Author Signing: Giulia Melucci

Karen recently got the chance to meet Giulia Melucci, author of our book club read in June: I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. She signed it to the book club!

Tweak

Today we met at Debbie's apartment in San Francisco to discuss Tweak, by Nic Sheff. It's a memoir about a drug addict and the various ups and downs in his journey towards getting clean.

Debbie cooked up a storm and we enjoyed, among other things, baked eggs and ebelskivers, which are delicious Danish pancakes that are round with a filling.

Though I was not a big fan of the book (or the author) it made for a great book club discussion. We missed Amy and Jen!

Sweet Discipline

On November 7 2009 we met at Liz's house to discuss Sweet Discipline by Bonnie Hamre. I won't tell you what it's about, but note Amy's clever book cover so she could read it in public.

We missed Jen, Rebecca and Debbie but it was a wonderful meal at Liz's (love that garbanzo bean salad..)

Get a Life

On September 5 2009, we met at Santana Row for lunch at the Left Bank. We had a semi-private room to ourselves, and amazingly we were all in attendance!

We read Get a Life by Nadine Gordimer. Since I'm posting this 4 months after we discussed it, I can't remember what everyone thought. I think the majority were pretty so-so about it. But we had delicious food and a great time getting together.

Foodie reading

In the spirit of our last book, I thought I'd post some recommended foodie reading:

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin

My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme

The Last Chinese Chef: A Novel by Nicole Mones

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell

The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
(also the sequels: Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table and Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise)

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone by Jenni Ferrari-Adler

Some of these were recommended to me by members of our book club (thanks Karen and Liz!) and others I found on my own. Enjoy!

I Loved, I Lost, I Ate Spaghetti (or was it orzo?)

Today we met in my backyard to talk about Guilia Melucci's "I Loved, I Lost, I Ate Spaghetti." While we did not all love the book (the writer's lack of introspection made it seem rather fluffy/shallow to many of us), we did love the food that we prepared from recipes in the book! Some of the recipes had particularly good names, such as "Morning After Pumpkin Bread," which Cathy prepared -- it was DELICIOUS! Also served were lamb burgers, orzo salad with feta, lentil salad, romaine salad, and berry salad. Oh, and for dessert "Fuck You Cakes with Chocolate Bourbon Frosting." Wait, can I use the F-word on this blog?!?!

As always, we had a great discussion, with lots of personal stories and experiences thrown in. It was "foodies" vs. "non-foodies" at the table -- and even the definition of "foodie" was discussed. Some of us love to talk about food, eat food, plan our food, and read cookbooks and magazines like it's porn. Others, not so much. I think you can guess which camp I'm in. Mmm, what's for dinner?

Mother's Day: A Complicated Kindness

I apologize for the delay in posting this GORGEOUS photo from our last book club... We had a delightful lunch at Karen's house and discussed "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews. We talked about small towns (Liz being an expert), extreme religion, and a crazy blue-flame scene that we think Amy might have made up ;)

We also used a "Table Topics" cube, Book Club Edition, for the first time. It has a bunch of cards with questions to inspire discussion, such as "if this book has an epigraph did it help you understand the message." This question in particular caused us to reach for a dictionary and look up "epigraph!"

All in all, it was a fabulous Mother's Day, with excellent photos to boot! Some are too whacky to post here, even...

Today we ate tortilla soup at Amy's, along with more pieces of chocolate cake than I care to mention, as we discussed Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture." The conversation covered our fulfilled and unfulfilled childhood dreams, among many other - um - things.

The Year of Living Biblically

For our next book, we read The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, by A.J. Jacobs.

As the sub-title would suggest, the author goes through the Bible and finds the 700+ rules, and spends a year trying to follow them all. It was an interesting read, and had some definite funny moments. I really enjoyed it.

We had the meeting at my house, and people brought Bible-appropriate food like pomegranates, goat cheese, hummus, wine, and of course, double chocolate chip cookies. It was a beautiful warm day (70 degrees in Belmont in November!) and we sat outside for our lunch and discussion.

To open up the discussion, we went around the table and described our religious upbringing, and where our religious views currently stand. We had a great time talking about the book and our own faith (or lack thereof). For our second photo, we decided to take out second photo with the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil.." theme.

It was the first time in a long time all eight of us made it, and it was a wonderful afternoon.

New baby!

It's Lisa's turn! Welcome, baby Jon...!

Five-year Anniversary

At our latest book club meeting, we celebrated our five-year anniversary. Not everyone could make it--Lisa, for example, was in labor, if you can call that a good excuse--but we had a great time discussing the book and reminiscing about the past.

Jennifer's book pick was Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks. It inspired a great discussion, with topics ranging from musical abilities, religion, and what makes up a person's true self.

We enjoyed delicious food at Bistro Vida, the place where our book club was conceived during Rebecca's bachelorette party.

With 30 books read so far, we've stayed true to the blog's name: 6 books a year. Here's to the next 30 books!

Divisadero

On June 22, we met at Lovejoy's Tea Room in San Francisco to discuss Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient (which is how you describe him when you are afraid to pronounce his name wrong). While we all agreed the book was beautifully written, the "divided" aspect of it made the book rather frustrating... Most of us wished we could find out what happened to Anna, Claire and Coop (the storyline from the first half of the book that was never resolved). Debbie brought some excellent discussions questions to guide us, which made for a great discussion.

We also enjoyed a lovely spread of teas, sandwiches and warm scones -- yum!

The Custom of the Country

On Saturday, May 13th we met at Liz's house to discuss The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton. We had a lovely lunch, and a lively discussion about the book and its commentary on marriage (and divorce). An interesting point of discussion: do you have to like the protagonist in order to like the book itself? Undine Spragg was clearly not a well-liked character by this crowd ;)

In attendance were Cathy, Liz, Jen, Amy, Lisa and Karen -- also a bonus guest: Karen's puppy Mac! He was so quiet and well-behaved, we sometimes forgot he was sitting under the table...

New baby!

The fifth baby to "join" book club is.....Jack (with his own blog)! Congratulations, Cathy!

And Then We Came to the End

No, not the end of book club! Rather, that was the title of our most recent read - by author Joshua Ferris. The lucky guy won such acclaim from the New York Times Book Review, Rebecca felt she couldn't go wrong with this choice. However, she now feels the best part was...well, when she came to the end of the book and didn't have to read it anymore. On the bright side, getting together with Rebecca (and baby Heidi) in Santa Cruz were Jen (and baby Rajit), Lisa, and Cathy - as well as a batch of german pancakes, fruit salad, and plenty of sunshine. It almost made up for all the time wasted on the book. Almost.

It's raining snow...

Two recent books in our club's history include:

Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Selected by: Amy
Discussed at: A yummy Turkish restaurant in Campbell
Verdict: Did you finish it? No? Me either...

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Selected by: Lisa
Discussed at: Cathy's house
Verdict: Stay the heck away from my feet!

Eat, Pray, Love

Our next book choice was by Karen, who chose Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Overall we enjoyed the book. I had thought I wouldn't like it, but her writing style was easy to read, humorous, and thought-provoking.

We had dinner at Janta, an Indian restaurant in Palo Alto. (Other options were Italian or Indonesian..)

Unfortunately three people couldn't make it, but we had a bonus guest: Jen's baby!

New baby!

Today, Rebecca's little Heidi became the 4th honorary juvenile member of club. Woo hoo!

New baby!

This is the third "new baby" post since this blog started, and the first one that isn't thanks to the efforts of Amy (and Batu). Congratulations to Jennifer (and Debajit) on the birth of little Rajit. Yay!

Castles and Spies

Tonight we met at Zbibbo in Palo Alto, to hone our espionage skills - which we learned by reading Cathy's entertaining book choice: Blowing My Cover, My Life as a CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran. I'm risking our security by sharing this post-meal picture. But since we'll probably be wearing wigs and high-heeled go-go boots while on the job, you won't recognize us tailing you around town...



One character it'd be fun to spy on a bit is Jeanette Walls, auto-biographical author of our last book: Glass Castle. Even beginning to describe her story in a blog post would be futile, because she needs every single page of her book to do it justice. I believe our entire club would recommend this book to anyone. Great choice, Debbie!

Club, Just Club

About eight days ago, many of us got together at Cathy's house to watch a movie. No homework necessary! We ate too much popcorn (at least in my case) and fell deeper in love with Dustin Hoffman (at least in my case).
We also discussed the evolution of Book Club. Current thinking is that we should shorten our name to "Club" - giving us license to watch movies guilt free, meet for food (where the only reading required is the menu), make the occasional spa visit, and probably still manage to squeeze in 6 books a year. Speaking of which, Debbie recently announced our next read:

THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls. (Scribner, $14.) The author recalls a bizarre childhood during which she and her siblings were constantly moved.

See y'all on March 25th for discussion!

From tea & scones to civil rights & murder

Yesterday we enjoyed tea, scones, and sunshine as we discussed Evidence of Things Unseen at Rebecca's.


Goal: to finally get a group photo of everybody. Maybe it'll happen when we meet later this fall to discuss Liz's book selection, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle.

Group photo

Here is a group photo, minus Debbie, taken at yesterday's meeting:



And by the way, food is just as important to us as what we're reading:

Catching up

...since our last post, almost 10 months ago.

As a follow-up to Lisa’s, um, intriguing book selection – it is now time to read “one of the most suggestively original love stories in our current fiction,” according to the New York Times Book Review. As most of you saw today, our next book club title is Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins.

For the record, since our last posting, we have read the following:

Sex Chronicles by "Zane" (selected by none other than Lisa and discussed today in her San Jose backyard, next to a pile of dirt, in the midst of her kitchen renovations)

Sister of my Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Karol's inaugural selection - discussed over a lovely lunch in her chic Palo Alto condo - which just might have prompted Lisa's urge for a new kitchen)

Runaway, a collection of short stories by Alice Monroe (chosen by Karen who invited us to meet over brunch, served by a crazy waitress at Il Fornaio in downtown Palo Alto)

Prior to those traditional publications, Amy selected a series of short stories commissioned by, posted to, and available only at Amazon.com. We discussed the following works over homemade Turkish food (mmmmmm) at Amy's house:

"The Second Coming of Charles Darwin" by James Morrow
"Triceratops Summery" by Michal Swanwick
"Air Conditioners" by Sarah Willis
"In the Dark" by Phillip Thomas Duck
"The Inheritance" by Robin Hobb
"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver

Another new baby!

Amy's Janessa got a new baby sister this month: Kyla Esin. Congratulations, Amy!!!

New Procedure!

Alas, no more random drawings at meeting's end. From now on, to ensure fair distribution of book choosing and party hosting, we'll rotate through the membership list. We'll be starting this new tradition with...pregnant Amy! (Congratulations.) Subsequently, books will be chosen and parties will be hosted by - in order:

Karol
Karen
Lisa
Rebecca
Liz
Debbie
Jennifer
Cathy

So Amy, what will we be reading next?!?

Books I've recently read

Of the last several books I've read outside of book club, here are my favorite four:

Michael Byers' Long for This World
A rich and touching story about a doctor who thinks he might be able to save a young patient...by circumventing the FDA and risking his career. This is the first time I've devoured a novel about medicine.

Mary Roach's Stiff
Oh my gosh, speaking of novels about medicine...this nonfiction portrayal of the "lives" of human cadavers is outrageous and (believe it or not) hilarious. I think it's my current all-time favorite book.

Anonymous & Imogen Edwards-Jones' Hotel Babylon
A (mostly) non-fiction account of the absurdities that go on behind closed doors - and sometimes right there in the lobby - of an upscale British hotel. The establishmant name has been changed to protect the innocent, but who cares? It's fun!

Jennifer Finney Boylan's She's Not There
The raw first-hand account of Professor Jim Boylan's "transition" to a woman, with ample checking-in with family and friends for their reactions. I was inspired to pick this up after feeling so much compassion for the hero(ine) of Middlesex.

Meanwhile, I recommend avoiding these:

Kim Wong Keltner's The Dim Sum of All Things
Amulya Malladi's The Mango Season
Carolyn Parkhurst's The Dogs of Babel

While these are all very different books, I found myself unimpressed with their weak leading characters. I don't mean they were poorly defined; I mean they had clearly defined but oh-so-weak personalities. I'm most disappointed that I didn't like Dogs, because I'll buy any book that promises a crime solving canine!

Next Date and Location

Book: Unequal Childhoods
Date: Sunday, October 9th
Venue: Cathy's house (2600 Wakefield Drive, Belmont)
Food: Potluck

Assigned chapters:

1-3, 12: Everyone

4 - Amy
5 - Cathy
6 - Jennifer
7 - Karen
8 - Karol
9 - Lisa

10 - Liz

11 - Rebecca

Again, everyone is encouraged to read as much of the book as they can, but please be sure to read your chapter.

Unequal Childhoods

Our next book is called Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life by Annette Lareau. Because it's fairly long, I thought we could divide it up into sections. (Though everyone is encouraged to read the whole thing!)

I suggest everyone read Chapters 1-3 and Chapter 12. The rest of the chapters (4-11) can be claimed by one person per chapter. First come, first serve, so if there's one in particular you're interested in, speak up now!

Date and venue to be announced.

New member!

We are pleased to welcome the latest number to our group - Karol. Over the last few months, she's been strangely mirroring our reading patterns...so it only makes sense to bring her on board. Another fan of yoga, Karol may be what just we need to turn this group into a fitness club!

Books 11 through 14

Book 11: Atonement by Ian McEwan (fiction)

Selected by: Liz
Discussion venue: Lunch on Liz's patio in San Francisco

Book 12: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (fiction)

Selected by: Rebecca
Discussion venue: Rebecca's patio in Santa Cruz
Note: Followed by a co-ed dinner at Parwana Afghan Restaurant

Book 13: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (fiction)

Selected by: Debbie
Discussion venue: Debbie's apartment in San Francisco
Note: Pulitzer Prize winning book

Book 14: Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins (poetry)

Selected by: Jennifer
Discussion venue: Picnic Lunch at Sharon Park in Menlo Park

New member!

Welcome to the club, Debbie - our third San Francisco resident, and (just maybe) our new resident yoga instructor!

Books 4 through 10

Book 4: The Three Junes by Julia Glass (fiction)

Selected by: Karen
Discussion venue: Dinner at University Coffee Cafe in Palo Alto

Book 5: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (fiction)

Selected by: Rebecca
Discussion venue: Shiok restaurant in Menlo Park

Book 6: A Severed Wasp by Madeline L'engel (fiction)

Selected by: Cathy
Discussion venue: Lunch at Cathy's in Belmont

Book 7: True Notebooks by Mark Salzman (non-fiction)

Selected by: Liz
Discussion venue: Picnic at Chrissy Field in San Francisco

Book 8: Natural History of the Rich by Richard Conniff (non-fiction)

Selected by: Karen
Discussion venue: Potluck picnic at Rinconada park in Palo Alto
Notes: Special co-ed meeting with spouses invited

Book 9: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (fiction)

Selected by: Lisa
Discussion venue: Lunch at Lisa's house in San Jose

Book 10: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (non-fiction)

Selected by: Amy
Discussion venue: Lunch at Amy's house in San Jose

New baby!

Welcome to the family, little Janessa. Your mom Amy will have lots more reading to do, now...

Books 1 through 3

Book 1: Empire Falls by Richard Russo (fiction)
Selected by: Rebecca
Discussion venue: Potluck lunch at Rebecca's in Santa Cruz
Note: Pulitzer Prize winning book

Book 2: East of Eden by John Steinbeck (fiction)
Selected by: Amy
Discussion venue: California Pizza Kitchen in Palo Alto

Book 3: The Liar's Club by Mary Karr (memoir)

Selected by: Jennifer
Discussion venue: Dinner at Jennifer's in Palo Alto

Wedding!

Yep, our raucous little club was formed at Rebecca's lovely (but not very raucous) bachelorette party on the eve of her wedding to Greg.

Founding members

Amy
Cathy
Jennifer
Karen
Lisa
Liz
Rebecca