December Book Basket Party

 

For December, we are not choosing a book to read. December is a crazy busy month. But we want to still get together and talk about books. 

Last fall several of us attended a book basket party. It was so much fun and we decided we would like to do that for our December Book Club. Here are some examples of a book basket

Here is an example of a book basket. 

We would like everyone to bring a book basket to share. 

Get a copy of a favorite book of yours, that we haven't read in book club. 

Find a container to put the book and several little items that go along with the book. 

Here's another book basket of goodies. 

Another themed book basket. 

At the book basket party, we will each get an opportunity to give a teaser about our book and the items in the basket. After we have seen each of the baskets, we will each draw a number. We will then go in order of our numbers to pick a book basket. When it is your turn, you can choose a book basket from the table or you may 'steal' a basket from someone who already had their turn. A book basket may only be stolen twice. 

Our Book Basket Party will be on Tuesday December 16 at Debby's house at 7:30 pm. Get your book basket ready for the party. You may bring a treat to share also. See you at the party!

Eight Flavors Fun

Alecia lead a great discussion about the book Eight Flavors and also had some yummy foods for us to try with the flavors from the book. The book focused on black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. 

We started with garlic knots. 

Next we had lettuce wraps with soy sauce, garlic, and sriracha

At the end of the discussion, we had Black Pepper Brown Sugar Cookies - a recipe from the book; icing was optional.

We also had vanilla bean ice cream. 

Here's the recipe for the cookies

Black Pepper Brown Sugar Cookies

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to top the cookies

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon coriander

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Zest of one orange

Juice of 1/2 an orange (about 1/4 cup)

2 large eggs

1. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and spices.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter, sugar, and orange zest. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium high until light in color. Add the orange juice, and then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

3. With mixer on low, add the dry ingredients slowly. Stop and scrape the bowl, then continue mixing until combined. Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour and as long as overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a generously floured work surface and with a floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Using a pepper grinder, crack fresh pepper over the surface of the dough and then gently press the pepper in with the rolling pin. 

5. Cut into desired shapes using a cookie cutter or knife. Bake on a cookie sheet 10-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through, until the cookies are brown around the edges. Allow to cool completely on wire racks. 

Here is a link to a video to watch the author making these cookies.

November - Eight Flavors

Alecia has picked Eight Flavors The Untold Story of American Cuisine by Sarah Lohman for our book for November. 

Here's some information about the book: 

The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population that makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. In “a unique and surprising view of American history…richly researched, intriguing, and elegantly written” (The Atlantic), Lohman sets out to explore how these influential ingredients made their way to the American table.

She begins in the archives, searching through economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records. She pores over cookbooks and manuscripts, dating back to the eighteenth century, through modern standards like How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Lohman discovers when each of these eight flavors first appear in American kitchens—then she asks why.

We will meet at 7:30pm on November 18 at Debby's house for our discussion.  Happy reading!

 

October - We Had To Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport

Sarah Cox has chosen We Had To Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport by Deborah Hopkinson. Here's some information about the book:

Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson illuminates the true stories of Jewish children who fled Nazi Germany, risking everything to escape to safety on the Kindertransport. An NCTE Orbis Pictus recommended book and a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Title.

Ruth David was growing up in a small village in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power in the 1930s. Under the Nazi Party, Jewish families like Ruth's experienced rising anti-Semitic restrictions and attacks. Just going to school became dangerous. By November 1938, anti-Semitism erupted into Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and unleashed a wave of violence and forced arrests.

Days later, desperate volunteers sprang into action to organize the Kindertransport, a rescue effort to bring Jewish children to England. Young people like Ruth David had to say good-bye to their families, unsure if they'd ever be reunited. Miles from home, the Kindertransport refugees entered unrecognizable lives, where food, clothes -- and, for many of them, language and religion -- were startlingly new. Meanwhile, the onset of war and the Holocaust visited unimaginable horrors on loved ones left behind. Somehow, these rescued children had to learn to look forward, to hope.

Through the moving and often heart-wrenching personal accounts of Kindertransport survivors, critically acclaimed and award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson paints the timely and devastating story of how the rise of Hitler and the Nazis tore apart the lives of so many families and what they were forced to give up in order to save these children.

We will meet at 7:30pm at Debby's house on October 21 to discuss the book. 

 

September - The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife

Debby has picked The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston for our book for September. Here's some information about the book: 

“A funny, heartfelt story about found family and seeing the silver lining in life. Fans of A Man Called Ove and Remarkably Bright Creatures will especially enjoy this new novel.”—Library Journal

A zany case of mistaken identity allows a lonely old man one last chance to be part of a family.

“Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life? I promise I’ll take excellent care of it.”

Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is, at age eighty-two, there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from, and he's broke and on the brink of eviction. But Fred’s luck changes when he's mistaken for Bernard Greer, a missing resident at the local nursing home, and takes his place. Now Fred has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his look-alike Bernard never turns up. 

Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again.

As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition. 

Bittersweet and remarkably perceptive, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a hilarious, feel-good, clever novel about grief, forgiveness, redemption, and finding family.

We will meet at 7:30 on September 16 at Debby's house to discuss the book. Happy Reading!

 

August - Pride and Prejudice

 

Corinna has chosen Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen for our book for August. We will be meeting on the fourth Tuesday (August 26) since the third Tuesday is the day before school starts. 

Here is some info about the book: 

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live with their five daughters. Jane, the eldest daughter, falls in love with Charles Bingley, a rich bachelor who moves into a house nearby with his two sisters and friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy is attracted to the second daughter, Elizabeth, but she finds him arrogant and self-centered. When Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, she refuses. But perhaps there is more to Darcy than meets the eye.

We will meet at 7:30 on August 26 at Debby's house. Hope to see you there. 

July - The Alloy of Law

Donna has picked The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson for our book discussion in May. 

Here is some information about the book: 

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Kelsier and Vin have passed into the realm of history and myth, and the world of Scadrial is on the verge of modernity. In the frontier lands known as the Roughs, the old magics are a crucial tool for those who establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, tragedy has driven Wax back to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties of the head of a noble house. But when a gang of Allomancers turn to train robbery and kidnapping, Wax will soon learn that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

We will meet at 7:30 on July 15 at Debby's to discuss the book. 

Happy Reading!📚

June - The Life & Loves of Becca Valentine

Sarah has picked the book The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine (The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine) by Laura Pearson for June

Info about the book:

These are the things Becca Valentine doesn’t know yet:

She doesn’t know that two men are about to come into her life. Both seeking her heart.

She also doesn’t know that everything rests on her love story.

Because there are four children she might have. And Fate has a secret little twist for Becca: if she doesn’t choose the right man at the right time, she may never meet those children.

But what if someone could influence her to follow her heart? Even if they knew it might risk their own chance of coming into being? Because the other thing Becca doesn’t know is that somewhere – in a place they call the Beforelife – there are four beings waiting. And where they are, almost anything is possible…

We will meet on June 17 at 7:30 to discuss the book.

Planning ahead, Donna has picked The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson for our book for July.

Happy Reading!

Cherry Pie Cookie Bars

Kellyn had some yummy cherry themed treats for book club. Here's the recipe for the Cherry Pie Cookie Bars she brought. They were delicious. 

May - Tom Lake

Kellyn chose Tom Lake for our May book. 

Here's some information about the book: 

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

We will be meeting on the fourth Tuesday in May since Debby's having cataract surgery the third week. We will meet on Tuesday May 27 at 7:30 at Debby's house. 

Happy Reading!

April 2025 - The Midnight Library

 

Tracie has chosen The Midnight Library as our book for April. 

Due to Spring Break, we will be meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month. So we will meet on April 22, 2025 at 7:30, at Debby's house. 

Here's some information about the book:

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

I've read the book already and I'm looking forward to our discussion. 

Happy Reading and hope to see you there!

March 2025 - Only The Beautiful

Sarah Aina has picked the book, Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner for our March book club discussion. 

Here's some information about the book:

California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby – and the chance for any future babies – from her.

Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program—and learns that that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.

We will meet on Tuesday March 18, at 7:30 at Debby's house for our discussion. Happy Reading!

Date Change For Book Club

We are pushing our February book club a week later than normal. Book club will meet on Tuesday February 25, at 7:30 at Debby's house. Hope to see you there. 

Looking forward to a great discussion about The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods. 

February 2025 - The Lost Bookshop

Jess has chosen The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods as our book for February. We will meet at 7:30pm at Debby's house on February 18 to discuss the book. Hope to see you there!

Here is some information about the book: 

‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives. But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

Happy Reading!

Book Exchange

Here are the books that were given at our book exchange this year. I've got some new titles to add to my "To Read" list. Which one would you like to read?