Book Club Meeting #2

So I have yet to update you on the latest Book Club meeting which was held on April 8th. It was a great time out with my friends. The women in the Club are so fabulous and engaging. I love to share stories of the trials and tribulations of motherhood with them. They are all actively engaged in their families and the larger community. They all share a great sense of dedication to their children. Sometimes I feel empowered to be more involved in life when I am with them.

But enough of that, getting back to the Book Club….

The host of this months meeting decided to have us over for desserts and snacks. She provided a yummy turtle cheesecake and the rest of us brought an assortment of goodies. The husband of the host was our own personal bartender for the evening putting his very best skills as a Chemist to good use! He made me a very yummy Margarita!

Getting back to the book….

The last book we read was Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. I thought this was a wonderful romantic story of two people kept apart by the cultural climate of the time. The book switches between the 1940's and present day (which is 1980's). It touches on traditional familial roles, unrequited love, forbidden love, and father/son relationship dynamics. It is a very moving story of how unfair and downright tragic the effects of racism and discrimination are for families and individuals.

We did not all entirely agree on the strength of the book. Some felt that the story ended too abruptly after building up to the climax for so long. I tended to disagree. Without giving too much away, I tend to feel that books that leave you guessing at the end are the most powerful. I can live with the ending to a book or a movie for weeks just replaying the final scenes and imagining the next parts. Maybe this is primarily due to the monotony of my life and need for escape in other worlds. Whatever the case I seemed to like this book a bit more than my counterparts but we all did agree that it was a worthwhile read that taught us something about the time period. I think we would all recommend this to other avid book readers.

So our next Book Club meeting will be held sometime in early June. We haven't pinned down the date as of yet but hopefully will soon. There was a very animated debate over what the next book should be. It was suggested that we read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen because most of us have never read it and the two members who have are very passionate about the book and the Colin Firth movie which followed much later. I guess that both people feel it is a classic story of romance, mystery and relationships. It does sound somewhat intriguing and I certainly would not mind catching the movie after reading the book. But one in the group is somewhat apprehensive about diving into this classic so we decided to shelve this pick for the next go round. We decided instead to go with The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff a story that centers on polygamy and the Mormon Church. I understand so little about this religion and culture so I do think it will be an interesting read.

I have yet to pick up my copy at the library but plan to do so sometime this week. Our next meeting will be a casual evening of pizza and beer…I will likely bring a bottle of wine since I am not much of a beer enthusiast. Either way, I am definitely looking forward to kicking back with my friends and sharing another interesting discussion.

I hope some of you will choose to follow along with me during this Book Club journey!

Until my next post…in the great words of Ellen Degeneres, "Be kind to everyone"...