Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

This meeting was super fun! Almost all was in attendance, including our favorite, Milo! All who read it liked it for the most part. We all agree that is had some disturbing and vulgar parts but was really entertaining. Most never guessed the twists that Palahniuk delivered but some knew right away. Amazing! What was written in the book was, "Book traumatized Deb. Everyone liked it, but thought it was disturbing. It was funny how the parents supported the son after he died." some other off topic subjects we talked about was Milo (duh), Robert Downey Jr., Lost, the fact that Taylor can fit her fist in her mouth like Milo and movies. We, of course, had a plethora of food: Pizza, brownie bites, lemon cake, fruit, veggies and soda. It was another successful meeting and we look forward to next month's! Here are some shots snapped:

da grub:

haha baby doesn't know what to think about all these ladies!

Our next book is Little Bee by Chris Cleave!

MockingJay

I am pleased to say, the third book in the Hunger Games series has a release date!! If you haven't started the series, you MUST. They are fabulous books! I got the following from USA Today:

"Since the September release of Catching Fire, the second in Suzanne Collins' best-selling Hunger Games trilogy for teens, Internet speculation has focused on the title of the third book. The most common guess: The Victors. Not even close. Today, Scholastic reveals the title and cover of the last book in the series set in a dictatorship where teens are forced to fight to the death on TV. It's Mockingjay, out Aug. 24. In the series, mockingjays are offspring of mockingbirds and jabberjays, a government-bred mutant designed to spy on rebels. Mockingjays become symbols of resistance. Collins is finishing her screenplay of The Hunger Games, the first book. Catching Fire entered USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list at No. 1."

August 24th people... mark your calendars!

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

Tonight was a super fun meeting! It was hosted at my house and we did a southern theme to kind of match the home town of Forrest Gump. We had fried okra, cornbread, chocolate buttermilk pie, fried chicken, biscuits, lemonade, and tiramisu from Jenny! With those who read the book, we all agreed that we love the movie more than the book, which is rare! The book and the movie are just sooo different. You can't really compare the two. We thought the book was still very entertaining though, especially how it was written. Most loved that it was written exactly how he talks, but some really didn't like that at all.

Most people have seen the movie, but have you read this book? What did you think of it?

The next book we are going to read is Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards!

Here are some photos from the night:

Boxes of Chocolates..

The tiramisu

Oven-fried okra with two dipping sauces... YUM!

Individual corn bread cans

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

First of all let me say that I am a slacker because we forgot to take a group photo!! There are other photos, but not a full group one like we normally do. :(

Anyway, on to the meeting!! B.C. member Debbie hosted and it was perfect! She themed it as Christmas brunch and she did not disappoint! There were bacon sticks, coffee cake, fruit, quiche, hot cocoa, coffee... there's no calories at book club right?

B.C. member Chelsea brought her little baby boy, Milo and let me tell you! We could start a Milo club just so we all could dote on him once a month! He was such a good baby and everybody loved him. How could you not? :)

So far we are not the kind of book club that spends hours discussing the book and this meeting was no exception. We spoke briefly about it if we could skip Christmas personally. We also thought that the neighbors were way too extreme and should have minded their own business. If someone wants to skip Christmas, they should be able to. What do you think?

The next book we are reading is Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. We are all really excited to read it seeing as the movie is so good!

Here are some more photos from the meeting:

Christmas Jars by Jason Wright

These book club meetings just keep getting better and better! Becky hosted on Monday and everything was just perfect! It had been raining and cold all day and Becky was prepared with soup with rolls, pumpkin bars, hot cocoa and more! Perfection! Most read this wonderful book and agree that it was a great one. A truly inspirational book. We chatted about Christmas traditions and how we try to help others. Some of the questions I posted below were answered as follows:

2. What have you unexpectedly discovered and how do you think i can/will change you life?

- Babies change lives FOREVER. (haha)

3. What was the significance of the tic-tac-toe game of tater tots (Pg. 16)? What simple traditions do you have in your life and what do they symbolize?

- Christmas eve pajamas, Christmas eve dinner, "Bundting" bread, Christmas day dinner

4. "This just don't belong in the papers (Pg. 31) Do you agree? Are acts of kindness better left anonymous?

- No, If they are in the papers, maybe more people can learn about the acts and take part in them.

- Yes, its more genuine if it's anonymous.

5. How can you give away Christmas (Pg. 69)?

- Buy gifts for families in need.

We all brought a white elephant gift this meeting to celebrate Christmas and everyone was too nice! No stealing of presents at all! But it was a great way to get Christmas going. Becky surprised us with empty jars, ribbons, fabric, paper and foam pieces so we all could make our very own Christmas jars. It was such a great idea and had a couple of us in tears. :) It was such a great time to get together, eat great food, talk about a great book and do a project for a great cause.

The next book is yet another Christmas book, which is perfect for us to read through Christmas day! It is called Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.

Here are some photos of the night!

The Spread!

BC member Jenny brought Vietnamese eggrolls!! MMMM!

Pumpkin bars... to die for!

BC member Jen got a snowman....and some bows! haha!

Making our Christmas Jars!

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Last night was another great book club meeting! We had almost everyone in attendance which always makes for a fun evening!! Although only three of us actually read the book we always have a fabulous time eating, catching up, reviewing movies and books. Consensus of the three of us was that it was a decent book but not really scary at all. There were some creepy parts and it might have been scary when it was written in 1959 but we have all read scarier books. The Shining seemed to be the book of choice when it comes to scary books. We did NOT like the Doctor's wife and felt that she had no real purpose in the book. We compared The Haunting of Hill House to its movie parallel, The Haunting. Then we compared The Shining to its movie. From there it was a movie discussion about other scary movies, classic movies, just our favorite movies! I LOVE these fun conversations. It was a really fun night!

What did you think of this month's book? What are your favorite scary movies?

Our next book is Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright to get us in the holiday spirit! I will post places to order it soon if you don't already have it.

Some photos of the night:

The spread!

Baked potato bar..mmm..

Since BC member Chelsea just had her adorable baby, she brought photos of him to share!

Giggling...much of this was happening last night! lol

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Tonight was our book club meeting to discuss Catching Fire. Although most of us had read it already, we were excited to discuss this book (finally)! The consensus? We LOVED this book. It was just as gripping as the first. Some liked the first book (The Hunger Games) better but some liked this one better. Either way, we all are kind of getting sick of Katniss not being able to decide who she loves. Peeta or Gale?? We all vote for Peeta, but it is understandable why she loves Gale too. What we mostly wanted to discuss was how Suzanne Collins could end the book how she did! She really REALLY left us all hanging for the next book, but that won't be here for a long time! She left us with so many questions about a district 13, where's Peeta, where's her family... So many! We were also discussing the movie that they are for SURE making, starting with The Hunger Games and who should star in it... What do you think? Have you read this book? Tell us what YOU think! :D

This is our first post of many, please feel free to comment and leave your input! We would LOVE to hear it!

Little highlights of the night:

The beautiful cake Jenny brought! Thanks Jenny!

The spread:

Our little pal of the night: Polly

I almost forgot! Our next book, to read over halloween is The Haunting at Hill House by Shirley Jackson.