October 16 meeting - The Thirteenth Tale

Lisa Ladd hosted us for a large group! We welcomed new member Gina welcomed and back Kristin (along with baby Louise!).

Lisa fed us well, of course. There were two soups: Lentil/Ham, and Winter Squash with pears and apples. The dessert was a harvest pumpkin roll (King Arthur recipe).

The Book
We had a good discussion of the book, too! Everybody liked it, but there was some disagreement about exactly when the story took place and who is the mysterious sister in Vida's house was. Kristin was more taken with the gothic story at Angelfield than the beginning of the book, which I find interesting, because I thought Angelfield dragged in some parts and loved the beginning. We also noted how some parts reminded us of other books we'd read recently (Shadow of the Wind, Brief History of the Dead). What is it with ghost stories in this group? At least this book had a happy ending.

Book Soup
Lisa shared three books she'd read: Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan (a really fun read); The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr (a good, new Sherlock Holmes story -- better than Conan Doyle!); and The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad (a different, very interesting, and alarming take on Afghanistan, especially after reading Kite Runner).

Next Meeting
Our next meeting with November 27th at Kristin's, for which we are reading Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss.

P.S.
For those of you who prefer independent bookstores but still like to shop online, check out BookSense.