December - 'The Catcher in the Rye' & 'The Thread' podcast

'Twas early December
(the fourth, to be precise)
When the Soupies all gathered,
Before the bustle, snow, and ice.

Leann brought a main dish,
A lovely egg casserole to share.
Lisa baked a pretty snowflake cake
Flavored with fresh pear.

There were other great appetizers,
Like Karen's green olive pate,
But I didn't write them down,
So now I can't say.

Of the book, we thought little;
Most did not reread it, period.
But podcast was great,
And the conversation spirited.

The Yankee Swap this year
Was three books gently used.
Our participants played by the rules,
So no mayhem ensued.

As another year closes, and we look
Forward to what comes after,
I give thanks to the Soupies,
For the books, food, friendship, and laughter.

NEXT MEETING
Where: Susan's?
When: January?
What: ?

October 25 - 'Behold the Dreamers'

Seven of us gathered for our annual Halloween meeting at Leann's. Our hostess had a lovely dinner of mac & cheese, garden salad, and apple spice cake, which was supplemented by Lisa's cream cheese & eggplant mini peppers; Karen's veggie & dip plate (which sported the dip in a mini pumpkin); and Susan's refreshing orange & blackberry salad. Darla supplied us with wax lips and mustaches for a fine, festive, selfie-fest. Good times!

Everybody loved the book. We had one of the longest discussions about it on record for this group, too. What a fascinating look at the life of aspiring immigrants, African culture, and the economic disaster of 2007. Good choice, Leann!

Happily, we had time to hear about Becky's recent trip to Scotland as well as other news and happenings among the attendees. Plus books! I did not note the various books discussed, so if something caught your attention, please let us know what you will be reading.

NEXT MEETING
When: Monday, December 4, at 6 pm
Where: Nancy's
What: The Catcher in the Rye
What Else: Listen to the podcast The Thread with OZY, season 1, "John Lennon's Murder: 63 Years in the Making" (you can listen from this web page; no need to go to iTunes, etc., if you don't want to)
What's More: Our Annual Yankee Swap!

August 26 - 'LaRose'

We had a fine turnout for our August meeting at Darla's, originally set for poolside and moved indoors because the temperature felt more like October than August.

Lovely spread of mostly appetizers included: homemade peach salsa (Becky), gazpacho in individual serving jars (! Karen), watermelon salad (Michelle). Susan supplied sangria (yum), and Mary Beth made us chocolate zucchini cake (delicious and healthy!).

As for LaRose, its reception was mixed. We loved some Louise Erdrich's turns of phrase but found it hard to get into at first and the cast of characters sometimes confusing to keep track of. I don't think most of the group would recommend it.

As usual, there was talk of many other books, including Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, Euphoria by Lily King, and Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, which Leann liked so much she has chosen it for our October meeting.

NEXT MEETING
Where: Susan's, if we can find a time
What: We shall see!
When: Sometime in September

June 28 - 'The Atomic Weight of Love'

Eight of us gathered for our June meeting, and a terrific meeting it was. Food--are you kidding? We were at Rebecca's! She had a scrumptious curried chicken salad and several different types of puff pastry with savory toppings, along with finger veggies for munching (and I may have missed something!) Lisa made yummy cheese sticks for an appetizer, and Heather concocted a seafood dip shaped like an apple. Karen brought "atomic" tabbouleh, and I brought an arugula salad and spicy popcorn. We had two wonderful seasonal desserts: Susan's multi-fruit parfait (Susan, I'm sorry, I know it had a name and you were talking about a chef...) and Michelle's strawberries and angel food cake. Darla added to the fun by bringing not food, but summer-vacation gifts for us all: bubbles and decks of cards.

We had quite the discussion of the book, Elizabeth J. Church's The Atomic Weight of Love, with its protagonist a brilliant woman who came of age in the late 1930's-early 1940's and gave up graduate school because her physicist husband chose to work at Los Alamos. We reacted from our vantage point post-women's movement, and talked about people we knew and what influenced them. We were united, I think, in not liking the way the affair between the middle-aged woman and the young Vietnam vet was written. One of the longest discussions we have ever had, methinks.

NEXT MEETING
Where: Darla's, at the pool!
When: TBA
What: LaRose by Louise Erdrich

We chose the book from the IndieNext Summer 2017 Books for Reading Groups circular. Here are the books that were runners up (3 or more votes):

News of the World (4 votes)
Rabbit Cake (4 votes)
The Soul of an Octopus (3 votes)
Dark Matter (3 votes)
All the Birds in the Sky (3 votes)

May 24 - 'War Torn'

Eight of us gathered at Karen's to discuss War Torn: a Family Story by Felicity Vaughn Swayze. Karen served an amazing pumpkin chili and green salad, with rolls supplied by Leann. There were two popcorns (Heather put rosemary on hers - yum), yogurt dip with chips and snap peas by Lisa, Heather's aunt's truffles, Michelle's incredible apple and pear tart with ice cream from Darla, and Susan's terrific sangria (with frozen grapes for ice cubes!).

We thought the book had good aspects but could have used an editor. We also wished to know more about the author's life after she met her father. But the memoir does capture its time and brings to light an aspect of WWII that not all of us were aware of.

NEXT MEETING
Where: Becky's
When: TBD
What: TBD

April 14 - Book Show-n-Tell

Ten of us gathered at Lisa's for an Easter-themed round of book show and tell.

We had fun and yummy stuff to eat and drink: Chips, dips, cucumber sandwiches (by Karen S.), green salad, asparagus, broccoli tots (by Michelle), Chickpea soup and focaccia (Lisa), classic Scottish shortbread (also by Karen S.), and a fruit-n-peeps bouquet by Darla and Rebecca.

Not only can our book group cook, we can read a lot of books! Here are the books we presented, alphabetically by title (sorry, ladies, I got mixed up about whose book was whose):

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion / Fannie Flagg

All Our Wrong Todays / Elan Mastai 

All the Light We Cannot See / Anthony Doerr

Billy Joel / Fred Schruers

Church of the Old Mermaids / Kim Antieau

Dear Mr. Bigelow: a Transatlantic Friendship / Frances Woodsward 

Dept. of Speculation / Jennny Offill 

Do Hard Things: a Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations / Alex Harris

The End of the Point / Elizabeth Graver

The Girl Before / J.P. Delaney 

The  Golden Compass / Philip Pullman 

Hillbilly Elegy / J.D. Vance 

The Humans / Matt Haig

I am Providence /  Nick Mamatas

Idiot America / Charles P. Pierce 

In Such Good Company / Carol Burnett 

Learning to Swim / Sara J. Henry 

The Lockpicker / Leonard Chang 

A Lost Lady / Willa Cather 

News of the World / Paulette Jiles

Night Soldiers / Alan Furst 

Painted Drum / Louise Erdrich 

Rin Tin Tin / Susan Orlean 

Shanghai Girls / Lisa See 

Sphere / Michael Creighton 

Swamplandia! / Karen Russell

To Fetch a Thief / Spencer Quinn

*War Torn: a Family Story / Felicity Vaughn Swayze
White Fur / Jardaine Libaire 

The Year of Pleasures / Elizabeth Berg

We chatted about many things, including hearing about Leann's 40+-year hobby of writing to pen pals. It was a fun night. Thanks, Lisa!

NEXT MEETING
Where: Karen S.'s
When: Late May or early June, exact date TBD
What: *War Torn: a Family Story / Felicity Vaughn Swayze

February 25 - 'Every Last Cuckoo'

Four of us gathered for a "gumbo and girlfriends" night at Michelle's. Our hostess served fabulougumbo, and the rest of us supplied the company and side dishes.

Everyone who read the book, Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy, liked it, but only half of us in attendance had done so.

As per usual, we spent a lot of time just talking. We also were treated to a viewing the DVD of Becky and Michelle doing belly dance at the annual showcase. It was a lovely girls' night.

NEXT MEETING
Who: ?
What: ?
When: ?

January 26 - 'My Mother Grows Wallflowers'

Seven of the regulars and two guests gathered at Lisa's for our discussion of My Mother Grows Wallflowers by C.L. Howland. One of our guests was the author; thanks for joining us, Cindy! And thanks for bringing the wonderful fresh salsa and yummy coconut cake. Lisa had a wonderful soup and her dad's coleslaw for us, there were fresh veggies and dip, Leann's salad, Michelle's great shrimp appetizer, Darla's delicious squash and pear side dish, Karen's wonderful pound cake from a King Arthur Flour recipe... Please forgive me what I've left out, but as usual, we had a feast.

We had a lovely discussion with Cindy about her book, which everyone enjoyed reading (and are looking forward tot he next installment!). Cindy sent this comment along to Lisa afterward:

I did feel supported.The insights shared about different parts of the book fascinated me, and all the questions were thought provoking. Please thank everyone for their kindness and for spreading the word about the book. As avid readers, your group can influence whether a book flourishes or sits on a shelf collecting dust, which brings me to another thought I meant to share with the group last night. It's actually a plea for all the "small" authors of the world--the majority of us who are not Jodi Picoult, J. K. Rowling, etc.. I know you personally do this all ready, but reviews are incredibly important to authors. We live in a crazy, busy world, but if you've read something you really liked, if possible, do a review of the book. Amazon, Goodreads, wherever...it doesn't have to be a long review, just a couple of sentences. Reviews count almost as much as sales, and are a way to let the author know the countless hours spent writing and rewriting are appreciated by the reader.

We had such a good time with Cindy's book that we didn't talk as much about other books as usual.  I mentioned a book coming out in a couple of weeks, a good one about time travel, that I think some of the group was interested in: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mestai.

NEXT MEETING
Where: Michelle's
When: End of February
What: TBA