next book

Thanks so much to Karen for hosting and Meredith for the assist. It was nice to see so many in attendance at the annual "holiday" book club meeting. Too bad we couldn't get it together to actually read or discuss a book, but that's just the excuse to get together, right? We had fun chatting, eating, doing the book exchange and decorating cookies. I think that it was decided to read April 1865: The Month That Saved America by Jay Winik—one of the books that was re-gifted. Not sure about the date or place of the next meeting, but I suppose someone will send out something at the appropriate time. Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year to all!

December meeting

Please save Sunday, December 13th, 6pm-ish for our annual holiday book club get together. I think it's too late to try to actually READ anything, but do plan on bringing a wrapped book (that you liked!) for our book exchange. I think we'll either host here at 1230 Stearns, or Karen will host at her Crescent Heights pad. Either way, we'll have sweets & a rollicking good time.

please rsvp

xo

Karina

October meeting scheduled

Anu has offered to host the next meeting on Sunday, October 25. Details to come. Hope to see you there.

September/October book

Thank you to everyone who endured the heat to join us for book club yesterday. Although it was a small group we had a great discussion about the book and a high reading rate. Sarah and I felt that Francine Prose's review of What is the What perfectly captured the essence of the book. Although the subject matter was difficult to deal with, Eggers was able instill the book with doses of humor that brings lightness to the situation and compels the reader to take a greater investment in the characters. A true page-turner!

We were so taken by Dave Eggers's writing style that we decided to make his first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius the next book club selection. (If we like this one, we might have to go see Where the Wild Things Are to get the full Eggers effect).

We are looking for volunteers to host the next book club meeting. Since some of our members will be taking fun and exciting trips to exotic locales throughout September we thought an early October date would work best.

Thanks!

VanAn

August meeting

(sorry, I couldn't make it, but I thought I'd post VanAn's email about the next meeting)

Thank you, Debbie for hosting a 70s-inspired book club complete with very orange entrees and very red desserts. The consensus was that times and attitudes have changed since the avocado green days.

The next book club is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, August 30. Karina, Meredith and I will be hosting at our place and the book we will be reading is What is the What by Dave Eggers, a fictional story about a Sudanese Lost Boy. Here is a link to a NYTimes review.

See you then!

VanAn

July meeting

Liz had to cancel June's meeting due to low turn-out and being under the weather. The book was Erma Bombeck's If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?

Debbie W. has offered to host a July meeting, which I believe has been scheduled for Sunday, July 26. You can contact her for details.

June Book Club Suggestion

Atlas of Unknowns by Tania James

http://www.taniajames.com/

May Book Club Reading

The next Book Club meeting will take place on May 17th at Sarah's home. We will be reading Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, an anthology of short stories compiled by David Sedaris. See you then!
http://www.amazon.com/Children-Playing-Before-Statue-Hercules/dp/0743276124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240259057&sr=1-1#reader

April meeting details

The next meeting will be Sunday, April 19 at 6pm at my place in Glassell Park. The book to read is Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald. Hope more might be able to finish it with the extra time. I look forward to seeing you next month, and please be prepared to bring your May book suggestions and/or to vote on it.

Feel free to call me if you need directions or have any questions, 323-344-9474.


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i vote for Dave Eggers. -K

Oh and...

What Is the What (Vintage) (Paperback) by Dave Eggers
http://www.amazon.com/What-Vintage-Dave-Eggers/dp/0307385906

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Paperback) by Junot Diaz
http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Wondrous-Life-Oscar-Wao/dp/1594483299/ref=pd_sim_b_1/190-3610992-7984646

I'd love to get started on our next book asap. Can we all vote on our favorite by this friday?

xxoo Pia

Book Suggestions

Hi! I would like to suggest we choose one the following books that I got for my birthday. Now you know me, the chances of me reading 50% of any of them are far greater if we choose one of them for book club. My friend Connie, who is hoping to join, votes for "What is What" (she gave it to me). Ok, here they are:

Veil of Roses
by Laura Fitzgerald
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=veil+of+roses&x=17&y=15

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_1_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=a+long+way+gone+memoirs+of+a+boy+soldier&sprefix=a+long+way+

The Quiet Girl: A Novel by Peter Hoeg
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+quiet+girl&x=0&y=0

March book?

Just a quick note – Thanks to Nicolette for hosting (hope we'll see more of you next time) and to Karen for sharing her love and knowledge of all things Tarzan, and happy birthday to Meredith. What a fun evening it was and so well-attended! I think it was our loudest meeting ever.

Welcome new members, and I encourage everyone to post entries now that you are official contributors to the blog. Please feel free to document the discussion from Sunday, share photos, additional impressions of the book or of the meeting itself, or anything else on which you'd like to comment or suggest.

An item on our monthly agenda that didn't get addressed was when, where and what we'd be reading for our next book club meeting! Does anyone want to volunteer?

Suggestions for the next book included a memoir of Jane Goodall, favorites from childhood (any specific titles?), as well as my previous suggestion. I looked up the book that Eileen is currently reading, and recommended: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh. And Tomomi (50 percent alumnus) mentioned that her book club just read this fun novel: The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones. Does anyone else want to speak up? I apologize for not remembering any other titles that came up. Perhaps we'll have this week to nominate a book and the next host can make the final decision. (Anyone? I'll be happy to host April's meeting.)

pre-book club Huntington visit

Hi all,

If you'd like to come see "Beautiful Science" at the Huntington on Sunday, we'll be meeting there at 3:30pm. This will give us an hour before the H closes. Email me if you can make it, I'll need to meet you to get you passes.

This is an exhibition I worked on for the last year and a half or so -- I'd love for you all to see it. It's a permanent installation in the library. The weblink is http://www.huntington.org/thehuntington_full02.aspx?id=3000

Also, the gardens are lovely right now, especially the desert garden, which is full of blooming aloes. So, if you'd like to come earlier to spend more time, that can easily be arranged.

xo
K
kwhite@huntington.org
310 729-6439

February Book Club

Hello Fellow Book Clubbers,

The February book club will be held this Sunday, Feb. 15th at 5 PM. Casa Quispe is located at:

262 S. Parkwood Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91107

We are located just south of Del Mar Blvd., one block east of Allen. You can park on the street on Sundays, without a problem.

We'd like to start the book club on the earlier side to give people a chance to see Karina's awesome exhibit at the Huntington (which is super close to my house). If you're interested, Karina can provide more info regarding that.

If you need info regarding the book, please see the previous post. Please let me know if you have any questions....

Best,
Nicolette

week of obama

I'm pleased to report that at the meeting tonight we had our most lively discussion ever. Thanks to Debbie W. to pinch hosting for Pia. I'm sorry, that some regulars weren't able to make it, but we were happy to welcome three new guests. Hopefully, they were not scared away and will return to be official "members." It definitely was timely for us to read Obama's book and even though not everyone had read/finished it, we all had comments about our new president and race relations in America.

It was a long two-year campaign; we heard speeches from both sides and endless speculation on the outcome, and finally the votes were cast. It was a hard-fought race, but Karen claimed victory and we will be reading Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs for our next meeting. It was first published in 1914, and the classic has been re-published many times, most recently last year. Perhaps, if you're nice, Karen will let you view her first edition copy. You can choose your favorite cover (I'm sure there are a lot more).


Nicolette will be hosting the next meeting on Sunday, February 15. An email and/or blog post will be sent closer to the date. We hope that you'll be able to make it, despite it being Presidents' Day weekend. There was also some discussion on a field trip to Karina's exhibit, Beautiful Science at the Huntington Library before the meeting. Interested parties can comment or email.

January meeting

Just a heads-up, I believe that Debbie W. is hosting this Sunday.

KPCC interview

I heard an interview on this LA author yesterday. (You can listen to it here.) I thought some of you might want to read her book, The Black Girl Next Door by Jennifer Baszile. It's a memoir, so we probably don't want to read it right after Obama's book, but I know some of you are interested in American race relations. She grew up as the only black girl in her class in Ranch Palos Verdes.