October 2009

Dear Book Clubbers,
Last night’s meeting to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was another great one.  All seemed to agree that this book, with its lighter feel and unique style was just the type of read we needed.  We gave the book an overall rating of 4.3333 stars.  Many thanks to Beth for hostessing and for leading the excellent discussion.  Incidentally, Marion found the reference to 42,000 inhabitants on the Island of Guernsey on page 55 of the book.  Welcome to new member Terry Twichell who just moved onto Ridge trail with her husband, their dog and cats.

In other business, we sent around a food signup sheet for the co-ed meeting to be held on Wednesday, December 2nd at my house.  If you signed up for something to bring last night, I will count you as coming unless I hear otherwise.  If you didn’t sign up, please let me know if you are coming and what you would like to bring.  Right now we could use a few more desserts and a couple more appetizers.  Remember, we try to have substantial appetizers for this meeting.  Please plan on coming hungry and arriving at 6:30 PM.  We will be discussing A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Tolle.  This book is a little tricky to find.  It can be ordered through Amazon (new or used), but I don’t get my free shipping on the paperback version.  It can also be ordered through Borders and Barnes & Noble.  The guys can bring any suggestions for their choice for 2010 to the 12/2 meeting.  We currently have 5 selections under consideration, the titles of which can be found in last month’s newsletter or on the blog.  It would be great if the men would actually review the choices before the meeting so they could think a bit about what appeals to them.

We also chose David Copperfield by Charles Dickens as our “long classic book” selection for 2010.  As you may recall, we decided that those who wanted to would read a huge book with a deadline a year off.  We thought that there were some lengthy classics out there that we have always wanted to read, but never pushed ourselves to tackle.  17 people cast a ballot in this selection process…we will see how many make it through the book and to the meeting!

Thanks again to Jennifer for organizing our group to provide more efficient help to neighbors who could use an extra hand due to illness, injuries, births or other trying life circumstances.  As a group, we brainstormed and came up with “CRBC Caring Tree” as the official title of this facet of our club.  Basically, the idea is we will network to provide support to neighbors in need in an organized way so that, as Jennifer puts it, “Someone doesn’t receive 22 tuna casseroles in the same week.”  If anyone knows of someone who could use this type of help, please call Jennifer.

In some Halloween notes, Jackie reminded us that she is considered the “Halloween Lady”.  Apparently, she really gets into decorating her home inside and out.  Kids and parents are invited to step inside to check out the scariness.  I also extended our usual invitation for families to make our house their last stop on Halloween night and to come in and hang out.  Bring a snack or bottle to share if you feel like it.  If you have any questions call me.

Ina will host the January 13th meeting.  The book for that night is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

I am probably forgetting some important stuff yet again, but I am running out of room, so I hope I have gotten most of it down.
Jan

September 2009

Dear Book Clubbers,

  Last week’s meeting to plan our upcoming year’s selection was a huge success.  I think we all came away feeling not only like we had some picks to look forward to, but also that we had plenty of other ideas of books that we might want to read on our own.  We even came up with some decent choices for the 2010 co-ed meeting.

As promised, here is the list of what made it, what will be proposed to the guys and the extra ideas that were left over:

October 14th Book:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  by M. Shaffer & A. Barrows

2010 Selections:

Fahrenheit 451 by R. Bradbury

The Falls by J.C. Oates

Shanghai Girls by L. See

Olive Kitteridge by E. Strout

The Help by K. Stockett

Revolutionary Road by R. Yates

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by M. Barbery

2010 Men's Selections:

Inventing Niagara by G. Strand

River Horse by W. Least-Heat Moon

The Lassa Ward by R. Donaldson

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by M. Chabon

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by J. Barendt

Other Suggestions:

The God of Small Things by A. Roy

Oxygen by C. Cassella

The Life of Pi by Y. Martel

The Shipping News by A. Proulx

Luncheon of the Boating Party by S. Vreeland

The Graveyard Book by N. Gaiman and D. Mckean

Love in the Time of Cholera by G. Marquez

Mutant Message Down Under by M. Morgan

The Middle Place by K. Corrigan

Audition by B. Walters

The Alchemist by P. Coelho

Jane Eyre by C. Bronte

Next up is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by M. Shaffer and A. Barrows.  We will meet to discuss it at Beth’s on Wednesday, October 14th at 7:15 PM.  I lost my sheet of paper saying who was bringing what for that meeting, so I sure hope you guys remember.  At this meeting we will also be selecting one long classic book as an extra book for anyone who wants to read something hefty (e.g. War and Peace) between now and next fall.  So if you have something of that nature you’d like to propose, bring that idea to Beth’s.

Beyond that, we are tentatively set for Wednesday, December 2nd at my house for the co-ed meeting to discuss The Confederacy of Dunces.  Although we have come up with a handful of suggestions, the guys should feel free to add to the list.

Loraine mentioned that a group called the Silver Foxes is sponsoring some luncheons at (but not affiliated with) her church.  The October one is a magician and the November meeting is about the Roycroft.  They sound really fascinating.  Unfortunately for me, they are on Thursdays.  Please contact Loraine if you would like more details.  The gatherings include a catered lunch and were very economically priced.

The Buffalo organization, Babel, is hosting A.S. Byatt (Possession) on October 9th and Aza Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran) this year.  To purchase tickets go to http://www.justbuffalo.org.

I think that is all for now.  Thank you all so much for bringing your well researched suggestions to the meeting.  I think we are really going to have a great year thanks to everyone’s efforts!

Jan