with Hermese an Egyptian Goddess and showed a trail of love, hate, murder and destruction throughout time. 
Everybody was asked to come in costume again this year, since it was the Halloween season. Please excuse my racey costume, but I wanted to come as Hermese. I have always felt that I was a Goddess or Queen in a previous life. We enjoyed a truly delicious meal, graciously prepared by my personal chef, Dusty. I hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as I did.Carol

September 27 Meeting at Pat's

Bookclub was great fun. We missed you, Pam. 

Treats from Ireland and discussion about that beautiful land. I wanted to share one of my favorite authors, Robyn Carr, so chose "The Family Gathering". It is the third in a series of three, the first two being "What We Find" and "Any Day Now". Carr has a Virgin River series that I have enjoyed over the years. Her characters feel like family and friends. I somehow appreciate her predictability. Therese Plummer records Carr's books and is amazing!! 

We talked about the Great American Read, airing on Tuesday evenings on PBS. Link is pbs.org/greatamericanread

Carol has knee surgery October 3. We are already praying and keeping you close in thought. All will be well. 

Thanks, Pat

August 16 Meeting at Sharon's

A lively discussion centered around the definition and practice of racism addressed in Jodi Picoult’s novel, small great things. We also “centered” around (we missed you, Pat) an array of food, which included chicken tenders with various sauces, a zucchini/tomato/cheese casserole, and a blackberry cobbler, along with goodies provided by others. We never go hungry! The title of the book and the heart of the story were taken from a Martin Luther King quote: “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” The thoughts and actions of a white supremacist character were disturbing enough for at least one member that she couldn’t read the chapters attributed to him (Turk). The concept of equality vs. equity was also discussed in relation to the book and in the world today. We welcomed Edna’s English cousin, Pat, who had also read the book and shared with us the issues surrounding race in England.

Sharon