Camellia for Nancy and for Elegance of the Hedgehog

Thank you ladies, for coming to my house for dinner last week. I totally understand Debbie's reluctance to drive, however. We will soon have better weather, and that should make a nice difference in being able to get together easier.

We rated The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery at 4.62.  The challenging vocabulary, the complicated sentence structure, and the very philosophical tone of the book were topics of discussion. Overall we found the book very thought provoking. The characters celebrated that life, even when fraught with mundane and ordinary circumstances, is in the end a wondrous and beautiful gift, especially when shared with others. It was Nancy's last choice, and it felt like a gift from her.  I would have loved to hear her impressions.

I will be finding out if one of the books that Barbara mentioned as a choice for our next read will be available. If we can get The Brothers K, by David James Duncan, that may be our first pick.  It is a longer read, but once you get along in the story, it is very absorbing. It is more character driven, from my recollection, I read it about 15 years ago.

Best wishes for the now well under way New Year, and may you have a good upcoming Martin Luther King weekend.

Date Changed to Wednesday!

Aha! I figured out how to log on to the blog again!! I don't know how I was doing it wrong before, but thank goodness I remembered my password.  

All of you are invited to meet at my house on Wednesday, January 9 at 5:30 . We will discuss The Elegance of the Hedgehog.  Also, bring your book exchange books from Christmas. I will totally understand if you cannot make it, and we will try to get together again in the near future. 

Blessings! 

Esther

Meeting at Esther's

Esther will host for discussion of "Elegance of the Hedgehog" on Monday January 7 about 5:30. Barbara is next to choose a book, then Debbe.

December 17

We will meet at Claudia's about 6 PM to remember Nancy together, as well as wrap children's books for Christmas. It will be hard to match Nancy's knack of choosing expansive literature choices for our member book exchange! Is someone in charge of bringing paper and ribbon? Book selection discussion s postponed until January.

November 9 Discussion

Thanks Claudia for hosting laughs and discussion of Nora Ephron's book. Particularly delightful were the preparation and serving of the book's meatloaf and the bread pudding!! Barbara says she'll be sure to print off the recipe for us. The book rated a 4. We'll meet next at Nancy's Monday Dec 17.

Update on November meeting

Hi All,

Just want to let you all know that our November meeting date has changed.  We will meet on Friday, November 9th, 6pm at Claudia's  home.  Looking forward to seeing you all then!

November Meeting

We had a lovely early evening meeting at Esther's home last Friday.  Sorry that everyone couldn't make it, but very glad that Adrienne could join us again.  Esther prepared a wonderful meal, as always, and homemade ice cream for desert!  Thank you very much Esther.  Since the meeting was held on a Friday and Esther didn't have to work, we tried something new by meeting at 4:30pm instead of 6pm.  This made it possible for some to arrive straight from work without having to drive home - up river - first.  It also meant that we were able to finish early and still have time to do things in the evening.  We had an interesting discussion of Ann Patchett's book "State of Wonder" and it received a 5.13 rating. 

Our next meeting is planned for Friday, November 2nd, 4:30pm at Claudia's home.  We are currently reading "I Remember Nothing" by Nora Ephron, a compilation of short stories dealing with aging - of which we can all relate.  This looks to be a fun and quick read.  Check with Esther if you need a copy.

Also, our December meeting will be held at Nancy's home.  We will pick a date at the November meeting.  This will be our book exchange as well as the children's book collection.

Can't believe that this year is almost over - yikes!  Time flies, but I'm glad we all manage to spare a bit for reading, sharing and enjoying friends!