Happy Friday! There is no fill in the blank today so I thought I would do a Friday book review.

The Game of Thrones

One of my book clubs reads book series. We have started a new series, A song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin, aka The Game of Thrones series (HBO has created a TV series by this name). These are large books, 800 pages plus, with a lot of characters. It took me about 150 pages to understand all the characters, but then I got really into the story.


It is a fantasy story rich with character. Martin has created a world, not unlike ours, but full of new and old magic, mystery, and twists to keep you guessing. One thing I really enjoy about this author is his willingness to do things that most are not, including killing off a main character. It intrigues me to keep reading. There are currently 5 books in the series, it is supposed to cap at 7 books.


I will be starting the second book soon, A Clash of Kings. What are you reading now?

The Hunger Games

My series book club met yesterday to discuss The Hunger Games. We were originally going to discuss just the first book, but ended up discussing the entire series because everyone had read all three books already.  It is a very quick read, but I could not put it down. 

I have been describing it as Brave New World meets Lord of the Flies.  But I liked it much more than both of those books.  It is told from the point of view of Katniss, a girl that volunteers to be in the hunger games to save her younger sister.  It is set in a future time when North America has become “Panem” consisting of a Capitol and 12 districts. The hunger games are essentially a reality show where teenagers from each of the 12 districts are selected and forced to compete against each other gladiator style to the death.  The games and starvation are how the Capitol maintains control over the districts. 

There are a lot of good characters and discussion points so it translated well for a book club.  I highly recommend it, but read all three and then discuss, much better that way! 

Next this club is going to start A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.  It is a four book series.

It comes highly recommended by my sister-in-law, but the first book A Song of Fire and Ice, is pretty long, so we won’t be meeting until January.  

Stay tuned for updates on this book, as well as my other club which meets later in October.  What have you been reading lately?

Book Club: The World According to Garp

this month we read and discussed the World According to Garp by John Irving.  I did finish the book, but it was touch and go for awhile.  It is a pretty long book.  

I have read other books by John Irving and really enjoyed them so I was looking forward to this book.  I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany.  

However, when it came to Garp I had a hard time identifying with any of the characters.  I am not sure that in the end I really liked any of the characters that much.  Don’t get me wrong they are very interesting characters, and it is an interesting story.  But not my favorite John Irving novel. 

The discussion was good.  The story had many interesting turns and characters to talk about.  I think some of the ladies really loved it and others ended up where I was… lack luster about Garp. 

I am really looking forward to the next book… The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  

Harry Potter...

Bond and I were so lucky to get tickets to an early screening of the final installment of the Harry Potter movies.  We saw it at 6 p.m. today, Thursday, evening.  It was, like all things Harry Potter... amazing!

Afterwards I came home and hopped on ichat with one of my sisters, currently living in England.  She and her husband saw the movie when it opened at midnight, so we saw it at the same time (cool right!)  We talked about all our favorite parts of the movie and book, what they left out and added new, and she pointed me to an article posted on HuffingtonPost.com, Harry Potter and the Loss of My Adolescence by Meghan Overdeep.  This article does a wonderful job of summing up the feelings I have been having as the Harry Potter series comes to a close.   Especially the very last sentence, because as is true of any great book, the Harry Potter series has the power to truly transport you.

I have moved from adolescence into young adulthood.  But as I contemplate this article, look to the future, and of sharing the magic with my children, I realize that growing up and finding your place in the world never really ends. So the guidance and wisdom gained through the wonderful world of Harry Potter will never really end, only change as I change.  "And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure" (Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince).

Re-reading Books

I love to trade and share books after I read them. But I have some books that are permanent residents. I have some books that I revisit again and again like an old friend.

Top of that list is the Harry Potter series, followed closely by Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  With the upcoming release of the final Harry Potter movie I am currently re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (for the fourth time).

When I re-read books it is usually in addition to another book that is a first time read.  Right now I am also reading The Run of His Life: People vs. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin.

Bond first read this book and then began passing it around to some of our friends.  We have all been discussing it.  I am really enjoying it since we were so young when the trial was going on, I don't remember a lot of the details.  

Do you re-read books?  What is your favorite?

- Posted using my iPad 2

Water for Elephants

Last weekend my ladies book club met to discuss Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  We did something different this time and had no host.  Instead we went to a Saturday afternoon showing of the movie version of Water for Elephants followed by appetizers and drinks at a local restaurant.

The main character and narrator, Jacob, is in his 90's and the circus has come to town.  He begins to remember and somewhat relive a time in his life when he was searching for his path and it intersected with the circus.  I am not sure what your memories of the circus are, but Jacob's memories are of a depression era, train traveling circus.  It is a fascinating hierarchy of bosses, performers, and working men, but still interdependent on the other for the show to go on.

Jacob is an ivy league drop out one test away from becoming a licensed vet when he hops a circus train.  He falls for the woman in the star act, Marlena, pretty much instantly.  He is allowed to stay with the circus as the vet, but has a difficult time finding his place in the hierarchy.  The love story develops between Jacob and Marlena, complicated by the fact Marlena is married to Jacob's boss, August.  August has a tendency toward violence and the author hints towards a mental illness as well.

The book club had a lot of interesting things to say.  One person posed the question whether the elderly Jacob was remembering his true past or a fictional story he now believed to be his past.  Overall, I enjoyed the book.  But I think my favorite thing was the way Sara Gruen wove historical aspects into the fictional story.

The movie stars Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon.  I have learned to adjust my expectations about movies based on books, if I have read the book.  I understand that they cannot include every aspect of the story so I try to base my opinion on whether the movie maintains the overall effect and essence of the book.  The movie was good, but not great.

One comparison the ladies discussed was everyones favorite character, in the book versus the movie.  Mine was hands down Rosie in both!  The whole time I was reading and watch I just really wanted a baby elephant!!

Have you read Water for Elephants or seen the movie? What did you think and who was your favorite character??

Book Club: The Hour I First Believed

Last Friday was my ladies book club and we discussed The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb.  Overall I enjoyed the book.  It is a fiction as the main characters are imagined, but I felt it was more of a historical fiction based on the level of true information intertwined in the story.  Which I really like, as I am normally a huge fan of historical fiction.

It was a great book for a group discussion.  Lots of controversial elements and interestingly flawed characters.  The main character and narrator is a man in his third marriage, Caleum.  The basic premise of the book is that the married couple has been having problems and they relocate for a fresh start.  The settle in Littleton, Colorado prior to the Columbine school shooting.  He is a teacher and she is a nurse at Columbine.  The story follows their relationship as they navigate the aftermath of the school shootings, including post traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and death.  I did not really connect to any of the characters on a personal level, with the exception of remembering when the Columbine shooting happened and the general fear that existed in the aftermath.

I have never read Wally Lamb before and I enjoyed his writing style.  My biggest complaint about the book is the length.  It was over 700 pages, and in my opinion it could have been edited down a couple hundred without losing much of the story.  The story spans about an 8 year period in the couples lives.  But the length of the book really comes from the flash backs that trace the lineage of Caleum's family.  The flash backs are interesting, but go into more detail than necessary to make the necessary connections to the current events happening.

Overall on a scale of 5 stars I give it 3.5 starts.  Have you read this book?  or other books by Wally Lamb?  If so what do you think?

Eat Pray Love

I recently finished Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I had put off reading it because it was so popular. My mother-in-law loaned me her copy. She had loved the book and even thought the movie was pretty good. I normally do not have time to read much between my 2 book clubs so I added it to the ever growing stack of books I will read one day. Then I found myself with 3 weeks before my next book club meeting and nothing to read. So I picked it up.




Once I started reading it I couldn't get enough. The book chronicles a year of the author as she travels through Italy, India, and Indonesia on a quest to find balance. The journey of discovery is wonderfully written as a conversation between friends. I found myself marking pages and passages to discuss, then realized I was not reading it for book club. But I kept marking pages, there was so much I wanted to discuss. The author takes on love, relationships, religion, travel, food, yoga, and more in a way that opens a discussion about the topic with the reader, but does not impose a viewpoint.

My only criticism of the book is how hungry I got reading it, especially when she is in Italy. Other than that I can do nothing but recommend you pick it up immediately if you haven't already.

I have plans to discuss this book with some friends who have already read it, over Italian food and a bottle of wine. I also plan to watch the movie.

Have you read Eat Pray Love? If so do you have any recommendation for discussion topics? Stay tuned for discussion details.


- Posted using my iPad 2

Ladies Book Club

I currently participate in 2 book clubs.  Last Friday I hosted one of them.  I hosted the, not so originally titled, “Ladies Book Club” which has between 10 and 15 members at any given time.  On average 3 to 8 members make it to a single meeting.  A total of 9 women were in attendance, so I deem it a great turn out, especially since most of them had even read the book! 

We had three new people join which always livens up the conversation. The ladies book club turned 2 in December 2010, and reads a variety of genres, lengths, and authors.  The only real criteria are that the books will lead to discussion and is available in paperback. 

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For this most recent meeting we read The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  The book chronicles the journey of a young white girl as she runs away from home and her father, in hopes of discovering the truth about her deceased mother.  She is accompanied on her journey by a fugitive black woman that served as a care taker for her after her mother died.  The book provided some good discussion topics including the queen bee mother figure and what that represented to the narrator,  The volatile relationship between the narrator and her father and how it developed to that point, issues about race relations in the deep south during the 1960’s, and more.  The book is relatively short, an easy read, and has lots to discuss.  If you are in a book club or thinking of starting one, this is a great choice.  Also, as the host I got to serve honey with everything.  I like it when the book lends itself to a theme and the honey was a smash hit!

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This book club meets again at the end of April and we will be reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb…Stay tuned for details.