Back to Books....again.

I cannot believe it has been almost an entire year since I have written anything here.  What a sad testament to the state of my reading affairs during the school year.  Once again, I vow to do better...to read more, write more and stay current with my beloved Book Club website.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

After the movie starring Johnny Depp came out recently, I was talking with a friend about the original story.  I knew I had read it a few times as a child and I recognized the ephemoral and dreamy quality in the movie but I was certain the story was not the same as the book at all.  He assured me that the story in the movie was the same except for some minor differences and of course I had to re-read it and find out for myself.  The movie was in no way like the book except for the main characters....Alice, The Red Queen, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, etc.  However, the situations were entirely different.  I think the screenplay for the movie must have been written using the poem "Jabberwocky" from the book since it is the only time the JubJub bird, the Bandersnatch, the Jabberwocky, slaying the Jabberwocky, frabjous day or the vorpal sword are ever mentioned and upon which the entire movie is based.  Well, enough about the movie.  The book was as dreamy and silly as I remembered.  It would be like waking from a very bizarre dream and writing it all down which is why I must have liked it as a child.
There is a new childrens book trilogy by Frank Beddor which begins with a book called The Looking Glass Wars in which Wonderland is not an imagined fantasy world but real.  The new Alyss is heir to the throne of the Red Queen when her murderous Aunt Redd kills Alyss' parents and steals the throne.  Alyss escapes with the Hatter but they are seperated while fleeing to our world through the Pool of Tears.  Alyss is lost and alone in Victorian England.  The Hatter is searching every corner of our world to find Alyss and return her home to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.  I think it sounds interesting and puts a whole new twist on the original Alice's story.

Drawing in the Dust by Zoe Klein

From the back cover:  "Brilliant archaeologist Page Brookstone has toiled at Israel's storied battlegrounds of Megiddo for twelve years, yet noneof the ancient remnants she has unearthed deliver the life-altering message she craves.  Which is why she risks her professional reputation when a young Arab couple begs her to excavate beneath their home.  Ibrahim and Naima Barakat claim the spirits of two lovers overwhelm everyone who enters with love and desire.  As Page digs, she makes a miraculous discovery - the bones of deeply troubled prophet Jeremiah locked in eternal embrace with a mysterious woman.  Buried with the entwined skeletons is a collection of scrolls that challenge centuries-old interpretations of the prophet's story and create a worldwide fervor.  Caught in a forbidden romance of her own, and under siege from religious zealots and relentless critics, Page endangers her life to share the lover's story with the world.  But in doing so, she discovers she must let go of her own painful past."

I enjoyed this book.  I thought it was interesting and imaginative, similar to The Red Tent in that it is biblical fiction.  I use the term biblical very loosely.  While the bones discovered in the book are of the prophet Jeremiah and the author, who is a progressive female rabbi, obviously knows her Old Testament I found I was having to set aside my own knowledge and beliefs in order to enjoy this work of fiction.  The author has a flowery, lyrical writing style that was beautiful to read but a little unbelievable coming out of every character's mouth.  All in all it was a good book.  I would recommend it, it is definitely different but worthwhile.

Catching Up

So many months have gone by that I feel the need to catch up a little bit before we continue. A little re-formatting, some new pictures, etc.

I left off at Lunch in Paris in February. In March we met for The Adventures of Miles and Isabel at Barbara's house. The meal was Australian theme with Shrimp on the Barbie and other classic Australian dishes. The group felt that something must have been lost in the translation from Australian culture to American because it just seemed as if we were missing important australian cultural experiences to fully appreciate the novel.

In April we met at Jen's house for My Name is Asher Lev. Of course the food theme was Jewish. Everyone seemed to like the book and a few expressed interest in reading the sequel which published 20 years later. Hopefully we will hear more about Asher in the future.

May's Book, The Hunger Games was celebrated at Karie's house with lots of salad and other natural food choices. The book was well liked and currently most of us have read the sequel Catching Fire and a few of us are anxiously awaiting the last intallment of the trilogy Mockingjay which will be released August 24 of this year.

In June we took a break from group choices and each read and shared our Beach Reads for the month of June. It was a small meeting at Tracy's house with classic summer fare including sliders, baked beans, caprese salad, potato salad, and summery wine and cocktail choices. It was nice to see everyone relax and share their mostly erotic summer reading choices.

This month we are reading When Elephants Weep, our Animal genre selection. The genres for the rest of the year include Award Winner, Banned Book, Horror/Sci-fi and Comedy/Humor. Currently we have read 50 books together since the inception of Book Club in January 2006. If you ever want to know all of the titles we have read so far, simply check out the column of books to the right.

Sorry to be so remiss in chronicling our book journeys together. I'll try to stay on top of things better. Happy Summer to all of you! Keep Reading!

Patriot Ball Puppy Basket

Update on the Puppy Basket we put together for the Patriot Ball, the fundraiser dinner for Temecula Preparatory School. It sold for $220. Thank you to all who participated. The school and I appreciate your generosity.

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard

It was unanimous, this Book Club Meeting was by far the best food yet. The way people arrived and how the food came out of the oven, it turned out to be a course meal...we ate and talked and laughed from 7:30 to 9:30. The phrase by the end of the night was "fetch me a bucket!" We started with escargot (everyone was brave and sampled at least one), then we had Mushroom Turnovers and some amazing herbed brie and baguette, a fresh palate cleansing Tabouleh salad with fresh squeezed grapefruit dressing, Chicken and Pepper Stew served over roasted red potatoes, Honey Rosemary Pork ribs, then we had homemade Coconut Macaroons, a spiced apple turnover, yougurt cake and individual molten chocolate lava cakes with plenty of French wine. It was a night to remember.

The book was okay. The recipes in the book were amazing. It was interesting to note the differences in French and American culture. Once again, a great evening out with the ladies!

January Book Club Meeting

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

To start the year off with a bang we chose one of the books from the Book Exchange in December. It turned out to be a good choice. I personally like Margaret Atwood's writing style and thought the book was thought provoking and just controversial enough to prompt a good discussion. In The Year of the Flood we are introduced to two former members of an ecologically aware organization, called God’s Gardeners, that melds science and religion. The Gardners preach non-violence, resourcefulness and respect for all living things, but are dismissed by others as a “greenie cult.” Toby is a longtime member-turned-health spa worker, and Ren is a young exotic dancer. The “Waterless Flood”–a deadly plague foretold by the Gardners–has arrived, destroying most of the human life. Toby, Ren and other survivors must find each other in the aftermath of this disaster, and Atwood takes us along as they explore their present and remember their pasts.

As always, the meeting was a blast. We had great food, including some "secret burgers" and spent the evening laughing so hard we almost sent Lori into labor!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I picked this book up at a 2nd hand bookstore, based on the blurb on the back. I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it. It is the story of Liesel Meminger, an illiterate nine year old girl, who is completely changed when she learns to read. She becomes an efficient thie
f, along with her best friend Rudy. The book is narrated by Death, who is fascinated with her, and finds time to watch her, in spite of the punishing workload WWII is providing him. It is the most innovative book I have read, maybe ever. It is an original story, brilliantly written. There are moments of humor, revenge, gore, and real true pure love. I did not realize until I finished the book that it was intended for a Young Adult audience. I would recommend it cautiously to most teenagers, but heartily to all adults. Reading this book was an unequaled pleasure.

Her Fearful Symmetry

When Elspeth dies, she leaves her London area apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These girls are American and have never met their aunt, who also happened to be their mother's twin. The only rule Elspeth sets for the twins to get the apartment is that their parents can never set foot in the place and after a year of living there, they can sell it or do what they want. Julia and Valentina are about 20yrs old and have been to several colleges and have dropped out of each one, they do not have any drive or determination to get on with their lives, they are very happy living at home in a suburb of Chicago. They go to live in the apartment which is on the other side of the wall from Highgate Cemetery. They meet their neighbors along with their aunt's lover who also lives in the building. This book is about sisters, mothers, love, hate, live and death. It is also a ghost story which seems right since it is set next door to a cemetery. There are a couple of twists, one you can figure out pretty easily, the second one you sit back and think to yourself, man, that's f'd up. I liked it, but it is no Time Traveler's Wife.

My Horizontal Life, A Collection of One-night Stands by Chelsea Handler

Let me just say, I love Chelsea Handler. I think she's hilarious. I don't know if that biased me towards this book, maybe, but probably not. I laughed out loud reading this book. It is what it says it is, short essays and stories of her various sexual dalliances. If you are offended by vagina, big penis, little penis, midgets, drugs and vodka, this is not your kind of book. She writes like she is in the room talking to you, telling you the story of her latest night out. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I could relate to more than one of the stories. It really is an easy read, and a nice palliate cleanser after Push.

Push by Sapphire

The movie that is out right now, Precious, is based on this book. I haven't seen the movie, but the book is pretty intense. It follows Precious Jones, and illiterate 16yr old who is pregnant with her second child by her father. She is kicked out of school in part to her pregnancy and sent to an alternative school where she meets a teacher who inspires her to learn to read and write her feelings down in a journal. She also meets classmates who don't judge her or her situation. Through Precious and her journal, we learn about her home life, the repeated rapes by her father and the brutal abuse by her mother. Since it is Precious' story and her words, the language and text is not something we are used to seeing, she should be in the twelf' grade but she is in the ninfe grade, she likes her maff class.

I think I was expecting more because the movie has gotten such acclaim, but it was a good book and grabbed you within the first few pages. It isn't a big novel, but the subject matter is such that it isn't an easy read. It is intense, brutal, repulsive, ugly, depressing, and compelling. I think the thing that really got me was that even though this is a work of fiction, I know that sh*t like this happens more that we want to admit.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This book was intense! In a time after the Second Civil War which was fought between the pro-lifers and the pro-choicers, there is now the Bill of Life which states that life is inviolable from conception until the age of 13. Once a child has reached thirteen years they may be retroactively aborted by unwinding. This satisfied both sides because the Unwinds life does not technically end because all of their parts are distributed among others who need or can afford them. This story follows three Unwinds who have escaped and are simply trying to live until their eighteenth birthdays when they can no longer be lawfully unwound.

This book is incredible. It is difficult to read because of the subject matter and impossible to put down at the same time. Even with the terrifying story I would highly recommend it. It is in the same league as The Giver by Lois Lowery and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Wow!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is a look at teenage suicide through the eyes of the deceased. Hannah has committed suicide and she has thirteen reasons why she chose to end her young life. She has made audio tapes and mailed them to her "reasons" in order of their influence. We spend the night with Clay as he listens to her tapes and remember how viscous and cutthroat high school can be. Two things struck me while reading this book: 1) I never heard a good enough reason for her to commit suicide, is there ever one? and 2) I wish I had known as a teenager what I know now and simply ignored all of the gossip and backstabbing, I would have been much happier. It is an interesting book. I definitely would have picked this one up in high school.

Book Exchange/The Christmas List

I think we all agreed that The Christmas List was a trite piece of trash but we were thankful in the busyness of the season that it was a quick, easy read.

The Book Exchange and Potluck was AMAZING!!! The food, the company, the hilarity! You ladies are all incredible! We had some of the most amazing food...Shrimp Scampi, Antipasto platters, artichoke dip, italian sausage and peppers, spagetti, bruschetta, french bread, wine, tiramasu, coconut cake, gingerbread...it was all wonderful! I am sure I forgot something but I know it was all delicious!

I am looking forward to another incredible year. Look to the left for the new list of Book Genres for the year. That's right, I said it, g-e-n-r-e...deal with it! Ciao!

Joy School by Elizabeth Berg

Do you ever sit down to read a book and decide to like it before you even read the first page? I did this with Joy School. It is written from the perspective of a 13 year old girl who moves to a new school and falls in love with an older man. Her love is unrequited and never once through the entire book did I question that the story wasn't written by a thirteen year old. I liked this book. It isn't earth shattering but Berg is an insightful and comfortable writer which made this story enjoyable.

Shrimp Scampi Gambino Style

Sorry, but I don't have a picture of the scampi. I do have a picture of the cover of the book I got the recipe from, The Mafia Cookbook, by Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi. This is more than a cookbook, it is full of stories both inside and outside the mafia, he eventually testifies in eleven different mob trials and goes into the witness protection program. These recipes are tested on the mobsters and the FBI agents assigned to protect Joe. It's a fun book! This recipe he made for Anthony "Fat Andy" Ruggiano, a Gambino capo, Checko Brown, a Colombo family soldier, and Skinny Bobby DeSimone, who after eatting this could no way be skinny! Here is the gut busting buttery goodness that is Shrimp Scampi Gambino Style:

2lbs shrimp

3/4lb (3 sticks, yikes!) softened butter

3 shallots chopped fine

4 cloves garlic , crushed & chopped fine (I used a few more)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2tbls chopped fresh parsley (I used basil instead)

1/2c plain bread crumbs

1 egg yolk

2tsp Red Devil hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

Salt & pepper to taste

Clean & devein shrimp, place them in a large flat pan. Mix butter, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, bread crumbs, egg yolk, hot sauce & salt/pepper in bowl (I used my hands). Spoon over raw shrimp. Place under broiler for 3-5min, checking occasionally so they do not overcook. Spoon excess melted sauce (BUTTER!) over shrimp & serve. I warmed this up the next day over pasta...mmmm, butter & shrimp & pasta & wine....

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

This book was in the running for our mystery selection in October so it has been on my radar and I've seen it at Target for a while. The synopsis on BN says: A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue.It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.

This book starts out a little too slow for my liking but eventually picks up. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Lisbeth. I wanted to know more about her and why she is the way she is. The novel can be a bit graphic at times when dealing with a murder scene and leaves you with some unanswered questions about motivation for the crime and Lisbeth, she's the biggest mystery to me. I'm hoping that The Girl Who Played With Fire, the second book in the trilogy, gives some answers and insight to Lisbeth. One side note, the author, Stieg Larsson, wrote all three books, turned in the manuscripts to the publisher, then died of a heart attack a few days later so he never saw his words published and to the acclaim they were received. I'll have this at the next book club to submit to the underground.

Fanny Hill Meeting

Book of erotica from the 1700's - $10
One penis cake complete with blue veins and vermillion head - $10
Petticoats for all to throw over their heads - $40
Night of hilarity with the ladies of Book Club - PRICELESS

The Book of Lost Things

BN synopsis: High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populatedby heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

When I first picked this book up, I thought it was maybe a book for young adults, but couldn't find the YA on the book. I then saw that this book won the Alex Award in 2007 which honors adult books that appeal to teen readers. I can see how it would appeal to teens, it takes all the fairy tales we grew up with and twists them into what David, the main character, imagines them to be if they were real. In his fantasy world, Snow White is extremely fat and the dwarfs feel oppressed by 'her' and call themselves Comrade Brother One, Two, Three, etc... It is a little violent and would recommend this for adults and about 8th/9th grade and beyond and has a surprisingly sweet ending.

The Know-It-All

I'm sure we all remember the set of Encyclopedia Britannica's on the book shelf in the back of our 5th grade class room when we had to do our first research paper on a country and their import/exports, I know I do. A.J. Jacobs, the author/subject of The Know-It-All, takes the Britannica and all the knowledge within, and sets about with a singular goal, to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A-Z, about 33,000 pages. The synopsis from BN: Early in his career, A. J. Jacobs found himself putting his Ivy League education to work at Entertainment Weekly. After five years he learned which stars have fake boobs, which stars have toupees, which have both, and not much else. This unsettling realization led Jacobs on a life-changing quest: to read the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica, all 33,000 pages, all 44 million words. Jacobs accumulates useful and less-so knowledge, and along the way finds a deep connection with his father (who attempted the same feat when Jacob's was a child), examines the nature of knowledge vs. intelligence, and learns how to be rather annoying at cocktail parties. Part memoir/part-education (or lack thereof), it's an entertaining (and alphabetical) look at the true nature of knowledge.

I really enjoyed this book, it was out loud funny and an easy read. Jacobs really does go through from A-Z, letting the reader know about a-ak (the first word) while giving us his thoughts on the words, information he learns and insight as to what is going on in his own life as he goes through the books. I recommend this book and will bring it to the underground.