My Sister's Keeper meeting and please post suggestions for new books

We have a plan for our next book club meeting.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009
7pm
Ruth Monson's house at 579 Milledge Circle

Looking forward to having a fun time discussing this book. Also, we'd like to make a 9-12 mo. schedule of books for this meeting so please bring your suggestions or email them to me if you won't be able to make it. We won't plan a lot for the next few months due to the holidays (maybe one holiday-related book to discuss in November) and then we'll have a monthly book after that starting in Jan.

I'd like to be better about having a meeting every month, perhaps back to always having it the first week of the month. I know for most of us, obtaining and completing the book club book every thirty days is a bit much, but we also have such a variety of genres people are interested in. I think if we have a book for every month but have different types of books then people can read the books they're most interested in and still be able to participate regularly. Plus there are a few long books that people would like to do but that would require us to know about well in advance to get them done in time (Rough Stone Rolling, Les Mis). I hope getting a schedule will allow us to fit in some of those longer works as well.

Maybe what I'll do is make another quiz on the website after our next meeting with all the books we've recently discussed and the ones that come up then, we'll have it open for a week or two, and then I'll put together a schedule based on the top ones. Please don't forget to also volunteer to host us if you're willing to. If we have you scheduled for a date that, as it gets closer, won't work for you, we can always change it later.

Thanks. Looking forward to next Tuesday!

And a few things I forgot...

I was going to mention this last night and forgot:

First, Greg Mortensen is scheduled to be the Forum speaker at BYU on Oct. 27th. I wish I could go! I'm telling all my family there to have read his book by then and try to go. I'm sure the Marriott Center will be packed. Just thought you'd find that interesting.

Also, they're working on a second book (not with Relin as the writer this time though) that's due out in December. It's like, "Stones into Schools" and sounds like it follows up the progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the last book.

Oh, and we need a location and discussion leader for next time. Volunteers???

Three Cups of Tea...and some fruit and dip, crackers, homemade bread, etc.

Thanks to everyone who came to last night's Book Club. Thanks so much to Debbie for allowing us to have it in her beautiful home. Seriously, it was worth coming just for the wonderful smell of her famous homemade bread that hits you when you walk through the door. Amazing! We had 3 hrs. of great discussion and I think we covered just about EVERYTHING, in the book and out of it. We all agreed that Greg Mortensen certainly is cut from a different cloth and we're glad he is and able to do what he does (and that his amazing wife supports him).

I think we all are a little more committed to doing what we can do in our own spheres of influence, and heaven knows there is plenty of need for service and promoting education in our own community. It was very interesting to hear Kathy's experience sharing it with her 4th grade class. And we got some money together to pass onto Bozeman to support the cause. If any of you who weren't there wanted to contribute, two others will be bringing me something on Sunday and I'll be sending it in next week.

So, just a reminder that next month is, "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Piccoult, well liked by several who have already read it. We'll aim to meet mid-Septemberish so get reading! :)

(And by the way, any of you can just let me know when you want to have a girls' movie night at my house for "Shopaholic." Or "The Magic Flute" for that matter.)

Happy reading!

TUESDAY NIGHT! Aug 18th

Book Club meeting to discuss "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen and Mr. Relin

7:00 pm

Debbie Stephens' (new) house

Please call for address/directions

706-621-3775 (Emily)

Refreshments will be provided.

I know all of us have been really moved by the story in this book. It's amazing how one person willing to serve and with a little financial help, can make such important changes in the world. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the "Pennies for Peace" campaigns where schoolchildren pool all their pennies together to raise money for the Central Asia Institute (Kathy, didn't you say that your class did that together?).

Anyway, I thought we should do a "Pennies (and spare change) for Peace" drive at our Book Club meeting. What if all of us empty out our couches, dressers, purses, and cars and bring it to the meeting and see what we can easily pull together to pass onto Bozeman without putting anyone out? Every little bit helps--even if we just scrape together a group check for $20. I'll put a jar by the door if you have some you want to drop in.

Not only are we going to have a larger than usual group this time from what I hear (because everyone loves this book!), but we may even have a representative or two from the opposite sex. Just passing that along in the chance that any other spouses/friends/coworkers would care to come along. We're more than happy to make exceptions. :) It'll be a fun meeting, a good one to invite someone new to.

See you there!

Our July/August book choices

Thanks to all who came last Tuesday to our book club meeting. We had a great discussion, great dessert, a lot of great people there--the usual. :) Thanks so much to Charis for having us to her lovely house and providing such a delicious treat. Thanks to Karen for digging up the info on Afghanistan and helping us understand better the background for the story.

We're continuing one more month on our Afghanistan/Taliban/Pakistan theme by reading, by popular demand...(drumroll)..."Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin.

Many of you have recently read this and loved it. Several more of us already had wanted to read it. I'm 1/3 of the way through it and love it and am trying to convince James to read it. It's an amazing story, made so much better by the fact that it's true!

That being said, we again neglected to figure out a discussant and a meeting location. If you would be interested in either, please shoot me an email.

Also, for the following month, in case you've already read "Three Cups of Tea," we're reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi (Jody?) Piccoult. It's been made into a movie that's recently come out and raises a lot of good topics for discussion.

Happy reading!

June book

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Several people at our last meeting suggested we read this one next. It's about two women in Afghanistan and the challenges they face. I grabbed it when I was at the library last Wednesday and I'm nearly done with it (and I usually take my time reading most books). I can't put it down. It's very good and very, very thought-provoking. I think we'll have a very good discussion from it--probably a little like after reading, "To Destroy You is No Loss," which means bring your Kleenex!

Although several recommended this book, we never actually decided on a discussant or a location (and it can be anyone--not necessarily someone who previously read it). So let me know if you're interested. Let's plan to meet around the end of June or very first part of July.

The local libraries and the library system has lots of copies--they're also cheap on Amazon. Here's a link if you want to see more about the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Splendid-Suns-Khaled-Hosseini/dp/159448385X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244207038&sr=8-1#

Madame Bovary

Tuesday, 26 May
7:00 pm
Amber Robbins' house

Amy Harris is leading the discussion. See you there!