A Detective's Tale

 We all gathered at my home this August to share friendship and our love of reading.  I stole Esther's typical menu idea and made soup.  Yes, it's hot and one doesn't expect warm soup this time of year, but every time I thought about what to make, this is what popped into my head.  Everyone contributed and we enjoyed a pleasant meal.  We reviewed "Mrs Sherlock Holmes" by Brad Ricca.  This is a biography of an amazing woman, Grace Humiston,  at the turn of the 20th century.  She was a lawyer advocating for immigrants, investigated modern day slavery as a US District Attorney and acted as a detective, solving the murder of an 18 year old girl.  Truly remarkable in her day, yet history forgot about her.  The book itself was scattered and hard to follow, skipping back and forth in time and topics.  It's a shame it wasn't presented in a better, more organized manner as her remarkable story was diminished by this presentation.  It did spark lively discussion on women's rights and politics and showed us that things haven't changed much during this last century - some stories always remain the same.  Thank you all for your contributions and sharing.  I'm looking forward to our next meeting which is planned for Thursday September 8th at Debbie G's home.  See you then!

Welcome Home Chris Peek!

 Chris P has just returned from Arizona and was gracious enough to host a pot luck book club meeting.  It was a lovely summer's eve and so nice to catch up with old friends.  Thank you Chris!

We discussed our latest read, "Educated" by Tara Westover.  This was a remarkable story, an autobiography of Tara Westover's upbringing in a Mormon survivalist family.  Tara decided to go to college, seek an education and find a new kind of life. "Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home."

Recommended Reading

 Here are some book recommendations:

Recommended by Chris Peek:

Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear - NOTE: The American Agent is available as a book club kit

Farmacology by Daphne Miller

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller

The Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca - NOTE: this is available as a book club kit

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery - NOTE: this is available as a book club kit

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah - NOTE: this is available as a book club kit

Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar - NOTE: this is available as a book club kit

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Recommended by Chris Mallon:

Driving Miss Norma by Tim Bauerschmidt

Recommended by Judy Schmidt:

What They Found by Rod Molsan

Walking Home by Rick Rogers

Recommended by Judy Bell: 

Remembering the Osage Kid by Mardi Oakley Medawar

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

The Stranger in the Life Boat by Mitch Albom

Cloud Cuckooland by Anthony Doerr

Searching for the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard

Recommended by Esther:

The Professor and the Madman: a Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

A Merry Christmas!

 We met again at Judy Schmidt's this month and enjoyed a tasty chicken vegetable soup with bread.  Thank you Judy for making us warm and welcome!  As we discussed our book, "Cave of Bones", we wrapped gift books for local children.  We also made final contributions to our Christmas Jar and found we had collected $300.00 for one local Entiat family to brighten their holiday!  A Merry Christmas to all and a save, healthy and happy New Year!

September 17, 2021:  We were able to resume meeting after Covid with an outdoor-deck gathering at Judy Schmidt's; briefly discuss our last read over a year ago "Me Before You", and resume our list. A meeting was set up for Esther's garden patio November 4 to discuss "The Library Book". The Christmas Jar is resumed!

We gain so much by reading

We met at Maureen's to enjoy a recipe of Ethiopian cooking and discuss this epic novel, Cutting for Stone. A novel, as Claudia said, of love and betrayal, compassion and redemption...resilience, fortitude and the fragility of life. Add to that learning about a country and political events with a heavy dose of medical intertwined. It was a complex tale with many quotables by this eloquent writer:


"Life is like that. You live it forward, but understand it backwards."



"Wasn't that the definition of home? Not where you are from, but where you are wanted?"

The Slipper Story, whose moral is that you own who you are, "not only our actions but also our omissions become our destiny."

"we are all fixing what is broken, it is the task of a lifetime. We'll leave much unfinished for the next generation."

The rankings were high; between 5 and 6, for 5.4 average.

Hopefully our absent members can make the next meeting April 23 at Chris's; and Nika rejoining us.
We need to remind Ann at Book Club NCRL of our schedule for upcoming books.

Our Jar

Don't forget our upcoming meeting March 5, 2020 at Maureen's.  We'll make our jar grow!