Let's Talk Books

Recently BuzzFeed released a list of 43 Books You Won't Be Able to Stop Talking About.  As I read the descriptions of each of the books I added a few of them to my GoodReads to-read list.  Not long afterward my mom, having seen my recently added list, shot me an email to say that I should have added Defending Jacob to the list.  (She too had read the BuzzFeed list and noticed that I had not included the book.)  We don't always have the same taste in books but as it turns out, it was available from my local library as an ebook so I downloaded it and started reading.  And kept reading...and reading....and reading.  It was one of those books that I found hard to put down.  In the end, I gave it a 5 star review and must agree, it's going to be one of those books that I 'won't be able to stop talking about.'

Our latest bookclub selection is The Girl Who Wrote in Silk.  It's the story of a young woman who inherits a home that's been in her family for generations. She soon discovers a piece of embroidered silk hidden away under a stair and sets out to learn about the owner.  The book switches between the two women stories, each living in the home one hundred years apart.  It was pretty chick lit'ish and wishy-washy in nature and not one that I'd recommend, but I did enjoy the historical aspect of the book.  Little Fin will be spending his first night alone at Grandma's the weekend of our next meeting so I am unable to attend the discussion but I do want to read all of our selections.

A few months ago someone in our development sent out invitations to a social website known as My Neighborhood.  Over time many of our neighbors, including myself, have joined.  For us, it's a great way to ask questions or pass along general information such as "Does anyone know a good cleaning lady?" and "Beware, coyote spotted on Bayberry Drive with a black cat in it's mouth." ...etc.  A couple of weeks ago someone new to our area asked if there were any local bookclubs.  I generally just read the posts but I did repond with an "I don't know of any but would definitely be interested." comment.   Several others responded with the like and before we knew it, we had a book club.  :-)

We met at a local pub on Tuesday night for a meet and greet.  I brought along a friend who is an avid reader and was delighted to see that I actually knew another of the gals at the table.  There were six of us in total, with one more interested but unable to attend.  We had a very nice chat and it seems like a great group.  We discussed many books while trying to come up with our first selection and finally decided on Go Set a Watchman for a variety of reasons. One gal had just finished it and liked it.  I have been dragging my feet because I don't want to have to remove Atticus from the pedestal status. Two gals have not yet read To Kill a Mockingbird so they have no predetermined biases.  The other two have been wanting to read it sooooo....it seemed liked as good a book as any to start with.  We have our first meeting here at my house on Nov, 5th.

We also have an informal on again/off again book club on our scrapbooking website, Playground of Memories.  While discussing other books we somehow came upon the subject of Peyton Place.  :-) We decided to indulge ourselves in some trash and have set January as our discussion time.  Should be fun.

From what I understand, Go Set a Watchman is a fairly quick read so I'm on the prowl for another book before starting this one.  Probably something on the lighter side which may just include zombies  *wink* unless somehow has something different to recommend.  I'm all ears.