Hasel Loves

Hasel Loves: Book Club Report Card

My book club, previously blogged about here and here, is well under way. Our book club “season” typically runs from September–May with a long break for the holidays. Unfortunately due to lack of interest and members moving, the second book club stopped meeting shortly after reading Eat Pray Love. Fortunately that didn’t keep me from reading some of the books we had planned to get through. Either way, I read some great (and not-so-great) books in late 2010/early 2011 and have some others planned for this year. Here is my updated report card, this time complete with actual grades!

1. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
At a peace meeting in the 1850s, a Cheyenne Chief requested 1000 white women as a trade for 1000 horses and means to help the Native Americans assimilate. Their request was vehemently denied. In One Thousand White Women, the past is rewritten and that request is fulfilled by President Grant behind closed doors. The book told from May’s perspective shares the journey and life they lived while out West. I found this book very intriguing! I couldn’t put it down. The characters could be somewhat stereotypical, but were still interesting. It was a sad, touching novel with romance and family drama. If you enjoy historical fiction, especially those set in the Wild West, this book is great! Grade: A

2. Beach Trip by Cathy Holton
When it comes to books, I am a sucker for two things: beach setting and stories of female friendships. This book featured both of these themes, but neither could save it for me (or most of my book club). I just couldn’t get into the story and I didn’t find the characters engaging. I found them very frustrating. I won’t give anything away, but I was VERY annoyed by the ending. With a title like Beach Trip, we expected a light, beachy novel, but this was a deep, depressing novel. We spent the majority of our meeting picking it apart, which we rarely do! However, it did bring up lots of interesting “friendship” type questions to discuss at a book club. However, there are lots of other books that could bring up similar questions. Grade: D

Everyone in the book club felt that these novels were dark so we set out to find something funny and different for the next month.

3. The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
Steve Martin’s second novellea and follow-up to Shopgirl was not as engaging as I hoped. The protagonist is a savant who has lots of neuroses and obsessions and few friends. He is currently unemployed and his life is highlighted by walks around the block to the drugstore, encounters with a realtor across the street, and visits from a therapist in training – a graduate student from a local university. Although it had an interesting premise and was fairly easy to read, I didn’t finish the book. (This pains me! I hate to leave a book unfinished.) I wasn’t going to be able to attend the meeting for that month, so I ended up scrapping it in favor of reading the next month’s book after I couldn’t get into it. Everyone in book club seemed to agree that it was much more enjoyable after 75 or so pages, so I am adding this to my list of books to finish. Grade: I (Incomplete)

4. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
This fictional story begins in 1986 as an older Chinese widower hears news that the belongings of Japanese families who were interned during World War II have been discovered in a Seattle hotel. The discovery stirs up old memories and soon the story alternates between the present and past (1946). I had never heard of this book and wasn’t at the meeting when it was selected, so I had no idea what to expect. As a child I read Farewell to Manzanar, a story from the perspective of a child of one of the internment camps, and remembered enjoying it. I have always been a fan of historical fiction taking place during World War II and this was no exception. It made for a very interesting book club discussion. My only complaint was that it was slow moving at first. Grade: B+

Since my second book club disbanded, I took on some of the books on my own.

5. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
This tale of a working woman returning home to her Mennonite parents’, just didn’t measure up to the reviews. While there were some funny and heart-warming scenes, the book overall was very choppy and didn’t flow well. I finished it somewhat dissatisfied. Grade: C

6. The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer
Another book turned into a movie – it came out last summer. I had to read it before it came out, but unfortunately I was never able to see it in the theater. The story follows a group of college friends dubbed “The Romantics” because of their musical chair-like dating habits and takes place at one of the couples’ wedding. It was a quick read. Not necessarily a great book club book since there aren’t a lot of issues to discuss, but I still enjoyed it. Grade: B

7. One Day by David Nicholls
One Day chronicles the story of a man and woman over the course of their 20-year friendship – observing them on the same day every year. This was yet another novel, I could not put down. The characters are flawed, and watching them grow and adapt throughout their lives makes for a page turner. Life isn’t easy and this books tells that story in a beautiful way. I highly recommend this book! Grade: A+

8. Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
Another novel featuring friendship from college to careers with an unexpected twist. This was much better than Beach Trip, but still not quite what I wanted. The characters are navigating the strange waters of life post-college – which I could relate to. Grade: B-

Now for my to-read list:

• The Hunger Games Triology by Suzanne Collins: We’ve chosen the first book of the trilogy for next month’s book club.
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: I know this is an old one, but a friend keeps telling me I need to read this, so it is going on my list.
• Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
• You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon: A fictional book of eight connected stories of military spouses, because I am not involved in it enough! Ha! I read an excerpt from this book in Oprah’s magazine and it was very intriguing.

I also have the very lofty goal of reading all of the Harry Potter books before the final movie comes out this summer. I am very behind here! I was late to the Twilight craze also. Do you have any reading goals for this year? What books are on your to-read list? Have you read any of these books? If so, what grade would you give them?

Book cover images from Books•A•Million. Originally published on EAD Living February 17, 2011. View original post here.

Hasel Loves: Starting a Book Club

A month or so ago, I volunteered to lead the book club for the Officer’s Spouse Club (OSC) at our base. I thought, “Hey, I’m an English minor, I can do this!” Only two bases into my husband’s Air Force career and I’m volunteering for something I had no idea would be so painful. Brilliant!

So here I am, leader of the book club, perplexed: How do you organize a book club? How do I get people interested in the book club? How do you chose the book? Etc. Etc.

Literally days after I got the list of the first people initially interested, Brooke Reynolds of the fabulous blog inchmark posted this great guide: Books and Pie. So I drafted an email borrowing some of Brooke’s guidelines and asking the women for feedback and book choices:

• One book each month. You have to have read or know someone who has read the book before you recommend it. Also, try to pick a book that is easy to find (via Amazon, library, local bookstore, etc.). I suggested that the host chose the book.
• Meet the same day each month. Our location will probably be each other’s houses, however, this is all TBD and is based on how many spouses are interested, where people live, etc.
• Discuss the book. The book club leader will come prepared with a few questions on cards. Everyone will take one or two and when they think it is appropriate interject with their question.
• Keep refreshments low-key. Dessert and beverages.

And I haven’t heard back from a single person. Granted, one of the interested parties is one of my closest girlfriends here, but the other five women haven’t made a peep! I’ve decided I’m going to chose a book, time, location, etc. and send out an Evite with the details. However, now I have to decide on a book. I want something that isn’t a difficult read, but is still interesting and thought-provoking. I personally love novels and/or about family sagas, friendships, and women on the verge.

Here are some of my favorites and possible options (for full descriptions from Books•A•Millions’ website click on the book title). The first four I have read; the last four are ones I’d like to read. I’m hopeful some of the spouses are interested in one of these titles. If all goes well, I want to post a review of the book read every month after we meet.

1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Love this book, which is actually a short story about a woman and her awakening in the 1800s. This version is dirt cheap ($1.50) and it is short, so maybe book club members will be more likely to read it even though they are busy.

2. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
Summer Sisters is my absolute favorite book of all time. I read it in high school and have loved it ever since. I try to read it every summer. I really enjoy stories about friendship, especially those told over a number of years. This is an easy, fun read.

3. Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett
This is a heartbreaking story of the author’s real-life friendship with a fellow writer. A tearjerker for sure. I read this while enroute to visit my best friends’ and I sobbed. Once I arrived, I hugged my friends a little tighter.

4. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This memoir is about Wall’s tumultuous childhood with nomadic parents.

5. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
This novel was written by a Parisian writer about the German occupation. Eventually, she was arrested and sent to a concentration camp; this novel was found 64 years later. I love fiction that takes place during World War II. I’ve read the first few pages of this book and think it sounds great.

6. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
A story about a family with a 1000 acre farm that is about to be left to the daughters’. Some of them want it, some don’t and their father does something terrible, causing a family drama to unravel.

7. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
I’ve heard lots of great things about this book – another one about women and friendship.

8. The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller
Sue Miller’s works are well-known, her novel While I Was Gone was one of Oprah’s Book Club selections. This sounds interesting and focuses on a young wife who befriends a cheating senator’s wife.

So I am curious – are any of you in a book club? How do you organize your book club and/or decide on a book? Which of these books would you want to read with a book club? What would initially spark your interest  in a book club?

Book cover images from Books•A•Million. Originally published on EAD Living on November 3, 2009. View original post here.