2005 Book Club Archive
2005 Book Club Archive
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Holy Fools by Joanne Harris
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
The Voyage by Philip Caputo
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Aurora Dawn by Herbert Wouk
The Reader by Bernard Schlink
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Riding the bus with my sister: a true life journey by Rachel Simon
The price of Motherhood--why the most important job in the world is still the Least Valued
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
Good Grief by Lolly Winston
Above the Thunder by Renee Manfredi
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
True Women by Janice Woods Windle
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Ride of Our Lives: Roadside Lessons of an American Family by Mike Leonard
Reading Group Guides - This is the best one I've found for reviews, discussion questions, etc.
SparkNotes Study Guides - Provides free study guides (think Cliff Notes)
Good Books Lately - Great discussion guides! (Wish I'd found this earlier!)
DECEMBER MEETING
Potluck Dinner: Saturday, December 3
Movie Night: Monday, December 12
Pictures from these events can be found here.
NOVEMBER MEETING
Monday, November 21, 7:30 PM
Unladylike Pursuits by Alyssa Goodnight
*** SPECIAL MEETING! - opportunity to chat with author ***
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Member Ratings: Melanie (neutral), Lisa (neutral), Jenn (thumbs up), Carissa (thumbs up), Gyle (thumbs up), Natalie (thumbs up)
Consensus: We were surprised at the quality of the writing considering that this was the author's debut novel. We all enjoyed the story - it was more substantive than many of us expected. However, some of us felt the story took too long to develop.
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Hostess: Gayle
Leader: Lisa
Future Leader: Jenn
OCTOBER MEETING
Monday, October 17, 7:30 PM
The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini
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Member Ratings: Salina (thumbs up), Fatima (thumbs up), Lisa (thumbs up), Natalie (thumbs up)
Consensus: Despite the heavy subject matter, we all enjoyed the book. Some of us felt like the middle dragged too much, but overall a great read!
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Hostess: Salina
Leader: Natalie
SEPTEMBER MEETING
Monday, September 19, 7:30 PM
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
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Member Ratings: Jenn (thumbs down), Natalie (thumbs up), Carissa (thumbs up), Gayle (thumbs up), Lisa (neutral), Salina (thumbs up), Jessica (thumbs up), Melanie (thumbs up)
Consensus: From the ratings you can see that most of us enjoyed the book. It was very interesting reading and a new way of thinking for many of us. Some felt it focused too much numbers/statistics and we all thought that the book was a little too self-important.
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Hostess: Natalie
Leader: Melanie
AUGUST MEETING
Monday, August 15, 7:30 PM
My Sister's Keeper: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
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Member Ratings: (I waited too long to update this time - hope I remember correctly!) Jessica (thumbs up), Lisa (neutral), Gayle (thumbs up), Jenn (thumbs up), Natalie (thumbs up)
Consensus: For the most part we all liked this book. We enjoyed the writing style and found the story thought-provoking.
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Hostess: Lisa
Leader: Gayle
JULY MEETING
Monday, July 18, 7:30 PM
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
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Member Ratings: Jessica (thumbs up), Carissa (neutral), Lisa (neutral), Gayle (thumbs up), Melanie (thumbs up), Natalie (thumbs up)
Consensus: Most of us enjoyed reading this book, although no one really loved it. We found the concept interesting and felt the writing was well done. The primary reason people didn't like it was because they found the characters and/or plot line too creepy.
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Hostess: Jessica
Leader: Natalie
Future Leader: Melanie
JUNE MEETING
Monday, June 20, 7:30 PM
The Turtle Warrior by Mary Relindes Ellis
*** SPECIAL MEETING! ***
We won a contest through Reading Group Guides! We received 14 copies of The Turtle Warrior
and an opportunity to have a phone chat with the author.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Member Ratings: Attending were Gayle, Jessica, Fatima, Leslie, Lisa, Pierette, and Natalie.
Consensus: We all enjoyed the book, for the most part. The subject matter is pretty dark and some of us found the 'happy' ending somewhat hard to believe. But it was well-written and definitely held our attention.
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Hostess: Gayle
Leader: Jessica
Future Leader: Natalie (July) and Lisa (August)
MAY MEETING
Monday, May 16, 7:30 PM
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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Member Ratings: Attending were Darby, Natalie, Gayle, Jessica, Fatima, and Lisa.
Consensus: Only a couple of us actually finished the book so it was hard to come to a consensus. Overall, the vibe was that it was good but not great.
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Hostess: Natalie
Leader: Darby
APRIL MEETING
Monday, April 18, 7:30 PM
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
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Member Ratings: Leslie (thumbs up), Jessica (thumbs up), Gayle (thumbs up), Lisa (thumbs up), Darby (thumbs up), Alia (two thumbs down), Natalie (thumbs up)
Consensus: Those of us who enjoyed the book found the premise fascinating, and for a 'time-travel' novel it felt realistic. We also connected with Clare and Henry's love story and how their relationship evolved over time (and all its twists). Some criticisms were the book's length, the abrupt, constantly switching writing style (although some of us liked it for the same reason), and to some extent, the lack of character development, especially for Clare.
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Hostess: Lisa
Leader: Alia
Future Leader: Darby - her suggestions for May
MARCH MEETING
Monday, March 21, 7:30 PM
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
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Member Ratings: Lisa (thumbs up), Fatima (thumbs up), Melanie (thumbs up), Jessica (thumbs up), Natalie (thumbs up), Alia (thumbs up)
Consensus: We all enjoyed this book and found it entertaining. No one seemed to think it was a masterpiece, and we wondered how true-to-life the authors depiction of geisha (and American soliders) was. But overall, a wothwhile read.
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Hostess: Jessica
Leader: Natalie
Future Leader: Alia
FEBRUARY MEETING
Monday, February 21, 7:30 PM
Short Stories:
JANUARY MEETING
Monday, January 17, 7:30 PM
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
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Member Ratings: Melanie (thumbs up), Natalie (thumbs up), Salina (thumbs up), Fatima (thumbs up), Alia (thumbs up), Jessica (thumbs slightly down), Lisa (thumbs up), Darby (thumbs up)
Consensus: Most of us agreed that while this wasn't the best book we've ever read, we did enjoy it. Pretty much everyone enjoyed the author's writing style. Some of us just didn't like the story or how certain elements of the story were portrayed. But overall, a good read.
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Hostess: Lisa
Leader: Darby
Future Leader(s): Salina and Natalie