Our New Read

Cecilia has pick our book for September.  We will be reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Cecilia thought it would be fun to read the book since the movie will be coming out soon.  I totally agree!   Here's a little description of what it's about:

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest.  By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come.

So, grab a copy at the library, or borrow it from a friend, or, if you already have it, then a round of applause for you!  Happy Reading!

Our New Read

Debby has picked our next book to read.  But we won't be meeting to discuss it until Aug. 21st so you have an extra month to read it.  We will be reading Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston.  Here is a little snippet of what it's about:

Jeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old in 1942 when her family was uprooted from their home and sent to live at Manzanar internment camp--with 10,000 other Japanese Americans. Along with searchlight towers and armed guards, Manzanar ludicrously featured cheerleaders, Boy Scouts, sock hops, baton twirling lessons and a dance band called the Jive Bombers who would play any popular song except the  nation's #1 hit: "Don't Fence Me In."

So, pick up a copy at the library and happy reading!

Our New Read

Dari picked our book for June.  We will be reading The Cross Gardener by Jason F. Wright.  Here is a little excerpt of what it is about:

Married and the father of a young daughter, John Bevan had finally found the traditional family he lacked as an orphaned child. But all that disappears when a fatal car accident steals away his wife-and the unborn child she carried.

Filled with sorrow, John withdraws from life and love. He erects a small cross at the scene of his wife's accident and visits daily, grieving. Then one morning he encounters a young man kneeling before the cross, touching it up with white paint. John's conversations and travels with this mysterious man-known to him only as the Cross Gardener-will forever change his world.

So pick up a copy at the library, I checked and there are plenty for us all. :) Happy Reading everyone! 

Our New Read

Alecia has chosen our book for May.  We will be reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Here is an overview of what it is about.

Francie Nolan, avid reader, penny-candy connoisseur, and adroit observer of human nature, has much to ponder in colorful, turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. She grows up with a sweet, tragic father, a severely realistic mother, and an aunt who gives her love too freely--to men, and to a brother who will always be the favored child. Francie learns early the meaning of hunger and the value of a penny. She is her father's child--romantic and hungry for beauty. But she is her mother's child, too--deeply practical and in constant need of truth. Like the Tree of Heaven that grows out of cement or through cellar gratings, resourceful Francie struggles against all odds to survive and thrive.

So pick up a copy at the local library.  We checked and made sure there are plenty of copies available.  Happy Reading!

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

"So where does this leave us? Why do I need this man at all? I need him only because I happen to adore him, because his company gives me gladness and comfort, and because, as a friend's grandfather once put it, "Sometimes life is too hard to be alone and sometimes life is too good to be alone."  The same goes for Felipe: He needs me only for my companionship as well.  Seems like a lot, but it isn't much at all; it is only love.  And a love based-marriage does not guarantee the lifelong binding contract of a clan-based marriage or an asset-based marriage; it cannot.  By unnerving definition, anything that the heart has chosen for its own mysterious reasons it can always unchoose later - again, for its own mysterious reasons."

page 80 Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (a sequel to Eat, Pray, Love)

Our New Read!

Sudha has picked our next book.  We will be reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.  Here's an overview of what it is about:

In this humorous and perceptive exchange between two devils, C. S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good vs. evil, temptation, repentance, and grace. Through this wonderful tale, the reader emerges with a better understanding of what it means to live a faithful life.

So, pick up a copy at the local library and happy reading!

Our New Read

I have chosen the book for March.  We will be reading A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.  Here is a little teaser summary:

Gemma, 16, is prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true.  She has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be real. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control.

So, pick up a copy at the library, borrow it from a friend, or you can purchase it on amazon for $9.99 if you think you'd like to add it to your collection.  Hope you all enjoy the book, I know I did.  Happy Reading!