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!!

Thank you Debbie G.!

Many thanks to Debbie G. for a delicious dinner last week! What a fun time it was!

It was very interesting to hear all of the various cougar and wildlife encounters each of us has had or heard about. Although the description of the book as a "page turner" was not how we experienced it, it was enlightening to us about cougar behavior. It seems only sensible to be wary and aware that we live close to their habitat, and to realize that the more we take it for granted and not of consequence, the more likely a problem may occur.

Our next book should be available next week at the library. Debbie D. chose The Invisible Thread, by Laura Schroff.  -  An Invisible Thread tells of the life-long friendship between a busy sales executive and a disadvantaged young boy, and how both of their lives were changed by what began as one small gesture of kindness.  - from Google Books

Please stop by or give me a call to arrange a way to get the book to you.

We will meet at my house on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 5:30 to exchange books and wrap children's books to be donated to the food bank.  I will offer soup, bread, and cheese. I had said earlier that it would just be dessert type food, but I hope you all are fine with soup! Please bring anything along as a light potluck item if you wish - beverage, dessert or salad! See you soon and Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Book!

We are back on track again, with another good book waiting for everyone to pick up at the library. Our next choice is The Beast in the Garden, by David Baron. With the recent cougar incident in the Stoneridge neighborhood, and the proximity we live to wildlife habitat, it should provide some insight into human/cougar interaction. I expect we will all have at least one good story to relate from our own experiences.


We met at my ( Esther's)  house in September to discuss The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon. We rated the book 5.08. We found it  very interesting and well - written, and unique.
The perspective of the narrator gave an insight into the very literal way in which this autistic boy viewed the world. Several of us were reminded of the book Room, by Emma Donaghue in that the narrator's voice was such a prominent feature of the book. Some of us have a  family member  diagnosed with autism, which made the reading of the book more personal, and perhaps more emotionally difficult.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Deborah Gregory's home in November!

Aha!

Aha! Chris and I figured out a (temporary at least ) solution to our Blogging Dilemna. We still don't know how to add the other members to be able to change the sidebars listing who is up to choose a book and who is next to host, but she is willling to do that. I believe that others may be able to still post stories and make comments - such as I am now doing, as long as you log in and remember or retrieve your password. Chris is happy to continue to maintain those sidebars for us - and if you want to get creative with the design, Chris - Go For It! But she would like us to help out with stories and updates. It is more fun as a joint project.

We all loved seeing Mike and Chris's new amazingly well-built workshop and sharing our meal and thoughts about the book Wild, by Cheryl Strayed.  Her gumption, and inexperience amazed and somewhat appalled us, but we all agreed that her writing was great and the book was fun to read. Youth is a crazy time, and she was lucky to have survived hers.

We welcome Debbie Gregory as our newest member! It is good to grow as a group, and be open to new ideas and viewpoints. Thanks for joining us, Debbie!

I have heard of and wanted to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for a while. The perspective of this book is from a young man  with autism.

Unless I hear differently from most of you,  we will meet at my house (Esther's) on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 5:30 PM.