Can Page Turner Meetings Keep Getting Better?

   I have been looking forward to tonight's Page Turner's meeting since I heard this was the pick.  I read this book last year, and LOVED it.  I already mentioned that I loved it more reading it the second time.  The first time I read this book I missed details.  After our wonderful discussion, I am going to need to read it again. 

That's right Coach.  Every time I read a book, I get more out of it.  Let me put it in terms that you can relate to.  I asked Coach what his favorite movie is.  He could not answer.  There are too many.  Sound familiar readers? I asked if he ever watches a movie over and over.  He said Tons.  Same thing with reading a book.  It can get better with time. Put my passion with reading next to your passion for watching movies.  I know you would not use the word passion.  Why, because you watch movies instead of reading.

I went to this meeting predicting that everyone would rate this book a 5.  I told the Old Lady I was sure of it.  To me this book is awesome on so many levels.  I could not have been more wrong.  The only 5's the book got were from OL and me.  There were eight of us at the meeting tonight.  Only two 5's.  If you have read this book, does that shock you?  I did not realize that this book is being sold in Young Teens section.  When I bought it, it was not.  I think that hurt some of the ratings from people.  They thought the book simplified the concentration camps, what was happening.  I love that!  Why?  Because one of the things I took away from reading it the second time was that I loved the story being told through a child's eyes.  I watched so much, read so much about that time.  Never thought of it through a child's eyes.  Now I have.

The best part of The Page Turner's is always what people bring to the discussion.  There is a small part of the book where Bruno catches his Mom talking closely to a young soldier.  Once she is crying.  The soldier ended up being sent away to another post.  Both times I read the book, I thought the Mom and soldier were having an affair.  That is the only thing that came to my mind.  Someone else thought his Mom was crying because she found out what was going on at the camp.  He told her about the killings.  I won't go into all the details if you have not read the book.  I think there were three different scenarios on that one scene.  We all read the same thing.  We took different things from it.  Don't you love it?  We do. 

I get sassing a bit from TT about my wanting everyone to agree with my thinking.  It is really the opposite.  Our best discussions come from the different views.  Tonight our discussion covered so many things.  There are two movies from this book.  Everyone enjoyed the movie and the book.  That does not happen very often.  I have not seen the movie but I need to.  Maybe the sub-title version.  One of the book questions said to discuss the puns used by the author. While we were talking, I read the letter at the end of the book from the author.  Almost made me cry.  Gave the book more meaning to me.

Let me write something from the back of the book, "If you start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy named Bruno.  (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.)  And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world.  We hope you never have to encounter one."  That is a powerful statement.  It is a powerful book.

This is a must read book.  You can read it in an afternoon.  It will make you think.  It will make you angry.  It will make you sad.  And if you really think about it, the friendship with the two boys will make you smile. The Page Turner's rated the book 4.4 and rated our book discussion 4.4.  That is the best a book has done.  The Help got a 4.4 for the book but the discussion was lower.

We welcomed a new member tonight.  Willie's Wife.  She makes the second member from the outside.  She is going to be a fantastic addition.  I might have to use WW as her blog name.  Most of the time I am just going to try and not mention people by name.  Too much stress.

One more thing.  We had a long discussion with dessert.  What do we think is the sexiest part of Willie.  Some said his eyes.  I, of course, went with his "award winning" sense of humor.  OL said a**.  Just kidding.  Get over yourself Willie.  It is a BOOK CLUB.  You are not a book!  There was a short discussion of The Housewives while we ate dinner.  Jealous Much?  That is the closest you came to be talked about at the meeting. 

People - read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  You will thank me.

It's Book Club Night

It was book club night. Big night for book club. First of all, it is time to say good-bye to Bride To Be. She is leaving in less than two weeks. Heading off for a warmer climate. No longer to be a Bride To Be. She will be a Bride. I will really miss her. She has a passion for discussing books. Maybe, she just has a passion for talking and channels it for book club. I have truly enjoyed getting to know her through the club. I am a sucker for people that share my passion.
Saying good-bye to Bride To Be was not even the big news. Ready!!! We all usually have a drink with our dinner. As people slowly come to the table, we were all ordering something to drink. All of a sudden I noticed that Jersey Girl did not order a drink. I asked what the deal was. Not drinking = PREGNANT!!!! It is Page Turners first baby. We are very excited. We love to watch other women grow babies. Big life events. We need our next event to be for Bodey to find the love of her life. (She does not like the name, Easy Rider.) I don't want a bad nickname holding her back. She needs positive vibes. Anyway, we had all that going on before we even started the meeting.
The concensus at the table was we loved the book. Until.......the last chapter. We all agreed the book was filled with symbolism. Even with all our smarts combined, we could not figure out what it all meant. The basic premise of this book is when people die they go to a second life. An in between place. People remain in this second life until as long as there is a living person that remembers them. Not even remembered as a close friend or relative. It could be a person the living person just saw on the street everyday. As long as they are in the living person's memory, they stay in the second life. The story came together by the 4th or 5th chapter. The second life thing started making sense.
It was just the ending. It was such a let down It went on and on. We had a good discussion about we thought it means. We were all chatty tonight. I brought a guest. She is not a blog reader. Not sure I will have to give her a name. She is my oldest friend from here. I think we figured 27 years. Long time. Course in that time frame we make contact, lost contact, make contact, lose contact. Always with one constant. We enjoy each other when we see each other. She is very interesting. This summer we shared a big moment, the James Taylor/Carole King concert. That was a big deal for us. I think she enjoyed the meeting. I don't think she was scared away. I think she will come back again.
We ate at a Chinese/Japanese restaurant. The food was delicious. The presentation of the food was beautiful. The plates were white, over sized. Around the food was bright vegetables cut in cute shapes. Very nice. I ate too much. Now I am stuffed. Very stuffed.
We were discussing classic literature at our meeting tonight. Whether we would ever read anything like, The Great Gatsby. That got us on the discussion of famous first lines.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times............Tale of Two Cities

Bodey, I think you were the one that had The Great Gatsby right. It is:
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

To the Bride To Be I give you this great first paragraph:
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
Your off to great places.
You're off and way!

Oh the places you'll go! I rated the book 3.5. The .5 was my gift to The Bride To Be. She loves the .5.

Meeting Number 10

We had a small group at the meeting tonight. Made worse by the fact that Bride To Be lost her voice. She always has great insights. I really missed having her take part. She was a trooper and still showed up. I am sure it was very difficult for her to sit there and not be able to join in. I like the discussions when we have a few more people in attendance. We only had six. Despite how some members feel about adding new faces to the group, we might have to. It will help keep the meetings interesting.

I mentioned earlier this week that our book was, What Remains......" I loved this book and gave it a 5. There were those that mentioned I was being too generous. I disagree. I think if a book succeeds in making me feel so much emotion, it is a good book. It was very well written. It was a biography. The author was part of the story. She wrote it almost like she watched the story play out. Which in a way I think is what she did. Everyone else gave the book a 4. That is strong for our club. I think sometimes we get too critical. We have lifted our expectations WAY UP. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I think the basis of the story is four friends/family members. How the manage to support and deal with one of the group fighting and losing the battle with cancer. Near the end of the battle one of the couples dies in a tragic plane crash. The fact that this is part of the Kennedy family might have made it more interesting to me. I really think I would have enjoyed it anyway.

The evening ended on a low note with me having to leave not feeling good. Big sad face!!

Next month's books is: The Brief History of The Dead

Wish me luck. It is not my reading style at all. We just keep stretching our reading selves.

Is There Anything Left To Say About The Help?

Yes. I still have things to say about The Help. It is going to take me awhile to run out of things to say about this book. I rated it a 5. I rated our discussion a 4. I can not even imagine where our discussion has to go for it to hit 5. I do not want to imagine.

Tonight's meeting was good from start to finish. We ate at CJ's at the old airport. Fantastic food. Round tables, made our discussion so much easier. The room is large so even crowded it was quiet. Great atmosphere for a classy group like The Page Turners. The food was even pretty to look at. My Girl T really raised the bar tonight.

The Old Lady decided she wanted to announce her book for September tonight. She wanted it to be a big production. I heard her order the book at Barnes but did not pay attention to the name of the book. We place our orders, get situated, have our drinks, drum roll for the announcement.....The Old Lady reads the description of the book. The usual stuff, blah, blah, blah, love story. She announces the book, Twilight. Shocks and gasps, from me. Most of the club has not only read the series but attended the movies.....on opening night. I have not made a secret of the fact that I feel too good for the Twilight Series. GROAN! Big joke on me, The Old Lady announced her real book as, What Remains, A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill. I brought Twilight home with me. No promise on if I will read it. I know I should. I know book club is about stretching our boundaries. That said, I am afraid if I read it, people will lose respect for me, I will lose respect for me.

The discussion about the book was great. One of my favorite questions was which character was our favorite and why. Eight members and we picked several different characters with unique reasons why. That is what book club is about. We all read the same thing and draw something unique to us from the subject. The Bride To Be and I shared a favorite character. We like Aibileen. I liked the fact she was a loving, care giver. I get that. I did daycare and can really identify with that part of her personality. The Bride To Be wins special mention because she made comparison to next month's book. She said Aibileen's core values were based on Eat, Pray, Love. Extra points for pulling a reference on a future read.

The Old Lady wins an award for answering a question and pulling the conversation so far off course we needed Mapquest to get back. There is a book club oath regarding what parts of conversation can be repeated, most of what The Old Lady says is protected by our oath and by-laws.

We had a short discussion on if anyone had gone too far for revenge. The winner, Jersey Girl. Now she has not killed anyone if you are guessing based on stereotypes. That is good news. I will leave it at none of us will purposely make her angry or insult her anytime soon. The Old Lady gets honorable mention in this category too. She was "on" tonight. Rapunzel has a dark side, but we already knew that. In case you have not read the book, I will not say what Minny did for revenge. I will say none of us had dessert tonight.

Each month we open up and enjoy each other more. We are approaching our one year anniversary for the club. I opened discussion on if we want to make any changes in how you pick books or add new members. Absolutely no new members can be added at this time. It appears our little group is starting to feel a sense of elitism. Plus the big fear that we really cannot have The Old Lady just telling her private stuff in front of a stranger or newbie.

Thanks girls for another enjoyable evening. Next month we are reading, Eat, Pray, Love. We are going to see the movie and then go out to eat and discuss book/movie. It is starting to be hard for us to wait for an entire month to meet and book talk. But.....we would never be able to read more than one book a month.

I will work on blog names for the rest of you. I am going to collapse under the pressure of keeping meeting stats and notes, being the leader, and having to blog when I get home from the meeting. I am working on it!

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

Tonight was our Page Turner Meeting. As always, great meeting. We ate at a place called, Swinger's. Not what you think! It is a golf establishment. Very pretty. Food was delicious. Very expensive. On Thursday night they have a special on appetizers. Half price! Obviously, our group had appetizers. I had slammers and nacho chips. Tasted way better than it sounds.
Down side is it was not great for book discussion. We really need round tables for a good talk. In addition, this place was very busy, very loud. We still managed to talk. It was just more difficult.
They also had drink specials. Hello? That's right. We have decided we like the addition of alcohol at our meetings. We do not get falling down drunk. But a couple of drinks at the end of a long day is a bonus. I felt a bit wild tonight. Decided to try something new. The Cosmopolitan was my walk on the wild side. Not only did it come in a darling glass, it had a tiny little shaker. I only had one. On my book review scale of 1-5, I will give it a 4. Next time I have the opportunity I will try to have at least two.
Below is the Old Lady and I. She was walking on the wild side too. It was also her first Cosmo. Love the lingo! Notice we have kissed and made up after the whole e-reader issue. You are probably thinking, your friend is not too old, why the name, Old Lady? It is about wisdom. Compared to the other Page Turners we are ancient. The Old Lady likes to say things like, "To have a friend, you have to be a friend." She decided to be a friend and forgive me for the e-reader. She also has an odd expression about Toads in the ditch when it rains. I'm not saying everything she says is filled with wisdom.

There was even time to discuss our book. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is considered a classic. It is a book I never would have considered on my own. I love that the book club is making me leave my comfort zone. At the club I gave the book a 3 rating and the discussion a 4. For the purpose of my review, I will give it a 4. This is going to have our monthly hostess up in arms. This is a comprehensive study of a murder of a family of four in Kansas. It is written as a story based on facts. Very detailed without being graphic. There is quite a bit of insight into the murderers. I did not feel like everything flowed with the writing. I did like that it was written in a unique style. When I read a light "feel good" book I enjoy it while I am reading. When the book is done, it is just over. When I finished this book, I could mull it over in my mind. Made me think. We had a good discussion. I know it is a book I will discuss again. It is also a book that I will be glad to say I have read.
Good Night, Good Book!

Ladder of Years

Tonight was our Page Turner Meeting. We ate at a Mexican Restaurant. Food was good. Drinks were great. We had nine members at the meeting. That makes for a great discussion. I think the book ended up with an average rating of a 3. Once again, fantastic discussion.
Here is the interesting things. Most, if not all, of us did not like the main characters. We found them weak. Especially, the leading character. Delia is a wife and mother that while on vacation walks away from her life. Just goes for a walk and keeps going. She goes to a new town, starts a new life. I know what you are thinking, who hasn't thought of that fantasy. Delia acts on it. There are quite a few characters in this book. Most of them are weak. Most of the members did not like the ending. We did not like many of the characters. We did like the book. We considered it well written.
It brought out many different emotions from all of us. The Old Lady was angry. Wonder why I love reading so much? Someone can read a book and feel angry about a make believe character in a make believe story. That is amazing. Every meeting we start discussing a book and we can relate it to things in our own lives.
We had a discussion about what we have done alone. What we feel comfortable doing alone. Have you sat down in a restaurant (more than a McDonald's, less than a 4 star) and eaten a meal alone? Have you gone to a movie alone? Driven yourself on a trip? Flown?
This is a story about the different rungs of life. How we face them? If we face them? If you grow from the rungs of life.
I do not want to give too much away. It is not going to be the best book you read. It is a good book. Gives you some food for thought. It is well written. It starts up slow and builds. If I have to give the book a color, I would have to go with grey. Not a feel good. Not a little romance. More a book about little things. I was going to say it is about how people handle things in life. In this case it is more how people do not handle things. What happens when you do not take charge of your life. What happens when you react instead of being proactive.
I would not put this book as the number one book on your things to read. If you are looking for something different, interesting, this is a good one.
Now let me talk about The Page Turners. We took a group of co-workers. Some of us were closer to each other than others. Age from early 20's to late 50's and ages in between. Our common thread is we like to read. We did not even read at the same levels. Some people did not read very much. Some of us are major league readers. Once a month we spend two hours together. A good, quality two hours. It is two hours of what we think, what we like, what we feel
, what we have experienced. Two hours of personal feelings and emotions. I would love to write a book about it. How each meeting we evolve. We get to know each other more. We all share the passion of reading and discussion. I hope this club lasts a long time. We will end having relationships with each other like nothing we have with other people in our lives. We spend two hours opening up to each other. Total honesty. It is like counseling through book discussions. I feel like we are part of something special. I hope the rest of you do too.

Swine What??

Tonight was our monthly Page Turner meeting. I can go on and on about the positives of this club. We have pulled together this odd (and I mean that in a nice way) assortment of personalities. Different ages, different stages in life. Each month we get more comfortable with each other. The hostess picks the book. That means there will be times we will read something that we would normally not read. This month is one of those books. Maybe I should talk about the food. This is the first month we met at a home. We each brought something to share. Lesson learned, we need to share what we are bringing. We had chicken, sub sandwiches, hamburgers, three meat dishes. I am not complaining it was all delicious. We also had dips and cake. Awesome! Topped off with Margaritas. Our hostess did an awesome job. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. That was the huge lead to the book. It is a book review, eventually I need to talk about it.
I like Jimmy Buffett. One summer we spent a long week-end out of state with some friends, our theme song was Margaritaville. We played it over and over and over to learn all the words. It is not a good memory for my daughter. It is hard not to love Jimmy Buffett music. It is fun and upbeat. I was not expecting anything big from his book. Not only had I never read a book of his, I did not know he wrote books. He should stick to music, restaurants, and alcohol. If the book was written for junior high kids, it would probably be good. It really is about a pig. A pig that lives in a hotel with his family.
There is no reason to give details about the book. I gave it a 2 rating. It was hard to have a great discussion because the book did not have depth. That said I still enjoyed the meeting. I always enjoy spending time with this group of ladies. Here is hoping I enjoy the April book more.