December Book Club

This month's book club was our biggest gathering to date! We had a total of 14 ladies join us to discuss this month's book, A Prayer For Owen Meany, by John Irving. Corrine (and Jason) was the fabulous hostess with the mostess and prepared us a meal of burger sliders, bbq chicken bruschetta w/grilled onions, a veggie tray with dip, and (my fav) white chocolate gorp!!! Delicious! Everyone pitched in and brought a bottle of wine, however, Katleyn had to make a wine run in the middle of book club because we were almost out! Talk about a bunch of winos...

Although the book was another long one, it was a touching story about a "little" boy named Owen. The book brought on some deep discussions about life, death, and friendship.

~Laura

September Book Club

Randi hosted Septembers’ Book Club. We read the wonderufl book “A Thousand Splendid Suns”.

The author of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” uses fictional characters to give a historical, factual account of Kabul before and after the Civil War in Afghanistan. The beauty of Kabul is depicted in the first part of the book; however, the author uses the latter three parts to tell how the Civil War changed all that. While the war affected all of Kabul, the book centers around two women, Mariam and Laila, and discusses the suppression of women that was brought on by the war. As a woman, this book really makes you feel pain for the women living in Kabul during that time but, at the same time, you feel grateful that you live in a country that has taken great strides to get past such a time. This book also makes you realize that while we were suffering during the 9/11 attacks, the majority people in Afghanistan were suffering just as much.

Randi hosted this event in her new, beautiful home. She prepared a delicious and healthy meal, though she provided add-ons for those who did not want the healthy choice. I think everyone took advantage of the add-ons, especially when it came to the dessert. Which reminds me, Randi, we are still waiting for that apple crisp recipe!!

-Alisa

August Book Club

The book for Augusts’ Book Club was “The Art of Racing in the Rain”. Though the title suggests otherwise, it was only fitting that our book club's biggest dog lover, Mandi, hosted the event.

“The Art of Racing in the Rain” actually begins with Enzo on his death bed. The rest of the story is about Enzo’s life as a “dog”, though he was more human than many humans even are. Enzo extensively studied life of a human by watching TV and his owner, race car driver Denny Swift, who went through almost every life joy and trial possible since he brought Enzo home. Enzo predominantly blames his tongue, which is not conducive to pronouncing words, and his lack of opposable thumbs as his major setbacks toward being human. Thanks to car racing Enzo and Denny learned “The Art of Racing in the Rain" and, together, survived some of life’s greatest trials.

After picking such an amazing book, it was only fitting that Mandi cooked us a wonderful dinner, that is once she put the FIRE out!! Let’s just say it was a HOT kitchen! She even went all out with food in “dog bowls" and made “dog bone” brownies. What really made the night complete was having Mandie's two dogs sitting in the center of our discussion circle, probably wishing they had a human tongue and opposable thumbs so that they could speak their piece with a glass of wine in hand.
-Alisa

July Book Club

Lindsey was the fine host of July’s book club event, for which we read “Beautiful Boy – A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Meth Addiction” (Author – David Sheff).

“Beautiful Boy” is a true story about a father’s (David Sheff’s) struggle to help his son (Nic) beat his meth addiction. While that is the main storyline David goes beyond that relationship and recounts the toll his Nic’s addition took on his father’s marriage and Nic’s relationship with his step-mother and step-siblings. A therapist made a great point to remind the family they must take care of themselves first before they become addicted to the addiction. With their own family on the line, the Sheff parents are faced with the hardest questions – What can parents do? How much can parents do? When must the parents let their child figure it out on their own?

We discussed the book while wining (though we had margaritas this time) and dining on a homemade Mexican feast courtesy of Lindsey and her Grandmother, Mary Lou who came down all the way from Brush,CO to cook for us. There was more delicious and authentic food than our group could handle (I think Lindsey is still eating the leftovers she froze). We also managed to fit in a birthday celebration for Lindsey and Laura.

Alisa

June book club

The Girls on the Trail

The Book Choice for June was " Into the Wild" which is based on a true story by Jon Krakauer. After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Throughout his journey, McCandless encounters a series of characters that shape his life.

With this read we decided to do book club "out in the wild"! We met for a hike at Lair o' the Bear Park on Sunday June 29th. After our hike we relaxed and enjoyed a classic pinic that Laura had prepared for us. We made our own lil' sandwiches, along with some pasta salad, refreshing fruits, some fresh brownies , and we changed it up this time and enjoyed chilled Mojitos.

The sun was out and it was a perfect day for our hike and picnic!!!

-Lindsey

May book club- Pretty is What Changes

All of Us Enjoying Our Wonderful Meal

Dede, Laura, Tammie , and Alisa smile for the camera

Tammie, Amy,Dede, Laura, Corrine

The book is the story of a young woman who tests positive for the BCRA1 gene mutation after watching her mother survive breast cancer only to die of ovarian cancer. This excellent book presents the facts in a logical, organized format and addresses the frightening statistic that the 36-year-old author has an 87 percent chance of developing breast or 43 percent ovarian cancer over her lifetime. Jessica Queller is intelligent, funny, gorgeous and most of all real.

I think this read should be required for anyone that has a family history of breast cancer.

Our Book Club met on Friday May 16, 2008 at my place. Alisa served a very delicious Italian Feast, some appetizers, lasagna, and along with an absolute amazing cheesecake topped with raspberry sauce, washing it down with several bottles of wine.

This book discussion was probably one of the more controversial topics we’ve had thus far. The “hottest” topic of the evening was probably the breast reconstruction after having a mastectomy. There were different opinions on whether going through with the reconstruction procedure or not, and personal incentives of their reason.

As soon as we finished the serious discussions, we still managed to laugh all night and enjoy our time together! Cheers!

~Lindsey

WELCOME

Book Lovers that just love a good book!

It's a group of young women, from all walks of life!

We meet once a month to discuss a great book, enjoy dinner, and drink lots of wine!

We have a good laugh, share stories, and make new friends!!!!