Girls Who Can Read

Books discussed 2008

2009-01-03T09:52:00.002-07:00

A Girl Named Zippy - Haven Kimmel (Robin - January 2008)
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (Diane - February 2008)
Dragon Slippers - Jessica Day George (Sarah - March 2008)
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (Jenny - April 2008)
A Single Shard - Linda Sue Park (Becky - May 2008)
Anthem - Ayn Rand (Sarah - June 2008)
These Is My Words - Nancy Turner (Valerie - July 2008)
Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan (Diane - August 2008)
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard - Kiran Desai (Robin - September 2008)
A Long Fatal Love Chase - Louisa May Alcott (Sarah - October 2008)
Dracula - Bram Stoker (Valerie - November 2008)
Selected poems (Sarah - December 2008)

Hullabaloo

2008-08-17T22:15:00.003-06:00

I just finished Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, and I have to say it was delightful, but I didn't care for the end. This book reminds me how interesting words are. It was fun read.

These Is My Words

2008-07-19T22:23:00.003-06:00

I loved it, and I hope everyone can read it. Here are a few questions: Why did April leave? Did she hate the ranch b/c of the bad memories (e.g. rattlesnake incident--Oh my heavens, I almost had a heart attack for a second there), or did she leave b/c she was a bit of a priss and couldn't take hard-working, or boring, ranch anymore?

The bit about the young couple was disturbing. What was the point? Was she trying to convey a meaning?

Is Jack Elliott for real? He is now one of my favorite men in literature.

Why did her brother marry the prissy girl? Why do guys do that? How could he be that blind?
What's up with Albert not saying anything about Jimmy's character? If he could forsee problems and Sarah being unhappy, why didn't he say anything?

I'll have more questions as I think of them.

May book club . . . and welcome to spring, finally

2008-05-08T17:58:00.003-06:00

Hello, everyone!

Hope you can come to book club Saturday - I'm hosting. The book for this month was A Single Shard. It's a short book and an easy read, if you've not had a chance to pick it up yet.

Dragons and Dinner

2008-03-09T21:17:00.003-06:00

Thanks, Sarah, for hosting another great book club on Saturday. And thanks, Diane, for introducing us to Jessica. It was a fun evening.
I'll be hosting in May, so if any of you have any book suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. I've not found any really good books lately that I'd recommend, so I'm struggling to pick a book.

That kiss.

2008-01-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else think that the kiss at the end of last night's "Persuasion" was the worst kiss in the history of movie kisses? I about wanted to die it was so ugly and awkward.

Books discussed 2007

2008-01-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Eragon - Christopher Pauoline (Diane - January 2007)
Island of Saints - Andy Andrews (Becky - February 2007)
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (Jenny - March 2007)
Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy (Sarah - April 2007)
The Endless Steppe - Esther Hautzig (Valerie - May 2007)
Life of Pi - Yann Martel (Robin - June 2007)
Life is So Good - George Dawson (Becky - July 2007)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling (Trudy - August 2007)
Peace Like a River - Leif Enger (Diane - September 2007)
Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie (Jenny - October 2007)
Persuasion - Jane Austen (Leslie - November 2007)
The Ultimate Gift - Jim Stovall (Sarah - December 2007)

January

2007-12-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

I will be hosting January book club, and we'll be reading A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel. This is a charming, delightful, and hilarious memoir, one of my favorite books I've read all year. If you're not able to get it at the library, there are several copies available at the SLC library if anyone wants me to get some extra copies. Book club will probably be on January 12.

Last Saturday's book club at Sarah's was great...I think we had a good discussion on The Ultimate Gift and a fun time watching the movie. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas!

Great quotes

2007-11-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of my favorites quotes from Persuasion:

"She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time; but alas! alas! she must confess to herself that she was not wise yet." (Ch. VII)

"We are not boy and girl, to be captiously irritable, misled by every moment's inadvertence, and wantonly playing with our own happiness." (Ch. X)

These make me smile wryly and shake my head knowingly.

P.S. Thank you to Leslie for hosting a great discussion and making an awesome dinner!

Persuasion

2007-11-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you that won't be able to come to our discussion on Saturday (Persuasian by Jane Austen), post your thoughts and comments here. Let's see if we can get a good discussion going.

October Book Club

2007-09-18T15:43:00.000-06:00

Jenny has kindly offered to host book club on October 13th. We will be reading Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Very appropriate for October. :)

If any of you have ideas for coming months, please let me know. It is always nice to plan ahead.

Book lists on the sidebar

2007-09-12T22:35:00.001-06:00

I have posted the lists of the books this group has read over the years (way before I ever got here!) - thanks to Sarah for keeping track of them all. The lists are now linked over in the sidebar for quick reference.

We don't have a book lined up for October. Would anyone like to volunteer?

Books discussed 2006

2007-09-12T22:22:00.000-06:00

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens (Sarah – January 2006)
The Five Love Languages – Dr. Gary Chapman (Diane – February 2006)
The Persian Pickle Club – Sandra Dallas (Becky – March 2006)
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (Gina – April 2006)
Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie (Trudy – May 2006)
1776 – David McCullough (Jenny – June 2006)
The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins (Sarah – July 2006)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare (Leslie – August 2006)
Hamlet – Shakespeare (Sarah – September 2006)
The Prince and the Pauper - Mark Twain (Gina – October 2006)
River Secrets - Shannon Hale (Valerie – November 2006)
The Diary of Anne Frank (Kim – December 2006)

Books discussed 2005

2007-09-12T22:18:00.000-06:00

Daniel Deronda – George Eliot (Sarah – January 2005)
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution – Natalie Bober (Diane – February 2005)
Goose Girl – Shannon Hale (Valerie – March 2005)
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith (Leslie – April 2005)
Because of Winn Dixie – Kate DeCamillo (Gina – May 2005)
The Bronze Bow – Elizabeth George Speare (Becky – June 2005)
Phantom of the Opera – Gaston Leroux (Suzanne – July 2005)
Harry Potter no. 6 – J.K. Rowling (Trudy – August 2005)
The Way We Live Now – Anthony Trollope (Jenny – September 2005)
A Northern Light – Jennifer Donnelly (Valerie – October 2005)
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley (Sarah – November 2005)

Books discussed 2004

2007-09-12T22:14:00.000-06:00

The Chosen – Chaim Potok (Sarah – November 2003)
Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver (Diane – January 2004)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte (Jenny – February 2004)
Goose Girl – Shannon Hale (Valerie – March 2004)
House of the Scorpion – Nancy Farmer (Leslie – April 2004)
Their Eyes were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston (Sarah - May 2004)
All Creatures Great and Small – James Herriot (Valerie – June 2004)
Glimpses – Marjorie Pay Hinckley (Trudy – August 2004)
Animal Farm – George Orwell (Gina – September 2004)
The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley (Jenny – November 2004)

Here's to reading

2007-09-11T21:25:00.000-06:00

Thanks for setting this up, Robin. It's great!
I'm sorry I missed book club last Saturday (I was wandering around Seattle, which was fabulous). I hope you all had a good discussion on "Peace Like a River."
Do we have a book chosen for October?

Welcome!

2007-09-09T10:50:00.000-06:00

Welcome to our book club's official site. As we all know, nothing is official until it's on the web :). Hopefully this will be a fun place for us to chat about the books we read. Whether you missed the last book club get-together and want to know what was discussed, you want to share some additional insight, or throw out ideas for books to read in the future, this will be a way to keep it all documented.

If you have any strong opinions about the design of this blog, or good ideas for the title, feel free to let me, Robin, know and I can make changes. Hope to see you all here!