September 23 Meeting at Dricka's

This month's book reading was "What Only We Know' by Catherine Hokin. Nine people attended but we missed seeing Edna, Grace and Louisa.

Story starts out in Germany in 1936. Liese was working at a very notable fashion salon owned by her father, Paul Elfmann and mother Marguerite. At an early age Liese was mostly ignored by her father because of his complete adoration only for his wife. During the war she loved working in the salon but it was ripped away when she became just another Jew who the Nazis hated.

During her time at the salon she became enamored by a French buyer who thru one night of passion  became pregnant and had a daughter, Lottie, who she gave her complete love and attention. They were sent to a prison camp where her daughter was tragically murdered by a prison guard. Afterwards she  didn't want to live and attempted suicide but was rescued by a soldier who became devoted to her along with Michael, son of a worker at the salon. They both decided she should marry Andrew to be safe after a chance meeting with the guard who murdered her daughter and Liese then killed.

After moving to England, she had another daughter, Karen who she loved but couldn't forget her past and finally had the courage to end her life. After her father was admitted to hospital, she found pictures of her mother's past life. She then found Michael and understood all that her mother endured. During her time with Michael, she fell in love with is son, Marcus. The book ends with Andrew and Michael revisiting the past. Also seeing the wall in Berlin no longer divided the East and the West. A future founded on hope!

Dricka

August 19 Meeting at WMP with Sharon

 A pleasant evening was had by 7 members of the book club – sorry to miss Edna, Pat, Carol, Pam and Grace. We began, of course, with food –AC&T's famous fried chicken, hash brown potato casserole, cole slaw (thanks, Kathy), biscuits (thanks, Sylvia) and Grace's soon-to -be famous peach cake and other desserts (thanks, Dricka and Alice). The book we discussed followed a fictional account of the lives of people caught up in the Dust Bowl in the 1930s – "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah. I guess that's why the period is called The Great Depression – we felt depressed just reading the book!  We were impressed by the resilience and courage of the people in the story, of Elsa Martinelli who left miserable living conditions in Texas hoping to find a better life for her two children in California only to face more hard times, prejudice and pain. We shared accounts of life during the depression that affected our parents and grandparents. We agreed that we liked the book even though we had hoped for a happier ending. Several of us stayed for an entertaining concert performed by the “Sea Chanters"  of the US Navy band.  

Sharon

July 15 Meeting at WMP with Louisa

 Book club was held at War Memorial Park on a very hot and humid day. Everyone graciously brought what they wanted to eat and drink. We received a delightful surprise when Edna and Glenn arrived. Their daughter and grandchildren who are visiting from England came and ate with us. It was wonderful to see them.

     The book we read was "Dial A for Aunties” by Jesse Q Sutanto.

     The families immigrated from Indonesia to California. There they ran a family business. Big Aunt makes wedding cakes. Second Aunt does the bride’s hair and make up. Ma does the flowers. Meddy, her daughter, is the photographer. Fourth Aunt is the singer at the weddings.

     Communication is sometimes difficult because the Aunts speak Mandarin or Indonesian but little English. Meddy speaks English and not much of the other languages. This causes a lot of miscommunication among the family.

     Ma decides to go on a dating site pretending to be Meddy. She fixes her daughter up with a hotel owner. Meddy goes on the date. She drinks too much so the guy says he’ll drive her home. He takes her to a secluded area of the city. She tells him to take her home but he doesn’t listen. She tases him and he wrecks the car. Meddy thinks he’s dead so she drives home and tells Ma. Ma calls her sisters to help. The decision is made to put his body into one of the freezers not being used for the next day’s wedding. The freezer gets moved to the resort with all the other wedding supplies. Lots of antics go on as they try to keep everyone out of that freezer.  Meddy runs into the real resort manager and it is her college love, Nathan. He helps Meddy and the Aunties with the freezer.

     I think most of us enjoyed the book. There were laugh out loud scenes.  The book showed a different culture. In the end , no matter what, families stay together and help each other when needed.     

      Most of the girls stayed for the concert in the park.

     We missed you Pat!

        Louisa

June 17 Meeting at Pam's

 

May 20 Meeting at Pat's

 (First normal Meeting since  Dricka's 80th Birthday Bash! Feb 21, 2020)

It was good to be together.  Sorry Kathy and Alice couldn't be there.  I kept it simple, this first meal inside together since COVID began- pizza from King's, Sylvia's salad, and ice cream cake.  We read two books this month.  "How to Walk Away" by Katherine Center and Ira Byock's and "The Four Things that Matter Most"- Please forgive me, I forgive you, Thank you, and I love you.  It was an evening of great discussion and sharing as we considered these things in Center's book and in our own lives. Hoping our understanding of these things and the gift of sharing our thoughts and needs with good friends bring us all encouragement and peace.

It will be great to see you again, Kathy!!

Love, Pat

April 23 Meeting in WMP with Rosemary

 The April bookclub met at War Memorial Park.  Covid is still with us but we have been able to meet with friends and even now in closer quarters.  The book I had chosen was "The Winemakers Wife" by Kristin Harmel.  

It was a captivating story set against the vineyards of northern France during the global World War II which lasted from 1939-1945.  A story of deceit, guilt,intrigue, bravery, love and reconciliation.  The time period alternated from the World War II period to more recent times, with several twists and subplots and I few surprises at the end .  It was such a tumultuous time in our history, tragedies, destruction, deaths and sacrifices. So many stories of bravery and patriotism in the fight against evil.  I myself have a compulsion to study and read stories of this time period before and after.    So much hatred of humanity, prejudice, greed, But then on the flip side, compassion, courage, love of mankind and extreme sacrifices.....

The book also enlightened us as to the production of champagne, the sweat and challenges involved in this beverage that comes from a unique region of  France and to qualify as champagne it must come from this area in Northeastern France.  

Everyone seemed to enjoy the book, not all were happy with the ending involving grandma Edith 's choice at the end.
I was glad  Liv got to meet her true grandmother Celine, her dad Michel's mother.   I did like the book very much and hope all of you did!

We enjoyed the chicken wraps, chicken tenders ,snacks ,some homemade desserts and good weather at the park.  Thanks for coming.   It was great to get together!

We missed Pat, Pam, Sylvia, Grace and Alice 

love Roe