Sundays at Tiffany's (by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet)

We had our very first "MeetUp" meeting on Monday, September 15th at Abbie's new home. We had the pleasure of meeting 7 new members, planned our calendar through February, and really had some great discussion about our book. As a whole, we were somewhat baffled at Michael's transition from imaginary friend to adult male - not sure if it was a concious decision on Michael's part or if he was just accepting his fate/purpose in life. Also , we questioned the maturity level of Jane - never having been able to let go of her imaginary friend from her youth. We discussed the idea of the book being written from two perspectives, and maybe losing some of the emotion because of it. The overbearing mother, the narcisstic boyfriend, and the twists at the end were also points of discussion.

The Friday Night Knitting Club (by Kate Jacobs)

Another first novel, and another author call in. This meeting was originally planned for July, but due to summer commitments we postponed our meeting until August, only to have the same issue. We went ahead with the meeting anyhow, not wanting to be rude to our lovely author, Kate Jacobs. Her book is about a series of women that come together because of a knitting and yarn shop named "Walker and Daughter". The central character is a single mother, entrepeneur who brings together this group of women into her shop on Friday evenings to knit as a group. It's a story about relationships, their evolution, and the challenges we face in today's society as women. Kate was very gracious, calling us at exactly 7:00 p.m. and visiting with us (all 3 of us) for about 45 minutes. She spoke to us of her desire to write about relationships, and to develop her characters within those relationships. Kate has a 2nd book out called "Comfort Food" which we all agree we should read. This time we met at Joanna's home in Cave Creek. After all, she has a new coy pond and it needed to be looked at!!!!

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict (by Laurie Viera Rigler)

A truly remarkable book. This again is a first novel for the author, Laurie Viera Rigler, who is a self professed Jane Austen addict.

Her book starts with the heroine, who is a 21st century woman living in Los Angeles, waking up in a strange home, surrounded by strangers, and in a different time - the time of Jane Austen's England. The story evolves, as does the character, to try to figure out why she is where (and when) she is, and how to get back to where she came from.

A wonderful book, well received by all, and most of us are now looking forward to the sequel, which is currently underway!!

Laurie Viera Rigler called into our meeting, and visited with us for about 90 minutes. It was so much fun to visit with her. She had some interesting responses to our takes on the book, and was so down to earth.

This meeting was held at Rebecca's home in Phoenix, where we hovered around the speaker phone so we could all participate.

Nineteen Minutes (by Jodi Picoult)

This book was read by all, but due to illness and other circumstances, we canceled this meeting. The book is wonderful though - it was a first Jodi Picoult book for many of us - but we all enjoyed it. Never made it to discussion though....

The Memory Keeper's Daughter (by Kim Edwards)

This was our second discussion, meeting held at Sharon's home in Scottsdale. It spurred on quite a lot of discussion due to the subject matter. A woman giving birth in a snowstorm to twins, a boy and a girl. The girl has downs syndrome, and so the father (who is also the doctor) tells his wife the girl died at birth. He gives the girl to the nurse who assisted in the delivery, asking her to take the child to an institution. Instead she keeps the child and raises it herself. To say more would be a spoiler.

The Lifetime movie of this book was not well reviewed by our group....too many 'holes' in the story.

Our First Book - The Other Boleyn Girl (by Phillipa Gregory)

This was our very first book to review as a group. It was a little heavy for some of our gals, but we all read it and enjoyed it. Then most of us went to the movie to see how it compared (most of us agreed the book was superior to the movie).

We met at Applebee's in North Scottsdale, munched on appetizers and discussed the book. It was there we agreed to meet in homes, so we could have more privacy and not inconvenience any wait staff.

Off to a great start!!