What Are The Page Turner's Reading Next Month

Room by Emma Donaghue.  Looks like a good one.

Happy Book Club Day!!

It feels like it has been forever since the Page Turners met. It has been a very long month. We had a couple of issues come up this month. Nothing major. I honestly feel like our club should be above problems. To me it should be about the books. We all share the same passion for reading. I want the club to last for a very long time. There will be members that leave the club. Bride to Be, I'm looking at you. I think we might need to figure out how we can skype you in for meetings. We will add new people. I hope there is always one thing that stays the same, our love of reading.

When I picked up the book this month I thought, I am not going to enjoy this. I was so wrong. This was a touching sad story. The questions are great. I am anxious for our discussion. We will all be wearing our new book necklaces. Broadcasting to the world, "We are book dorks and proud of it."



Here are some reading quotes to start Book Club Day:



A home without books is like a body without a soul.

Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.

If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that book is poetry. (Emily Dickinson)

Real luxury is time and opportunity to read for pleasure. Jane Brody



I love that Emily Dickinson quote. That is so true. I felt this month's book to the core of my bones.

Here's hoping we have an amazing discussion and wonderful food to go along with it.

September Book

I just finished our September book. The Old Lady picked it. It must be a great book. I feel so sad right now, I almost feel sick. It is a tragic story. It is a true story. When I read about the tragedies some people endure, I feel angry at how easy it is to forget we are lucky.

Carole Radziwill was married to Anthony Radziwill. John Kennedy Jr. and Anthony are cousins. Their Mom's were sisters. Anthony was a Polish Prince. Carole was from a poor family. She becomes an ABC News Correspondent.

Anthony is diagnosed with cancer. He and Carole marry and begin their fight to keep him alive. Along the way Carole becomes close friends with John's girlfriend, and then wife, Carolyn. Carolyn becomes the person that helps Carole struggle with the surgeries and hospitalizations. She is Carole's best friend who is going to be there to help Carole through the death of her husband. Instead weeks before Anthony passes away, John and Carolyn's plane crashes.

Do not read this book if you want an uplifting story. It goes from sad to sadder to tragic. I'll give you my rating on Thursday after The Page Turners meet. I am interested to see what questions the Old Lady will send out for this book.

I Did Not Wear My Book Necklace

Today was an odd meeting. First, I did not wear my book club necklace. I love my necklace and book club day. It shows how out of sorts I am from being on vacation too long. I do not think I approached it with my usual over the top excitement. How could I without my necklace?
We had many things to discuss tonight. We decided last month that we would dedicate part of our meeting time to discussing what other books we read this month. Because I was so out of whack I could not think of one. I had my book diary and left it in the car. Wow! Who was this person? We were very excited about discussing the book and then attending the movie. The problem with that is our discussion had to be rushed. I feel like that took some of the excitement and momentum away from the meeting. Jersey Girl announced her book for October. I will talk about that tomorrow along with how we are choosing our November book. That is very exciting.
Back to tonight. This is the first book we have read that we had a large disparity on how people liked the book. We went from as low as a 2 from Newbie. Who quickly raised that to a 2.5 to a few 4. Sure when I pick a book my ultimate goal would be for everyone to love it. From the start, I did not think that would happen. I really wanted the club to read it before they saw the movie. There were only three of us that loved the book. There were four that did not like the book. One person was middle of the road. I do not take it personal with this book that not everyone loved it. I cannot expect everyone to be able to understand the deep books on the same level as I do. Just kidding!!! Seriously, this book either touches people or not at all. It reached me. I am glad it reached some of the other members. I will stand by my statement that if we all agree on every book we are not stretching ourselves. We did not has as great a discussion as we should have. I think after seeing the movie we might have more to discuss tomorrow.
Let me talk about the movie. I am a huge, HUGE, Julia Roberts fan. If she is in it, I love it. I knew from the first time I read this book that it would translate to a great movie. That is not something I say very often. When I heard Julia was in it, I knew it could only be great. I really loved this movie. Not the same as the book. Obviously, I always hold books at a higher level than movies. There were changes in the movie. They worked for the movie. They could not have used everything in the book. It would have been two movies. The things that touched me in the movie were not the same as parts that touched me in the book. So sometimes visuals are better.
We had a new member tonight. People are expecting me to blog name her. In the club, she is the person I have known the longest. For some reason, a name has not jumped at me. Probably, because I am out of sorts. For now, she is Newbie. That will not last.
All in all it was a good night. I enjoyed watching the movie with the group. The people that did not love the book, did love the people. Some of the people that loved the book, did not love the movie.
It was still a great meeting. I think I will be happy next month to just have our dinner and discussion. We tried to put too much fun into one night.
Tomorrow I will discuss our November Anniversary meeting. Page Turners, this was for you. I should be in bed. If I try real hard, I can still get 5 hours sleep tonight.

Eat, Pray, Love

My plan was to carry Eat, Pray, Love with me all over on my vacation and take pictures. I did carry it with me many times. Did not get pictures taken. My plan only took place one day.


I think Eat, Pray, Love is about living in the moment. I really tried to do that while I was on vacation. I wanted to appreciate the beauty around us. Around every turn there was beautiful scenery. Every place we went was amazing. The day we went to the mineral hot springs, I was standing in one of the pools talking to my sister-in-laws. All of a sudden I looked around. There we were in this relaxing moment surrounded by mountains. I said, "Is this really our life?" How lucky we were to experience so much beauty in our country.



The day I took these pictures it was just our family being together. Husband, daughter, grandkids, and son in law. We went to a quaint mountain town called Nederland. We had lunch surrounded by mountains. We walked along a stream. We threw rocks in the lake. On the way back to the hotel, we took a little dirt road that led us to this little spot. My family enjoyed the moment.

Eat, Pray, Love is about how we travel through life. It is about knowing who we are and what we want from our life. It is enjoying our Italy without being in Italy. The Page Turner's has helped me do that. Reminded me that I wanted more and went for it. Not everyone likes the book. I hope you were still able to find the message.

I have a trip to India to finish tonight.

More About The PageTurner Society

Today I am off to spend the ENTIRE day at The Kid's baseball games. I hope to at least get some reading in between games. I am a very optimistic person when it comes to reading. The reality is The Husband and I are in charge of all three grandkids today. I do not really think reading will be happening. With only a few minutes to blog, I decided to do a quick post on additional facts about the book club.
Here is a list of the groups favorite books. I always list my favorite book as, To Kill a Mockingbird. Really, my favorite book is usually something I have recently read. To Kill a Mockingbird is my classic answer.

Favorite books of The Page Turner's:

Stella - And to Think That I saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
Bride to Be - Still Searching For Her Favorite
Old Lady - My Sergei
My Girl T - To Kill A Mockingbird
Jersey Girl - Kite Runner
Rose - Memoirs of a Geisha
Rapunzel - Where the Red Fern Grows
Easy Rider - Where the Sidewalk Ends

Have a great Saturday!

Why Is Our Book Club So Awesome?

Every month it is reinforced to me how amazing our book club is! I think the main reason it works is the diversity we all bring to the table. I sent out a little questionnaire to the group today. I knew the answers would not only be fun but also show our differences.
Our ages range from 24 to 50's. We are all women. Some are single, divorced, newly engaged, married for a few years, married for many years. We have realists, dreamers, romantics. If you believe in horoscope signs we have: two Geminis, two Taurus, a Scorpio, Aries, Capricorn, Leo, and an Aquarius. Even as I write this it does not surprise me but I feel surprised.
Here is a question that I love, it can be a corporate interview question. If you were a tree what kind of tree would you be? Nine people, 7 different trees. I love that. Here is some of the answers: Weeping Willow, Japanese Maple, Catalpa, Magnolia, and Palm Tree. I am not sure what all of that means, but it seems interesting. One Page Turner answered Sequoia. I think it does show we are well read. We are not going to give run of the mill answers like, Maple, Elm, Apple. If I had to guess Palm Tree would be a free spirit. Sequoia is a person that perceives them self as strong. I cannot imagine anyone in the group as a Weeping Willow.
I had my doubts about pulling together a book club with everyone being from the same department. I thought, how will we be able to let loose from our day. What if the meeting turns into a session of whining about work. Our department is made up of teams. The Page Turner brings together people from four different teams. Two different jobs. Some of the members are my very close friends. Some members I only knew to say hi, maybe exchange polite conversation.
When asked what our favorite book genre is the answers were: history, suspense, mystery, chick lit, vampires, period stories, and true crime. How in the world do we all read the same book and have most people enjoy the story?
Most of the members prefer living in small town than city. We like country music, lite rock, jazz, rock, old school punk rock, hip hop, big band. Crazy!
I asked the question if a sign says Do Not Enter, Would you enter? Four said, NO, 3 said yes, and two were unsure. That means most of us are cautious with a few live on the edge, roller coaster girls thrown in.
So how does it all come together? Why does it work? We share a passion for reading. We are focused on the books. When we sit down at the table, work is over. We discuss books, food, and the discussions have been known to go off course to shared stories of life experiences. We laugh quite a bit. We never argue. We get caught up in the discussion and will interrupt each other once in awhile. We respect every one's opinion. For our quiet members, we try to draw them out. Everyone always has a great point to be made. During our meetings we are living in the moment, enjoying great conversation with intelligent women.
Each meeting we become a tighter group. It is interesting. We are not all each other's best friends. We do not all lunch together. We do not get together and hang out. Towards the end of the month as we finish our books you can find small groups gathered book talking.
If you were to see us at our monthly meetings, you would probably hear our laughter, watch our animated conversations, and think, "I wish I had a group of women friends like that." It is a great group of women. If you asked me when we started how long we would last, I am not sure I would have said a year. I would have been surprised to see this many members still active. It is a pleasant surprise. Every single month. Thanks to my Page Turner Group, you have exceeded all my expectations.
Today we discussed blog names. Here is the list of our group: I am The Page Turner. In addition we have the Old Lady, My Girl T, Stella, Rose, Rapunzel, Easy Rider, Bride To Be, and Jersey Girl.

Coming Soon........

Tomorrow night is The Page Turner's Society monthly meeting. The excitement has been growing for two weeks. We are looking forward to a great discussion. More to come...........

July Book

I bought this book about a year ago. It was on one of my buying binges. One day I tried to read the first page. Just could not get into it. I know, one page and I gave up. It must have been one of those days. Not sure why I did not pick it up again.

This book is our July Page Turner read. I have read about it on Facebook, it is usually one of the must read books on all the book sites. I am so glad I had a reason to pick it up again. I am on page 147. Loving this book.

The Help is set in Mississippi in 1962. It is early for me to get into detail about the book. At this point, I am going to say it is about oppression. Oppression of women and African Americans. The main focus right now is White women with maids. How they treat them. There are parts that are upsetting to read. The author is Kathryn Stockett. Her writing puts me right in the time. One character in the book is in the upper society. She has a college degree but did not get out of college what was expected from her mother, a husband. She really wants a career. She has to endure humiliating treatment from her Mother because there must be something wrong with her if she does not have a husband. That does not compare to the humiliating treatment of the African American maids. This book was set in my life time. To be reminded of that part of history, not very long ago, always shocks me.

If you have not read this book, join us this month. I have a feeling it is only going to get better. Now I need to stop writing and get back to reading!

Doing The Warm Up

I have carried this book to work for 4 days so far. Tomorrow will be 5. So far I have not been able to take it to another level. I think I am in the stretching faze. Instead of reading on my lunch I have been searching the Internet. Reading blogs. I should blog about all the blogs I read. It is ridiculous how many blogs I read. Now I have find a new site to find blogs on. Reading blogs takes up hours of my time. I have also spent time this week on etsy. It is where I go to find crafty little items to buy. I love the jewelry items. In addition to the Internet I have spent time on my lunch reading Newsweek. Once in awhile I need to read about current events. All of these things are getting me ready for my big reading. The part where I finish 10 chapters this week. I am stretching my brain. Warming up for the big read. It is not going to happen on my lunch tomorrow, I have an errand to run. Tomorrow night there is a show on I have been waiting to watch. Saturday, busy, busy, busy. My new goal is two chapters on Saturday and three chapters on Sunday. This is my new commitment for the week. I do not want to wait until the last week and read this entire book. I would like to savor it. Warm up over. Tomorrow I start the book.

Taking It To Another Level

The Page Turner Society is reading our first "classic" this month. It is what I consider our first difficult read. I have read The Grapes of Wrath twice. Once in high school novel and once when I went through my period of rereading the classics. It was not my pick, but I consider it a must read. There are a few members of The Page Turner's that will not enjoy this read. Everyone is willing to give it a try. Different methods are being used to get through it. Some of the club members do not enjoy hard reads. They read for fun. So I really appreciate that everyone is giving it a try. I made a reading plan. I need to read 10 chapters a week. That means I am trying to not pick up another book. Normally, I wait until the week before our club meeting to read the monthly pick. Not going to be the case this month. I have a stack of "fun" books waiting for me. I have promised myself to only read one book at a time this month. I will let you know when I make it through my first 10 chapters.
Good Luck to the rest of The Page Turners. We will all be so proud of ourselves when we complete it.

Happy Book Club

This is book club week. Most of the members of the club seem to get very excited the week of our meetings. I, usually, wait until the week-end before the meeting to read the book. I like it to be fresh in mind for the discussions. It is not just the discussion at the meeting. The meeting is the formal discussion. There will be little discussions throughout the week building up to the meeting. I am about two-thirds of the way through the book. My plan was to have it finished. I would have except I was very distracted by my delightful grandchildren this week-end. I gave all three of them one on one times. That took me away from reading. That is not a complaint. They came up with things more interesting to do other than read.

This month's hostess chose her book by researching good books for book clubs to read. She wanted to pick the "perfect" book. She was the person that convinced me to get the club organized. So glad she did. We are meeting at a Mexican restaurant. That is good for a few reasons. It is near where I am staying. I love Mexican food and rarely eat it. I will probably have a drink. I have a feeling this is going to be another great meeting.

The book started slow. It took a few chapters to really take off. It has done nothing but build momentum since then. It is an interesting plot. I am sure it is something most wives and mothers have considered doing at some point in their lives. Do I have you interested? I will give you an idea of the story. Delia, wife, mother, and office manager for her husband's practice walks away from the family vacation. It is not planned. She catches a ride and just keeps going. It comes to a point she does not know how or want to turn back. That is all I am going to say right now. You will have to wait until after our meeting on Thursday for the rest. Plus, I need to finish the book so I know how it ends.