Literary Wenches

New Reading List Posted!

2009-06-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

We selected our next 6 books to read at last night's meeting.

They are:
August 20-The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls-our nod to a memoir
September 17-Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri-our nod to a cultural novel
October 15-The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry-our nod to a "riveting" novel
November 19-Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts-our nod to a non-fiction work
December 17-A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving-our nod to an American writer
January 21-Villette by Charlotte Bronte-our nod to a classic novel

We will need hosts for each month (remember we can always meet up at a fun new restaurant to help "stimulate" the economy). We will stick with the 3rd Thursday of each month to meet, so block your calendars now so you can come to book club.

Please post on the blog! We need more ownership. Tell us what you are reading outside of book club. Also email or post if you can host a particular month so I can mark it off.

Happy Reading!
Mindy

May's Meeting

2009-05-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Meeting was called to order at 6:20 p.m.
Those present were Ashley Smart who ate a turkey pastrami sandwich with sweet potato chips,
Bethany Hutchins who had an oriental chicken salad and sipped on a blackberry orange lemonade, Mindy Udall who had a chiken pesto sandwich with a wildflower salad and Katie Dial who enjoyed her oriental chicken salad.

Restaurant was chilly
Weather was windy and overcast and smelled of rain.
the booth adjacent to us needs reupholstery help

Katie led the discussion and posed various questions to the group regarding the novel "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society".

"Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books." We sat next to another book club and they took down our book title for consideration. Please visit the website www.guernseyliterary.com to enter our book club for a FREE TRIP to Guernsey. Involve all you know who have ever attended or considered book club.

June's meeting hosted by Amy and we are reading "The Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Please bring 2-4 book suggestions to throw into the mix so we can decide our next 6 months at the June meeting. July's novel is "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.

Submitted by
Mindy Udall

April Book Gathering

2009-03-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

please join us on thursday, april 16th at 6:30 p.m. at the liberty market in downtown gilbert for dinner and discussion. liberty market is located at 230 n. gilbert road @ page street. look for the retro signage. we will be discussing the novel the girls (see prior post for author name and article on conjoined twins). i will be sending out an evite as well so we know who is coming. thanks to elizabeth for hosting.

Information on Conjoined Twins

2009-03-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

In light of our next novel The Girls by Lori Lansens
I thought you would be interested in some information about the subject matter. http://www.umm.edu/conjoined_twins/facts.htm

Elizabeth will get us all details regarding the time and location of the next discussion.

Book Club for March

2009-03-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Amanda for hosting a great night out at Urban Tea Loft. What a fabulous place. The food was amazing (although it took a bit to get it to us) and the tea was magnificent. The owner Glynnis and her daughter Zhayer were so nice and loved holding Lincoln. I think we all drank a few more than 3 cups. Amanda had questions prepared as well as a goody basket for the girls who answered questions correctly. We had some rich discussion and were unanimous that this book rocked the teapot. Can't wait to get back but remember to bring ca$h as they can't split checks when your party has more than 5. ???

elizabeth hall hosting in april-update!

2009-03-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

elizabeth has graciously offered up her home for our april gathering! thank you elizabeth. here is the low down

march-amanda
april-elizabeth
may-katie
june-amy
july-tbd

happy reading! we have about 2 weeks to finish up Three Cups of Tea. Happy reading!

katie dial volunteers to host in may!

2009-03-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

katie dial stepped up to the plate and volunteered to host book club in may. thank you katie. she lives in the far east (aka queen creek) but the drive will be worth it since i hear katie is the ultimate hostess. we still have openings for april and july. let me know if you would like to host. you should now be reading (or almost done) with three cups of tea for march. we are meeting on the 19th at amanda's. see you all there.
p.s. for those of you who don't know our dear bethany brown hutchins is expecting a little one this fall! can't wait to meet him/her.

amy riter volunteers to host in june

2009-02-26T07:24:00.000-08:00

breaking news...amy hall riter will host book club in june at her home. thank you so much! we still have april, may and july available for hosting. i know jennifer y. said she would host so let me know which month/book suits your fancy. hope you are all enjoying three cups of tea. read on literary wenches.

we have a list-we are organized! stop laughing

2009-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

March 19th –
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
April 16th-
The Girls by Lori Lansen
May 21st –
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
June 18th–
The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
July 16th –
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

amanda hall is hosting for march as of right now. we know that is spring break for some of you but we are trying to stick to a plan-3rd thursday of each month. heaven help us! so excited to get reading all of these books. we selected some non-fiction as well to mix the pot. please feel free to post on the blog with other books you are reading with your take, insight and recommendations on them. i for one love to see what others are reading. also please feel free to bring books to each club meeting to "pass along" if you don't want to keep them for your own library. we need some HOSTESSES for future months-please let me know if you can do this and which month.

Books to Read

2008-09-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have not read these yet, but they look interesting to say the least.

Banishing Verona by Margot Livesey
Tattoo for a Slave by Hortense Calisher
Crossways by Sheila Kohler
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Books that Changed Anita Shreve's Life from OPRAH (Amy sit down, they look like some decent ones albeit they are published in the Great O's magazine!)

Swimmer in the Secret Sea by William Kotzwinkle
Separating by John Updike

*both of these are short stories (fictional)

Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
CAL by Bernard MacLaverty
Lies of Silence by Brian Moore

If you want to take a leap of faith and read one of these books, please do so!

Mindy

Lost and Found

2008-08-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Is anyone missing a watch from Book Club? It is silver with a pink face. Let Bethany know if the watch is yours. (We found it among the couch cushions!)

september's book unveiled

2008-08-25T20:57:00.001-07:00

september's book club will be held on thursday, sep. 25th at 6:30 p.m. at the udall home. 294 w. merrill avenue, gilbert, arizona 85233. if you got the email, i don't have everybody's email so forward it to those i did not have addresses for. light refreshments will be served.

please make sure to get the book at your bookstore of choice or library. the book voted on was richard wright's native son. it was recently highlighted on npr if you want to take a look at what they had to say. i just got home from the library and it is a "thick" book (translated...a long book). i sent you a summary as well as discussion questions that you can use to guide your reading.

let's all aim to read "most" of the book so all can partake in the discussion. i know all of us have busy lives, but now the olympics are not occupying our evening hours (lol) maybe we can get through it all.

happy reading to all!

August Book Club Reminder

2008-08-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Literary Wenches!

Just a reminder that we will have our next meeting Friday, August 22 at 7 pm at the Marilyn Brown home hosted by Angela Smithson and, to a lesser degree, Bethany Hutchins.

We will be having some yummy food and good discussion! (Can anyone doubt it with Angela on board?)

Now I realize that many of you may not have read our latest selection: A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve. (There have even been various reports that it was difficult to get into because of the numerous characters that begin the book.) However, please join us anyway and we'll include discussions of Anita Shreve's other books ( The Pilot's Wife, Strange Fits of Passion, Fortune Rocks, Sea Glass, etc.) and we will compare them to this novel.

I also propose that we discuss the latest addition to the Twilight Series, Breaking Dawn. I know we'll all have some definite opinions on that!

Please bring any books you are done reading and do not want to keep for your collection and we will have a little book exchange at our next meeting. That way you can cleanse or binge according to your desires!

books on my to read list

2008-07-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

enrique's journey by sonia nazario
a ny times reporter wrote this account of a honduran boy's search for his mother who disappeared into the u.s. it also won a pulitzer.

you're not you by michelle wildgen
a seductive novel about the relationship between a charismatic als patient and her impressionable female caregiver.

half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie
a nigerian author's masterful novel uses the 1967 genocide in biafra as a backdrop for a nuanced tale about decent people in moral chaos.

what is the what by dave eggers
this is an as told story based on the harrowing life of sudanese refugee valentino achak deng.

riley's fire by lee merrill byrd
byrd's first novel follows the metamorphosis or riley martin, age 6, gravely injured in a blaze of his own making. the burn hospital where riley recovers sees its share of quirky miracles.

WHAT WE ARE READING IN AUGUST

2008-07-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

after a long debate including a long distance call to angela, we decided that this would be our august read. the next soiree will be august 22nd a friday at the brown bordello. more details to follow on the blog. remember to use the blog and leave us comments, book reviews and suggestions. amanda would really like recipes. :o) please bring any books you are done reading and do not want to keep for your collection and we will have a little book exchange at our next meeting. that way you can cleanse or purge and then pick up something borrowed and maybe even blue? ha ha

easter island

2008-07-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

thank you to amanda and jonathan hall for hosting book club this evening. we had quite a spread of healthy food including a wonderful fruit salad in an iced salad bowl courtesy of ryan and bethany. elizabeth brought some great sparkling soda including a peach/pear combo that really tickled our taste buds. she also brought blood orange which we left with amanda and theron to enjoy. the book discussion was diverse with some members having read the entire book and others half way through. we discussed character development, geography and botany and heard from a danish reviewer that amanda found who wanted greer to be more flamboyant, strong, hotblooded, sexy or at least SOMETHING to make her come alive? i guess he really had a thing for greer, huh?

Welcome Wenches!

2008-06-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight's book discussion was lively and had some great food! Thanks to Elizabeth for opening up her home to us. The next book club will be held in mid-July and the title is Easter Island and the author is Jennifer Vanderbes.

Just so you know this blog will be interactive and we want all of you to participate. If you are hosting, I can give you the password or you can send me what you want to post. We will be flexible! Comment on what to read in the future, what drinks/food you like or dislike, suggestions, etc...We may even get off topic and that's completely okay.

The title of the blog was selected after reading Julie Andrew's Home where she called her mom a lusty wench. We thus dubbed ourselves the Literary Wenches.