Heartburn (by Nora Ephron)

December's meeting, held December 15th, 2008 was a cozy group. Given the season and the rain, it's almost surprising how many people came out.

The discussion was almost what you would call heated, as so many of us thought the heroine was ridiculous to marry her 2nd husband (after he'd already cheated on her and then proposed to her umpteen times), and even more pathetic to have been in denial as long as she was. We thought it might be because of her desire to be 'attached' with one small child and another one on the way.

That spurred a whole lot of discussion surrounding relationships, weddings, break ups and divorces.

A special thanks to Christopher who was a wonderful host, and had enough food to feed three or four times the number of guests!!!

Pride and Prejudice

If you are a FaceBook person, this list is hilarious!!! I highly recommend clicking this link and having a look.

http://www.much-ado.net/austenbook/

Have fun!!!

An Interview to Read

Check out this blog entry.....

http://scobberlotch.blogspot.com/2008/11/10-questions-wauthor-laurie-viera.html

It's an interview with Laurie Viera Rigler on writing, and her new sequel.....

An Evening with Jodi Picoult

Pictured below: Sharon, Jodi Picoult, Joanna (at Phoenix Public Library Dec 2, 2008)

Joanna, being the watchful person she is, was cruising through the events calendar recently at the Phoenix Public Library and came upon a very special event. On December 2 and 3, Jodi Picoult (author of "Nineteen Minutes", "The Tenth Circle", "My Sister's Keeper") was going to be speaking at the library, then signing books afterwards. Well, once I heard about it I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to attend.

Changing Hands Bookstore sponsored the event and was there with Jodi Picoult books on sale. Joanna and I both made some purchases and then were lucky enough to have Jodi autograph each and every one.

The lecture portion was fabulous. Jodi is VERY articulate, and spoke to us about how her ideas come to her, her research processes, and why she goes into the depth that she does. She has a wonderful sense of dedication to accuracy, likes to make sure she honors the "real world" people who will be effected by her stories, and even talks about how much she loves some of her characters. There was a 20 minute Q&A session after, and she was very down to earth, displayed a great sense of humor, and even had patience for some "interesting" questions.

Joanna asked her if she does 'call ins' to book club meetings, but unfortunately her answer was "not anymore, I used to". We were bummed....but at least we asked!!

We determined that March's book will be Jodi's novel "My Sister's Keeper". Jodi talked about the upcoming movie next summer, based on the novel, however the ending has been changed for the movie (which she wasn't too happy about).

Next author coming to town will be Kate Jacobs, and that will be in January.

Thank you Jodi Picoult!!!!!!!!!

Heartburn (by Nora Ephron)

A lighter read for December, due to the hectic season ahead. A story of a couple who marries a little later in life, and the challenges they face. See you all at Christopher's on December 15th!!!

What do we read in our spare time??

The Twilight Series, by Stephanie Meyers (fabulous!)
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
The Sookie Stackhouse Vampire Series, by Charlaine Harris (also fabulous)
Chasing Harry Winston, by Lauren Weisberger
One Fifth Avenue, by Candace Bushnell (not well loved)

The Secret Life of Bees (by Sue Monk Kidd)

This month's meeting was held at Karen's home in North Phoenix. The attendance was sufficient, the atmosphere cosy and warm, perfectly suited to this wonderful story told in Secret Life of Bees......This is the heartwarming story of a young girl named Lily. Strange circumstances lead to her running from her home along with Rosaline, her housekeeper/governess. They find themselves in the home of a family who keeps bees, and who had actually known Lily's mother many years earlier. Lily is drawn there by the label and the town she finds in her mother's keepsake box, and when the law and TRay chase Lily and Rosaline away, she heads for Tuberon, and the pink house in search of answers. There they find love, growth, and enlightenment. The discussion was all favorable and the book was loved by just about everybody. There was a great deal of talk about May, symbolism surrounding her condition and death, the era in which the book is set (early 1960's in the South). Great character development ensues, and it wraps up neatly in the end. Beautiful story....now most of us need to get to the movies before it leaves the theater!!!
A special thank you to Christopher. He brought us autographed copies of "Interrupted Lives", a history written by four authors, about living in interment camps in the Phillippines during World War II (see below for more details).