December book

The book we will be reading for December is The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton. Please drool over the synopsis below....

"The new novel from the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Distant Hours is a spellbinding mix of mystery, thievery, murder, and enduring love.

During a party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the road and sees her mother speak to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy. 

Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to the family farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by questions she has not thought about for decades. From pre-WWII England through the Blitz, to the fifties and beyond, discover the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined.

The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams, the lengths people go to fulfill them, and the consequences they can have. It is a story of lovers, friends, dreamers, and schemers told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world."

November Book

I hope that everyone was able to read October's book, The Night Circus,by Erin Morgenstern.  I am tentatively setting up our next book club meeting for next Friday, November 8th.  We will meet at Lanna Thai, on Evergreen Way at 7:00 pm.  Please let me know if you plan on attending, so I can determine if the date will work!

Now that October is wrapping up, it is time to announce next month's book!  The long anticipated climax of the Divergent Series has finally come out!!!  You should be able to hear me whooping from across town!  I am so excited to read this book!  Here is a synopsis for Allegient, by Veronica Roth:

"One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent."

September Book

I really wanted to schedule a book club meeting at the end of this week, to celebrate and/or commiserate over the beginning of school, but I am afraid that I really can't handle a single other thing to be scheduled this week! Sooooo, our next meeting (long overdue, I am afraid) will be next

Friday, September 13th, at 7:00 pm at Panera Bread on Everett Mall Way. 

We just finished some really amazing and fun books, the first two in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, that I am dying to talk about!  Let me know if you plan on attending!

In honor of the beginning of school and returning to the world of books, libraries and knowledge, and just because it is a really fun read, for September we will be reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan.  I listened to it on audio and cracked up the entire time over the narrator's portrayal of the main character.  Here is a synopsis to enjoy:

"The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

With irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan has crafted a literary adventure story for the twenty-first century, evoking both the fairy-tale charm of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or a young Umberto Eco, but with a unique and feisty sensibility that’s rare to the world of literary fiction. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave, a modern-day cabinet of wonders ready to give a jolt of energy to every curious reader, no matter the time of day."

August Book

I hope you got to enjoy last month's book, Cinder, by Marissa Meyer. I fell in love with it and had to immediately continue on with the next in the four-part series. This month we will be reading Scarlet, which is part two of the Lunar Chronicles.  The end of July was crazy so I wasn't able to plan a meeting, but it will be fun to meet at the end of this month and discuss both books.

Here is a synopsis of the book.  If you haven't finished Cinder yet, then try to resist the urge to read on (I know that I never can):

"Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner."

July Book

Sorry for such late notice about this month's book for Book Club.  I hope you are all enjoying a fabulous summer break and have been as crazy busy as I have!  The book for July is one that I am currently enjoying listening to: Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  Here is a synopsis to enjoy.

"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future."

June Book and Meeting

I am super excited about the book we will be reading for June!  I have been incredibly intrigued by the sensational and gorgeous movie trailers for the new "Great Gatsby" movie (HELLO, who would not LOVE to wear those costumes?!), so it inspired me to read the original novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which I haven't read since the eighth grade.  I seriously doubt I got ANY of the book at that time, but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time through!

So for June we will be reading The Great Gatsby, and for anyone interested, will go see the new movie before it leaves theaters.  I am shooting forFriday, June 14th, before everyone takes off for the end of school.  Exact date and time will be determined as we get closer.

Here is a very brief, and very unsatisfying synopsis:

"Generally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest novel, The Great Gatsby is a consummate summary of the 'roaring twenties' and a devastating exposé of the shallowness of the 'Jazz Age'. Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore in the 1920's, to encounter Nick's cousin Daisy, her brash but wealthy husband Tom Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby and the dark mystery which surrounds him.

The Great Gatsby is an undisputed classic of American literature from the period following the First World War, and is one of the great novels of the twentieth century."

May Book

I have completely neglected my Book Club responsibilities, and never sent out an assignment for a book for April! Consider it a chance to catch up on reading! If you found any amazing book ideas that you would like to pass along, please let me know! It can be hard to find a new book every month and I like to know what everyone else is reading!
For May we will read a book that just looks intriguing to me. I haven't read it yet, so fingers crossed, let's hope it's a good one! We will read Alice I Have Been, by Melanie Benjamin. The cover looks haunting, and I don't know about you, but I always judge a book by its cover!


Here is the synopsis:

"Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.

'But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?'

Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories.

That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war.

For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey.

A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire."

March Meeting and Book

It is time for BoOk CLuB again, and once again I am late in getting out our month's assignment!

I am tentatively planning on holding our meeting this Friday, March 8th, to watch the Hallmark movie based on our last book The Magic of Ordinary Days. I am not sure if we will watch it at my house or another location....suggestions are welcome. Please check your calendars and let me know if it is something you can attend!

The book for this month will be The Importance of Being Ernest, by Oscar Wilde. I have always loved the movie based on this book, and understand that there is a play as well, so I am excited to actually read the book!

Here is a synopsis for you:

"Oscar Wilde's madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers' entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters of The Importance of Being Earnest have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades.

Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend, the 'rivals' to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the 'Ernests' to claim their beloveds, pandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day!"

February Book

I decided to do a short and sweet book for this short and sweet month of February, which my beloved sister of eternally good taste recommended. We will be reading The Magic of Ordinary Days, by Ann Howard Creel.


Here is a synopsis for the book:

"Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of being an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. An exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, though, and she finds herself banished to a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp. When Olivia unwittingly becomes an accomplice to a crime and is faced with betrayal, she finally confronts her own desires. Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters, Creel's novel is a powerful exploration of the nature of trust and love."


Details for the next meeting will come soon, once I know where to squeeze it in this month!!

January Book

It has been SO LONG since we have been able to meet! I hope you are all keeping up on your reading! After the chaos of the holidays it is nice to just take it easy for a while....so curl up with a nice mug of hot cocoa and enjoy one of the last several books we have read! They are all fantastic! Then mark on your calendars Thursday, January 10th for our next book club meeting! So far I haven't heard of any major conflicts, so please let me know if it is an issue so I can reschedule it. I will let you know more details as we get closer!
The book for January comes as a suggestion from Thelma Davis, who I highly respect as a great authority on amazing books! I am actually really excited about this one because it sounds so magical! We will be reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. Doesn't that title make you want to just eat up that yummy goodness?! Here is a synopsis for your enjoyment:

"Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday."

December Book

The book we will be reading for December is the final installment in Ally Condie's Matched trilogy: Reached.

Here is a synopsis for you to enjoy!


"After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.

In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times-bestselling Matched trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without."