You are all invited to dinner and a discussion of "Turn Right at Machu Picchu" at our Winesap home on Wednesday, January 28th 5:00p.m. I'm looking forward to seeing you all so let me know if the date or time won't work for you. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and that 2015 will be great new year.

Buy your tickets for Wild,

Friday December 26 at 6:35 PM at the Gateway. There are a couple of folks meeting us in Wenatchee so we can meet in the refreshment lobby about 6:15 to secure seats? Debbie doesn't get off work until 6 so we will save her one.

Thank You!

Esther, thank you for hosting us for our annual Christmas book club party.  It was lovely as always, and I laugh every time I think of the book exchange and wrapping techniques.

I posted on Chris's post, but I'm in for the 26th for "Wild."  I've put it on my calendar.

Chris P, you sound like you're having a wonderful time. :)

Friday evening WILD

For the working girls, looks like Friday evening December 26 at Gateway Theater will be the best time to view Wild. If you are interested, sign on and we will work out details to meet and view together.   It comes to the theater here on the 19th, so times won't be available until then.

Hello ladies. I really enjoyed the tale of Machu Picchu. I read most of the book sitting next to the pool which was also enjoyable! Book deserved a solid 3.85. We have settled into the house and life in AZ. So excited to have a Barnes and Noble close by. Please let me know what book comes next. I hope everyone is staying warm and safe this winter. See you soon. Thanks.

Thanks for the lovely eveing Esther. Your meal was delicious, the conversation and company stimulating. I'm looking forward to having you all at my home in January.

Let's See WILD

Looks like Wild starts at Gateway Cinema December 25. The 26th is a Friday, so maybe we could do our book club outing Friday or Saturday?

Christmas on the Move Out West

After reading our selection Music on the Move Out West, I was curious about the preceding selection (named above) and got it from our mail order. It was much shorter, and strictly about that December in Portland, in 1968, in their "Overlook neighborhood" with the record snowfalls. Again, mostly a trip down Matthew Gonder's memory lane, but filled in some 'holes" we wondered about:

"Our family, however, was not patterned after tender and traditional Norman Rockwell images...our Mom had passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1962, leaving Dad alone to raise five children between the ages of one to six. It wasn't easy. Dad fought the courts to keep us, as back then in Washington state a widower didn't have custody rights to his own children. In order for us to remain together within the law, we lived for three years with a foster family, followed by two more with Dad's brothers in Spokane and did a short stint in an orphanage before we moved to Chehalis and Aunt Mary joined our circus."

Yes, makes me grateful for the situation in which I was raised, and my own children in comparison, but still emphasizing with that man who wanted to keep his family together. Just wanted to share. 

Holiday!

Dear Book Club Ladies,
I am hoping ( and counting on! ) being home these next weekend, and if so, the night of Monday, Dec. 8 would be great for a holiday gathering. How about 5:00 PM at my house. I will make a soup and some bread. Lets each choose one or two books to give to the Community Center so that the books can be included in their giving tree program. Also, let's bring one book for a gift exchnge with each other.
Hope to see you all soon!

Ladies, thanks so much for all the kind comments. You are all invited back this summer for a bbq so we can enjoy the view too.  We made it to AZ just fine. The new house is a work in progress but is in a lovely neighborhood.  Macho Picchu is on my bucket list so I'm excited about the new book.  Stay warm this winter.  Will see you this spring.

December book date?

Monday, December 8th would be best. Will try to come by for the new book this week.

Turn Right

I also want to thank you, Chris for a very lovely evening and delicious dinner! And to thank both you and Judy for your persistence and patience in working with me in figuring out how to access and write posts here on our blog. I just sent you another invite to your gmail address. Thanks to all of you ladies for your forbearance with me as I feel somewhat distracted and behind on getting  the next book to you, as well as in planning a date for our December gathering. But, hey! I checked on the delivery and found out that our next book is not what I told you, but "Turn Right at Machu Pichu", by Mark Adams . Here is a Link to his website about the book. We do like adventure books! And this surely will fit the bill! Stop by the library when you can, or give me a call and I will get the book to you somehow.

Now as far as a date for a December get together at my house, how does Monday, Dec. 8 or Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 5:00 sound? This is contingent upon my return from Oregon, which I am thinking will surely be before then - but babies have a mind of their own!

Good Evening with Chris

It was an enjoyable dinner with good conversation. I am trying to figure out this process - posting.

Lovely Evening

Yes, Chris, thank you so much for all your lovely effort.  I really appreciate it.  Enjoy your trip.

Claudia, thank you for the ride.

See, even with my low score for the book, the average came out better than Kitchen Confidential!  Ha ha ha ha ha.  It's always helpful for me to look at a book through other people's eyes because I do learn from your perspectives.

I'm sure I will have to trade places with a few people or shift the order of hosting because we don't want to do a "snow dinner" by the river. LOL  We'll figure it out.

Thank you Chris!

What a lovely evening spent at Chris Peek's home.  Too bad it was dark so we couldn't enjoy the view, which I'm sure is fabulous.  Will have to get ourselves invited back sometime next year!  Thank you so much, Chris, for the wonderful, delicious Chinese spread.  The appetizers would have sufficed, followed by a main course of pork and rice.  All topped with the sinful cranberry mousse.  We appreciate all your hard work, especially after learning that you were on a deadline!  Hope you didn't get thrown off schedule too much.  You have a lovely home along the Columbia and we appreciate that you chose to share with us.  The discussion was thoughtful, as always, while we discussed "Music on the Move Out West" and took a little trip down memory lane.

I think I am able to post. But it is using my husbands gmail account. Esther, would you please send me another invite to christinepeek@gmail.com. I will try again with that invite. Thanks

Next meeting November 19

Chris Peek lives where the big green shop is, 19105 Hwy 97A. 5:30PM.

Thanks Chris!

It was great to have such a warming delicious soup this weekend, after working up an appetite pulling weeds and getting things cleaned up for Make a Difference Day. Thank You, Chris!!!

 "The Zookeeper's Wife" makes our struggles so minimal. Learning of life in wartime Warsaw, Poland surely makes one appreciative of how fortunate we are to be living in a peaceful community, and mindful of how hard life is in other parts.  

Our next book ," Music on the Move Out West ", by Mathew Gonder will likely inspire a different kind of empathy, one perhaps more familiar to most of us.  We discussed the date of the next meeting, which Chris Peek is scheduled to host. Chris, if you read this, let's get in touch and see what works out best for you!

Happy Halloween!

( today's word of the day at the library is "sopping" )

Back on

Thanks to Chris Mallon for getting me back on the blog as an author so I can add new posts.  Next step, administration so I can help update our side bars.  Maybe with Esther's help.......
Glad to be back on!

Next Meeting in Murdock Canyon

We are scheduled to discuss The Zookeeper's Wife on Saturday October 25 about 1 PM after "Make a Difference Day" duties (for me, Entiat River Rd clean-up). Those who need directions should just catch a ride with Esther or Claudia or Barbara.  A light meal in the spirit of war-torn Warsaw will be served!  I also suggest that we consider a "field trip" to Gateway Cinema in December, after "Wild" debuts at the theater Dec 5...in honor of us having read it a year ago as a selection. Claudia and I will be able to reflect on our 3 day experience with the Washington portion of the PCT which we did the past summer! Farm Girl

Thank you, Claudia

A lovely, lovely evening with a gift of flowers to bring home.  I always learn something, whether it be about our local history or current events or ....... the people in book club, which I love the most!

Everything Under the Moon!

Thank you to Claudia for a  swanky evening of absolutely  fabulous dining! It was just lovely to look out the window and see your beautiful rainbow of dahlias!

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was such a great selection too, It's strength lay in the cast of characters, almost too deliciously varied to be true - including the city of Savannah itself. One could easily think , as some of us did, that it was fiction - but no!

So on to the next book, The Zookeeper's Wife, by Dianne Ackerman. I am linking here a Princeton Book Review site with potential questions, just for fun. We can choose to use to not the questions contained within. I suggested that we each choose a quote from the book to share.

link here

The next meeting date is Saturday afternoon, after Make a Difference Day. Chris Mallon will host place-to-be-determined by the weather and circumstances. Then Chris Peek hosts in November before she goes snowbirding. I am adding the link to the NCRL Book Club page here. It may be helpful in making future book choices, but we are not limited to what is already on the list.

NCRL Book Club Page


You are all invited to several Entiat Public Library events in the near future:

Tuesday, October 7 - 6:00 PM  - Author visit with Susan Kidd

Tuesday, October 14 - 6:00 PM - Author visit with Stan Morse

Thursday, October 16 - 7:00 PM - Friends of the Entiat Public Library Meeting

Esther's Secret Garden

Beautiful view of the garden's while dining at Esther's. Welcome to new members Christine Peek and Judy Bell. Next gathering will be at Debbie G's.

On the Riverside

Barbara, we all thoroughly enjoyed our late morning on the Entiat River: the sounds of the rushing water, the birds singing, the blossoms emerging, the wood ducks flying overhead...and of course the brunch. You and Rob beat Gatsby for entertainment and hosting, hands down! Looking forward to our next meeting at The Pines, Saturday May 17.

Meeting at Debbie D's

Lovely French cooking Debbie. We enjoyed your meal immensely , not so the book! The only one rated lower was Close Range, short stories! Esther's comments, in absent is, were nicely stated on email. Next meeting will be at Barb's, date to be determined.

Kitchen Confidential

I am almost halfway through reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, and bracing myself for the next time I eat in a restaurant! At the same time, I have gained respect for the craft and challenge of running a large and busy  kitchen. I first became familiar with Bourdain through watching episodes of his show - "No Reservations". He is truly an adventurous traveler, cook and consumer of the most diverse menus from many cultures.

I will be in touch with all of you by email, but it may be that I have to miss the next get together, as I will be in Seattle for most of the month. Please enjoy and I will be back in April!!