Mini Update

Hola girls! I updated the blog a bit with the sidebars today! I'm not sure if we want to list out all recommended books under each one? Let me know! If so, just send me the ones you've recommended and i'll add them/link them! (Mon - I need yours for sure and Crystal - I may have yours?)

Looking forward to the next meeting in June!! Glad that date worked for you guys! :)

~Kel

March: They Did It With Love

Had a great time last week, girls! So glad you could all come over during the week. Next time it's my turn I can host a slumber party in my new house! yay! :)

Anyway, I enjoyed hanging out on that mild weather night snacking on dips and quesadillas and having lots of fun (and informational!) convos! I learned some useful info about insurance and 401k's! I also heard the raves about C25K. I need to get motivated!

I'm also THRILLED everyone liked the book!!! I hate that I was so distracted this month with this book. It's almost one of those books that is best read when you can read it over the course of a weekend-- rather than a few pages every night for a month! There was so much going on- lots of characters and personalities, affairs, and sleuthing. I really liked how it all came together and had me going till the end! I LOVED that I didn't figure it out!

Looking forward to April's meeting at Crystals. The Book Club sounds like it will be good and it might lend itself to a comparison to Beach Trip, which could be fun. I ordered it last night, along with The House Next Door (I couldn't help myself!)! I couldn't find Intensity (EEEK!) so it may end up being a library borrower for me.

Hope you all have a great week!

February Meeting - Beach Trip by Cathy Holton

Another slumber party - YAY! This time at my place. The book was Beach Trip by Cathy Holton. It was probably my favorite thus far but there were mixed opinions from the group. Basically, it's about a group of women that were roommates in college and go on a beach trip later in life. We all agreed we preferred when they were talking about the past (college days) to when they were in the present. Also, many found it confusing how it switched the point of view from one character to the next without warning. Others also found it their friendships a bit superficial in that they all reveal secrets that were events that occurred back when they were all supposedly "best friends". Still though, it was a good read with a few interesting twists so it was rated pretty high by the group (or at least by those of us that actually read the book :-)

I made the drink that was responsible for many of the alcohol-induced late night conversations the women had in the book - The Coronarita - which consists of 1 can of limeaide concentrate, 1 can (refill the can from the limeaide) of tequila, 1 corona, and sprite zero (this wasn't part of the recipe but it tasted like a shot before we added it). The drink was tasty.

I also made a Chicken Taco Casserole. Here's the recipe:
Things You'll Need:
2 lbs Chicken Breast
Onion
Taco sauce
1 cup Refried Beans
1 cup cheddar cheese
Sour Cream
Small can of green chillies
6 cups white rice
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Salsa
Step 1
Cut up 2 pounds of chicken breast and sautee with onions and mild taco sauce.
Step 2
Once done cooking, mix the chicken and onions with 1 cup of refried beans, 1 cup of mild chedder cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream, and 1 small can of green chilis.
Step 3
Make six cups of white rice.
Step 4
Layer the rice at the bottom of a pan. After the rice is spread evenly at the bottom, next add the chicken/cheese mix to complete a second layer.
Step 5
Put taco chips on top.
Step 6
Bake at 360 degrees F for 1/2 hour.
Step 7
When done cooking, put the desired amount of lettuce and tomatoes on top of the chicken taco casserole.
Step 8
Serve with salsa and sour cream as preferred.

We had already picked out our next book in last meeting and I started it a few days ago and am hooked already. The book is a Devon pick: They Did it with Love by Kate Morgenroth. See you at next meeting!!!

January: The Lovely Bones

Hey friends!



So I think I might still be recovering from this past weekend. When did I get so lame!?



Anyways, the sleepover was a great success! We managed to stay up until 4 am and in that time we managed to do none of the following: A) spend more than 10 minutes discussing the book B) pick a new book for next month or C) take a picture. What can I say? I can only speak for myself when I say I was too busy drinking and eating. Lovely. However, in that time, we managed to dance to my new favorite song ever "Don't Stop" by Keisha, hear some crazy stories, and catch up with everyone.



The book was pretty interesting. Of course since we were drinking and eating heavily, none of us voted(!), so I am not sure of the entire group's consensus. Personally, I thought the book was a good read. Although some of the chapters seemed to drag on with too much detail, I thought the general plot of the story was interesting and kept me involved.



In a nutshell, the book begins very quickly with a young girl's (Susie) vicious rape and murder. From the second chapter on, the book is told from Susie's perspective in Heaven. She follows her family and friends religiously from Heaven and yearns to have peace with her life's tragic events. She painstakingly watches her family deal with her death, each so different from the other - her sister dealing with looking exactly like her dead sister; her brother, too young to comprehend what happened; her father who knows who the killer is, but cannot make anyone believe him; and her mother, who after a couple of years, flees the remaining family to start over again in California.



I give the book a 4. I thought it was well written and very original. Writing the book from Susie's perspective in Heaven was very unique and made me think of what my own Heaven might be like. In addition, I felt like the character development was very realistic....I had a clear understanding of what each character was experiencing in the days, months and years after Susie's death. The only thing that made this a 4 instead of a 5 is that I really didn't like that the killer was never prosecuted. However, to play Devil's Advocate, events like this happen everyday in our life...not all killers are found and/or prosecuted, so it definitely was a different twist in the book.



So...I am really looking forward to our next meeting at Shana'a house and it looks like it will be another sleepover! Our book selection will not be determined until Thursday, so we will post that when the votes are in!

December's Meeting: Jill Smolinski's The Next Thing on My List

Posting about the December meeting in January...just my style. :)

We had a great meeting at the beginning of January! We had two newbies, Danielle and Gretchen, along with myself, Kelly, Devon, and Monica. Great group! We didn't get to take a picture and I sadly don't have any pictures of my food spread...but here is one of my Christmas tree. It was present at the meeting.

Overall, most of us enjoyed The Next Thing on My List. It was about a girl who tries to take on a 'Life List' of someone, whom she just met, that dies when they both get into a car accident. The items on the list span from being very light and silly to long-term, serious goals. As she works to complete the list, you see her grow and find herself while making an impact on others as well. It was a very light and inspiring book with a really good underlying lesson...for me, that was to never take life for granted. The group discussed creating lists, what would be on our lists, etc. We all really liked the book and most of the group rated it a 4...I think, this was a while ago. :)

So for January, we are reading The Lovely Bones, and will be meeting at Monica's for a slumber party! It will be so nice to be able to hang out, get our drink on, catch up and not have to worry about going to work the next day!

Is everyone enjoying TLB? Have you started reading yet?? :)

Sue Miller's While I Was Gone

Hi Friends! I'm terribly behind but wanted to do the review from the book club at my house - so sorry!

So this book club on Thursday, November 7, me, Devon, Monica and Stacy got together! We didn't take a picture of us... sorry Shana!!.... but I have a picture of our meal - pita pizzas!

The Spread....

Zoom on the meatsa pizza (back) and pesto chicken (front)

zoom on the veggie pizza

hehe love my pizza plates - they make me laugh; can also see the Meditteranean pizza well!

Book club was a blasty – great conversation, yummy wine, fun catch-up time as well as book chat. It’s so good to have great friends, especially ones you have so much in common with! The book we discussed was Sue Miller’s While I Was Gone.I gave it a 2.5 out of 5. It just wasn’t what I expected. It was very deep. It focused on a woman married to a minister who lived a happy life with her three children. Then you find that she has a past, and it comes back in a very unexpected way. It’s less of a story and more of a series of events. It DOES make you think and it definitely lent itself to conversation because most of us disagreed with the main character and the choices she made. I gave it a 2.5 instead of a 5 because I wished more had happened - more literal and less open to interpretation. I felt like the author wanted me to do all of the work; and while I was all about gleaning ideas/thoughts from the book, I needed more to hold my interest. It definitely got our club thinking about people from the past – is it good when they pop back up? Or a reminder of what could have been? Which led to an interesting conversation about Facebook and social media. So again, not the best book for me, but a definite conversation starter!

We also chose the next books:

The Next Thing on My List: December book (Stacy’s pick/her house)
The Lovely Bones: January book (Mon’s pick/her house)

I'm again SO SORRY for the much delayed meeting recap. :)

Hi!

Hey Girls!

Just saying "hi" and "Happy 2010!"

I'm behind on my reading again. haha! Imagine that! This time I haven't even GOTTEN the book yet! yikes! Gotta say, I'm a bit unsure about reading the book b/c the trailer for the movie is quite creepy. Hmmmmm.... Better get on it since we meet next weekend. :)

btw, SO excited to see you all! So much has happened since I last saw you (holidays, new houses, and an ENGAGEMENT!) woohoo!

Anyway, just popping in...I don't know if we all even read this blog anymore!