Holiday Meeting Dec 2017

The holiday meeting was at Donna's house this year.  She outdid herself with a wonderful spread of goodies.

The usual "Dirty Santa" give exchange.

Author, Dori Dupre attended the meeting.  She wrote "Scout's Honor" in 5 months! It concerns a young girl's decision to become involved with a married man at a summer camp.  This topic gave us fuel for a lengthy discussion regarding sexual harassment.  Dori's husband lost his battle with cancer after the publication of this book and was a great supporter of her writing endeavors.

The members have been busy reading this month!  Be sure to check out the list to the right of other books we've been reading.

Next book for January 23, 2018 is "That Bright Land" by Terry Roberts.  We'll be meeting at new member Dolly's home.

September/October Meeting

The postponed September/October meeting at Lindy's house was not well attended.   Sorry, we forgot to snap a photo.

We had a nice discussion of "The Dry" - everyone enjoyed the book. 

Our next read is  Scout's Honor by NC author Dori Ann Dupre.    

Donna has volunteered to host our Christmas meeting.  She is proposing Wednesday Dec 13th at 7PM. 

As usual, we will play "Dirty Santa"  so please bring a $10-20 gift for the exchange.

August Meeting

What a fun, relaxing meeting!  We were happy to have MJ able to get away to attend!

This month's book, West with the Night,  was generally well-liked, but several comments were made that it was more of a "travel-log" and was a bit dis-jointed.  But surely we all agree that Beryl Markham must have been an interesting and talented lady!

As always, fun discussions of future plans for travel and past escapades!

And much fun discussing some of the "other books we're reading"!  (Of course, see the link on the right)


Next month's book is a murder-mystery set in Australia - The Dry by Jane Harper.

Since several members will be out of town for the September meeting - we may need to reschedule it.  Stay tuned - we'll try to send emails and figure out when everyone is likely to be available.  The meeting may be a the General Store or the Brewery if no one wants to host.


And here's the aftermath:

July Meeting

Nice meeting at Diane's house for our July meeting.

Most everyone liked the "Good, Good Pig" - it was a sweet read. 

Fun talk around the table about a myriad of topics - Brazil, China, language, Facebook, etc....always interesting!

Be sure to check out the link at the right to see the other books our members have been reading lately.


Next month's meeting will be at Karen's house - 7PM Tuesday August 22nd.


Next month's book:      West With the Night    by Beryl Markham

 

West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s.

There was also a novel written based on Beryl Markham's life - Circling the Sun.

 

June Meeting

Great meeting on Robin's deck!  

We had a great discussion of The Color of Water.  Everyone liked the book - we were all enthralled by the unique story of this multi-racial family.  Amazing story of a mother who pushed all of her bi-racial children to higher education with very limited resources and no support from the general community.

Robin had several books to choose from - after a bit of discussion the next month's book was chosen:

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood  by Sy Montgomery

A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people. So she gladly opened her heart to a sick piglet who had been crowded away from nourishing meals by his stronger siblings. Yet Sy had no inkling that this piglet, later named Christopher Hogwood, would not only survive but flourish–and she soon found herself engaged with her small-town community in ways she had never dreamed possible. Unexpectedly, Christopher provided this peripatetic traveler with something she had sought all her life: an anchor (eventually weighing 750 pounds) to family and home.


 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be sure to check the link at the right for other interesting books our members are reading.


Next month's meeting will be July  25th at Diane's house!

May Meeting

We met at the Pittsboro Roadhouse for our May meeting. 

Good discussion of our latest book - "The Secret Wife" by Gill Paul. Most enjoyed it – lots of history of the Romanov Family who were executed near the end of WWI.

The June meeting will be at Robin's house - the June book is The Color of Water by  James McBride -

 The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, is the autobiography and memoir of James McBride first published in 1995; it is also a tribute to his mother. The chapters alternate between James McBride's descriptions of his early life and first-person accounts of his mother Ruth's life, mostly taking place before her son was born. McBride depicts the conflicting emotions that he endured as he struggled to discover who he truly was, as his mother narrates the hardships that she had to overcome as a white, Jewish woman who chose to marry a black man in 1942.

 Be sure to check the list of "other books we're reading" - there are some good ones this month!

Also, if you're looking for something interesting this weekend - Gretchen is hosting the Fat Cat Art Fest this weekend.   Meet fun artists and sample some of Gretchen's cool food!

April Meeting

We had a nice discussion of "The Good Goodbye" -  most attending enjoyed the book to some degree.   Comments were that the book seemed to reflect what it might be like to have a teen in 2017!  Other comments were a bit negative - that the premise was not too plausible.....

Chilly night on Claire's porch!

Claire recommended a change to the "unofficial" book club code that the hostess should not read the book she's recommending for the following month.   We all agreed that this was a good change - that we should be free to read at least the first few chapters of a book we want to recommend - just to make sure we don't choose a "dud"!!!

Claire's choice for next months book is "The Secret Wife" by Gill Paul - here's the discussion from Amazon (the Kindle book is only $1.99)  - 

Love. Guilt. Heartbreak.
1914
Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future. Grand Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance – and their lives – in danger . . .
2016
Kitty Fisher escapes to her great-grandfather’s remote cabin in America, after a devastating revelation makes her flee London. There, on the shores of Lake Akanabee, she discovers the spectacular jewelled pendant that will lead her to a long-buried family secret . . .
Haunting, moving and beautifully written, The Secret Wife effortlessly crosses centuries, as past merges with present in an unforgettable story of love, loss and resilience.


Be sure to check out the "Other Books We're Reading" tab to the right.


No one was able to volunteer to host for sure for the May meeting, so right now we will assume the meeting will be held at the Roadhouse in Pittsboro at 7pm on May 23rd.

March Meeting

The March meeting was at Lindy's house - lightly attended.   We must all be busy lately!

Note from Lindy:

Not many of us in attendance.  We had good discussions anyway.  April 25 we will be meeting at Claire's home.  The next book is "The Good Goodbye" by Carla Buckley.  The jacket cover says she lives in Chapel Hill so Claire plans to get in touch with her to attend our next gathering.

Here are a few photos that Diane sent.

Be sure to check out the list at the right of "other books" we've been reading for ideas!

February meeting

Finally a February meeting with no snow!!!

Pittsboro temperature was about 70 degrees as we arrived at Donna's house....much different than previous years!!

Great discussion about this month's book - The Girl Next Door.

Hostess Donna had to choose among the books she's accumulated....

Drum roll......

The March book read is:

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu

And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts

by Joshua Hammer

 To save precious centuries-old Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians in Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean's Eleven.
In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that had fallen into obscurity. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city of Timbuktu, later became one of the world's greatest and most brazen smugglers.

In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from northwest Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu. They imposed Sharia law, chopped off the hands of accused thieves, stoned to death unmarried couples, and threatened to destroy the great manuscripts. As the militants tightened their control over Timbuktu, Haidara organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out of the city to the safety of southern Mali.

Over the past twenty years, journalist Joshua Hammer visited Timbuktu numerous times and is uniquely qualified to tell the story of Haidara's heroic and ultimately successful effort to outwit Al Qaeda and preserve Mali's—and the world's—literary patrimony. Hammer explores the city's manuscript heritage and offers never-before-reported details about the militants' march into northwest Africa. But above all, The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu is an inspiring account of the victory of art and literature over extremism.

 

January Meeting

Thanks to Vilma for being a great hostess!!

After a brief tour of Vilma's new and lovely kitchen improvements, we had a nice discussion of our book - One Good Dog.  Most everyone liked the book - but MJ had some thoughtful comments based on her ownership of a pit-bull mix.  She emphasized that this book seemed to romanticize the pit-bull breed - and she pointed out that this author had never owned a pit-bull.  Since she doesn't really know what's involved,  she  probably shouldn't allow this book to encourage others to take on ownership of dogs that had been used to fight. 

After a brief discussion about several members' trips to the "Women's March" -both in Washington, DC and Raleigh,  we discussed the "other books we're reading"...lots of books read since our Christmas meeting at Carol's....lots of bad weather!!  Check out the link to the right - sounds like there are several books that are really good.


Next month's book is The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell. Be sure to get this particular book since there are several books by this title!!! You can get this book for $4-5 from Amazon (used book) or Half.com.   Donna is hosting next meeting -  Tuesday February 28th at 7pm.  Hope it doesn't SNOW this time!!!