Changes for 2012 Book Club...

Change is sometimes daunting, scary or hard.  Sometimes it is rewarding, beneficial and freeing. 

I hope the changes I am planning for next year's book club are of the positive nature.  While, the early months of juggling a child, work and daily life wasn't too much, it has now hit a point where something has to give.  My husband's business is thriving (which is EXCELLENT, so so excellent) but that means lots of late nights.  Which in turn, puts more childcare and house work on me.  Which in turn, makes me super duper tired and wanting to veg on the couch.  Which you would think, would make me read more, however, my brain can't handle words and I get easily distracted.

So, instead of 4 check-in's a month I will only be posting 2 check-in's.  If anyone wants to do an extra check-in on the other odd weeks that is more than fine with me, even if it is sporadic.  So, depending how the dates fall we will discuss the book on the 2nd and 4th Friday's of the month.  I am hoping that will give people even more time to get the books and more time to read / catch up.

Also, some months (I've got my eye on February and April off the top of my head) we may join up with another month and do an extra long month read.  So say we may do Feb/March together and April/May together.  I will let you know when I add the post for the monthly suggestions. 

I am so thankful for the participation and feedback given in the last 2!!! years we have been reading together.  I want to continue the monthly books and our talks, but I know to put forth my best effort and to be fair to those doing the reading, I need to adjust this. 

Thanks for being understanding and for participating!!

Do you like these new changes? Any other thoughts?

Books on TV

I am a nerd. I like watching old movies and I grew up watching TCM (Turner Classic Movie channel) with my grandpa late at night. I was browsing through their selection for the next week or so to see what was coming up and next Sunday, August 15th they are doing a special on Margaret O' Brien who played the role of Mary Lennox (among other popular roles), the orphan in The Secret Garden. The Secret Garden was our July Group Read for our blogger book club and for those of you who enjoy old movies or watching the movies to the books you have read or for those of you who like to watch the movie but not read the book :::glares at my hubby:: then you may want to turn in to TCM next Sunday at 8:00 p.m. to watch The Secret Garden.

( photo taken from wikipedia)

this is from the trailer from Journey for Margaret

From gathering information from TCM's website, it appears this is the only version of The Secret Garden that stars a major child star in the role of Mary Lennox. Margaret O'Brien shot to fame in movie Journey for Margaret in 1942 at the age of 5!!!! She also played Beth in the 1949 adaptation to Little Women, my FAVORITE book ever. Which will be also airing next Sunday at 5:45 for those Little Women fans out there! (I may have to have my hubby record these for me, since we are having family over. Because I want to see Little Women, I don't think I have seen that version, but I may be wrong. I will also give The Secret Garden a shot, but I don't know if it will hold my attention. Maybe it will surprise me!)

Also, the movie is filmed in black and white EXCEPT for the parts where they are in the garden. Those are in color. I really would be interested in seeing how they can transform the description of the gardens into reality in the film.



Do you enjoy watching old movies?

August's Group Read is..

The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch!

Description: Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a guidance coun...more Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a guidance counselor in her hometown, trying for a baby. Perfect.

In fact, on the surface you might never know how tough things used to be. At seventeen, Tilly lost her mother to cancer, her father drowned his grief in alcohol, and she played parent to her two younger sisters more often than being a kid herself. Still Tilly never let tragedy overtake her belief that hard work and good cheer could solve any problem. Of course she’s also spent a lifetime plastering a smile on her face and putting everyone else’s problems ahead of her own.
But that relentless happiness has served her well—her sisters are grown and content, her dad is ten years sober, and she’s helping her students achieve all their dreams while she and her husband, Tyler, start a family. A perfect life indeed.

Then one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into the fortune teller’s tent and is greeted by an old childhood friend, now a psychic, who offers her more than just a reading. “I’m giving you the gift of clarity,” her friend says. “It’s what I always thought you needed.” And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; Tyler uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway; and even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tilly’s perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And she’s not sure what’s more frightening: that she’s begun to see the future or what the future holds . . .

As Tilly furiously races to keep up with—and hopefully change—her destiny, she faces the question: Which is the life she wants? The one she’s carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible.

I am so excited to read this one! I won it in a giveaway from Booking Mama and have been excited to read it. I know that we have some new people to join us this month and that makes me excited as well! If you want to do a guest post, or post your own review on your blog, let me know and I will post it here to share the word! The more the merrier because in the end, the more talk about books, the happier I am!

I also have to say that the cover of the book is super cute and may be a teensy part of why I wanted to read it!

Who can believe it is August? Holy crap. I don't want it to almost be fall. As much as I love college football, I love me some summer time, laying in my hammock or in my pool.

What did you read this weekend? I am finishing up Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, about to start The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and I have another book waiting for me at the library on a hold that I don't remember. I better get busy!

August Group Read Suggestions

It's that time of month again.. Time to decide what we shall read together next month! My review of The Secret Garden (this month's pick) will be posted Monday and discussion questions will be posted at some time next week as well!

Check out this site for some book club ideas if you are stuck! http://www.bookmovement.com/

Or just suggest a book you've been wanting to read and talk about!

Our past books
I See You Everywhere
Pride & Prejudice
The Awakening
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Reader
Middlesex
Firefly Lane
American Wife
House Rules
The Secret Garden
????

Poll is up!!

Go vote on the sidebar for the June Book Club selection!!!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

June Book Club Suggestions..

Hey all! What do you recommend for our first summer selection of our book club?

Our Past Selections are....

Pride & Prejudice
The Awakening
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
I See You Everywhere
The Reader
Middlesex
American Wife

What will it be for our 8th month?

This will be open for suggestions through Saturday the 29th.. Poll will be posted over the weekend and the selection will be announced on Tuesday the 1st!

May Group Read is...

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield! I read this back in January of 2009 and really really liked it! I am not going to have enough time to re-read, but I am sure you allll will enjoy it! If anyone would like to guest blog about it, you may contact me at pinkflipflops44 at gmail dot com. I will be sure to post some discussion posts along the way!



Goodreads.com Description: A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice Lindgren has no idea that she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. In her small Wisconsin hometown, she learns the virtues of politeness, but a tragic accident when she is seventeen shatters her identity and changes the trajectory of her life. More than a decade later, when the charismatic son of a powerful Republican family sweeps her off her feet, she is surprised to find herself admitted into a world of privilege. And when her husband unexpectedly becomes governor and then president, she discovers that she is married to a man she both loves and fundamentally disagrees with–and that her private beliefs increasingly run against her public persona. As her husband’s presidency enters its second term, Alice must confront contradictions years in the making and face questions nearly impossible to answer.

I really can't tell you enough how good it is! I always liked Laura Bush because she seems so danged nice and just not who I would think the devil er I mean George Bush should be married too! I am going to be reading The Perfect Wife (which is about her) and I want to read her new auto- bio that is coming out!

Enjoy! Oh and 18 days of school left.. not that I'm counting.. not that my sanity may be diminished.. not that I want to be done testing and .. and ... and...

So sadly, I may not be posting too much right now as I am just going out of my mind crazy.. though I do have a review that I need to type up soon!

May Book Blogger Suggestions

Leave your suggestions for the May Group Read here! Will post the poll on Saturday, May 1st. Late I know, whoops! Can't wait to see what we come up with this time around.

Middlesex - Book One

I will be dead honest. This has been super hard to get into. Not only have I been super busy with life and work, the book hasn't drawn me in. Sure, when I am reading I am all into it, but then I get sleepy and have to go to bed. So, not sure if I am going to finish this by the end of the month. How is it going for everyone else so far?

Book One

We are introduced Cal and the Stephanides family. I find the history of the family story quite interesting. What I find hard is the "fluff" or the extra stuff some of us agreed we don't like last week. ;)

Cal's grandma, Desdemona, and grandpa, Lefty, are revealed to be brother and sister. We learn of the Turks invading and them leaving behind their homeland to escape to America. In their travels, they meet a nice doctor, who helps Lefty when he is in need. He is Armenian and has a paper keeping his family save because of services he gave to the Turk leader. However, the soldiers who 'visit' is family are illiterate and they kill his entire family. Lefty pretends they are French to get them safe passage to Athens and to a new life. Desdemona uses a different name, and Lefty and her "meet" and marry on the ship to America.

I am pretty grossed out about the brother/sister relationship. Like ew. Anyone else having that problem?

How far along in the book are you?

December Blogger Book Club suggestions..

I have enjoyed reading our first to selections I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass and (still finishing) Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. The first is probably not a book I would have picked to read on my own and the second is one I wanted to discuss with others. :)

So any suggestions for December? Is there a holiday themed book you've always wanted to read? Another classic that is itchy to be read? Or a newer book you've wanted to tackle?

Leave suggestions in the comments until Thursday afternoon and on Friday I will put up a poll for Decembers group read with the winner decided by Monday evening and announced Tuesday, December 1st.

Get suggesting.. :)

Blogger Book Club: Check in!

How is everyone doing on reading Pride & Prejudice?? I am really loving it. It's been much easier to get into than I had thought back when I first attempted it back in July.

I really enjoyed the verbal sparring between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. It makes me feel like I'm in a courtroom drama with the jarring back and forth. It always intrigues me with the way the written language can be twisted and how far it has come since the 1800s when Jane Austen wrote her novels.

I must confess that so far, I have NOT figured out what the hoopla is about how some people 'want to find their own Mr. Darcy." So far, he seems like any other random cocky guy. So you want a guy? Is that what women are saying? I also was QUITE disappointed in how Elizabeth so readily listened to what Wickham had to say about Darcy. I mean, I thought she was smarted than that. Apparently, not.

I did mark one quote that I will share.. "Stupid men, are the only ones worth knowing, after all." Hah.. That made my night when I came across it.

Now for a discussion question..

Two central characters in Austen have her own first name.In Emma: Jane Fairfax is a decorous, talented, beautiful woman.In Pride and Prejudice: Jane Bennet is everything lovely.What do you make of that? Taken from Litlovers.com

Personally, I think Jane is a common name; and while it is interesting that her Jane's were beautiful/loved/talented I don't think it was done PURELY out of selfish reasons. However, it is obvious why Lydia wasn't a Jane nor Mrs. Bennet a Jane, ya know? I think Jane Austen wrote what she knew and she wrote to escape. She had to have been a huge people watcher and a private person and through her novels she got to live.

What are your thoughts on Pride & Prejudice? Have a quote you'd like to share? A question? Let's get a discussion going!

Have a fabulous weekend!

November Blogger Book Club book suggestions..

What would you all like to read for the November installment? I know a few of us really want to read more classics. I know it is always easier to sometimes digest some of them when you talk about it with others. So if you want to suggest a classic go for it! Or whatever else suits your fancy. Want some ideas of good group reads? Here is a link..

Let the suggestion fly.. Suggest as many as you'd like. Leave a link to a review if possible... I will post a poll on Friday/Saturday to decide which would we will read!

So far we have read..
1. I see You Everywhere - Julia Glass

Don't forget the Hot & Bothered giveaway!

Blogger Book Club: Friday Check in!

So ladies, how is it going? Have you started I See You Everywhere? I got it from the library Monday and started reading it. I have sadly only made it to page 19. I tried reading it every night before bed and well I kept falling asleep! Not that it is boring, just that I am super tired. So far I really like it and see a lot of humor in it. I love reading books about "Southern ladies." I find them to be the most entertaining. I have plans on doing some reading today because I have the day off and more reading on Sunday. I forget how working really gets in the way of my reading. :)

Anything stand out to you so far? Favorite parts? Things you don't like? Any observations..

This line is currently cracking me up..

"Don't you adore its sheer presence? So equisisitely masculine! A stevedore. A gigolo!" In her mouth, that word was a delicacy, a chocolate covered
cherry, and she gave me a new smile - hardly the smile of a maiden aunt - so I
overrode my own veto. (I See You Everywhere, pgs. 18, 19)

So any big plans for the weekend? Hub's cousin is in town from Oklahoma and we are going to celebrate his and another friends bday, by tailgating, watching some college football and having a good time! I'm hoping picking out pumpkins and pumpkin pie can somehow figure its way into the weekend. Oh and that these crazy cramps will leave so I can be as productive as my thoughts!

October Book selection

I added a poll to the side of my blog. Vote between now and Saturday at 3pm to decide which book we will read! I am excited to get started.. I have not had a lot of time to read in September and plan to read a lot this weekend!! If I don't sleep the whole thing away. The kiddo's at school are wearing me out!

Book Club...

Thinking it over and reading responses. I am thinking we should just read one book a month for now and perhaps in the summer months (it seems most of us have more free time then) maybe add a second book? If that is fine with everyone, I suggest we start taking suggestions for October!

Suggest one or more in the comments and if possibly leave a link to a review so others can read about it. Then Thursday I will post a poll and Saturday/Sunday announce the book of the month. Next month I will have us pick one BEFORE the month starts but since we are just starting, it will give us a few days to nominate books and vote.

Then hopefully I will be able to start reading whatever book we choose right away and start making posts for discussion!! (And feel free to do so on your blogs too!!)

Happy Reading!!

Blogger Book Club

I was thinking tonight how there are so many books out there that I would love to read, but at the same time only really want to read them if I had people to talk them over. I was thinking there is a small enough group that reads here that we could do a monthly book club. We could pick 1 to 3 books that we all could read or if we chose we could read whatever one out of the selections that we wanted or had time too.

While reading we could post blogs on our own sites about certain passages, questions we were having or reactions. After we finished reading it we could post our reviews on our own blogs and during the last week of that month I would post different discussion question on my blog that everyone could respond too. Or others could do this as well.

I would also post a blog towards the end of each month where everyone could leave their suggestion for the next month’s read and leave the suggesting open for a few days and then I would post a poll on my site and everyone could vote for however many books we decided upon and the book(s) with the most votes would be our group reads of the month.

What do you think? Who would join this book club?