Sunday, August 19, 2012

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich hosted by Susan Schultz

The six of us who made it to Tampico Thursday had fun. Like when don’t we? Of course this meeting wasn’t as lively or wild as Fifty Shades but that was one for the records. LOL
We actually covered a lot of material… So maybe not all of it was about the book but this group never stays on one topic for long.

No one can call our group dull. I hope everyone who is /was traveling has a safe trip, Kathy if you’re reading this I hope you’re feeling better soon you were on our minds and for those who are or they’re spouses who are having surgery.. I hope all goes well.
Oh you want to hear about the book and the meeting. Hmmm…..

Susan was surprised when I jumped over about 4 other people and said do you have a book you’d like to announce no one else is ready or have passed on their turn to choose at this time. Think fast.
See I told you everyone should  Stop, Think and put a book title in the back of their mind so at a moments notice you’ll be ready if I call on you.  See see I told you so. So anyway Susan looked at the best seller list and thought mmm Janet Evanovich everyone likes/liked her Stephanie Plum series so let’s  try Lizzy and Diesel series. She chose Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich. This was a no thrills all fluff book.
Wicked Business was very light hearted and almost childlike in writing. The story line makes you think of Stephanie Plum and Ranger with sexual tension between the two, the macho guy and the not so brave almost clutsy girl but that’s as far as the similarities go. And all the characters have some sort of magical mystery power. I wouldn’t call it fantasy just silly. Maybe this is there alter kid ego’s. Wicked Business was cute and silly. We all had to laugh at the hex Glo put on Hatchett.. All he could do is fart. She did reverse that one. Kinda stinky ya know. Gotta love Carl the monkey with his unique personality and how he’s able to understand the human language. He’s got to be one of a kind. I vaguely remember him showing up in one of the Stephanie Plum books but can’t remember which one. Unfortunately the characters and story line was lacking in this book compared to Evanovich’s other books.




The next to choose was Patrick and he wasn’t able to attend and emailed me to go to the next person.
And the next two weren’t present so it landed in Barbara’s lap who was present.
So her choice…………….imagine sound  of trumpets……
Dry by Augustin Burroughs
It’s a memoir. Sounds pretty interesting
She threw alternative book choice should you decide you just can’t read Dry or want to read both it’s up to you.
Both the below books are by Tatiana De Rosnay
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
Goal Meeting date  will be Tuesday September 25th .

Next to choose will be Patrick, Suzanne, Angie or Brenda. Each of you need to have a book ready just in case and everyone after that. You never know how far down the list I have to go.
So until next time …
Happy Reading……………
Your unofficial secretary/photographer
Carla

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Fifty Shades of Grey Discussion 6/28/2012

So how do I ever rwrite about Lisa’s choice of books? Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James. Who needed discussion questions. Trust me when I say not this group of fun loving and out spoken ladies and gent had plenty to say. It was loud and wild. Yes this was a book for the records. It was provocative, erotic, and trashy. Several of the group had read all 3 books and others are reading book two and/or three as I write. With each book you learn more about the main character Christian Grey.
Some thought it was just plain and simple porn… hmmm maybe I don’t know and not worth reading but how do you know if you don’t read it. Obviously ladies around the world must not think it’s so bad. Sales for Fifty Shades have superseded Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Twilight. Crazy huh!
Several brought up the fact that if you had some kind of ereader no one knew what you were reading. Unlike me for example… I’m sitting in the patient room waiting on the doctor to come in.. he comes in, sits down at the little computer, starts looking over my file then glances over at the book sitting in my lap. The Doctor “So is that the book that’s all over the news and ladies are reading like crazy?” Me.. “Oh! Uhh yes.” And I flip the book over and drop into my purse on the floor. LOL. Oh well. Wonder what he was thinking after that?

I found myself cringing, crying and laughing with this book. Okay so no I’m not into the sex toys and games that Christian Grey was into but I found the book somewhat entertaining on different levels. Who am I to judge? Each book builds off the other and they do have a story line and it gets better. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I’m not into pain of any kinds so there’s no way you’ll find me thinking about trying any whips, chains or clamps etc. No Way.

Susan and Suzanne said that Christian Grey didn’t appeal to them because they prefer their men to have brains. Hey Christian didn’t sound stupid to me so his good looks were a bonus the way I look at it. The man ran several businesses and was rich beyond my wildest dreams at the age of 27.


No names mentioned to protect the innocent but 2 members had an interesting evening this past week.  They were driving by this bar when One said  “Did you know that bar is suppose to be a swingers bar? Really? What Kind of people go there?” So I'm not saying that they drove by 4 times to check it out or anything before they decided to park and watch.

So it’s one of those things where you had to be at the meeting to get it but we were all laughing hysterically at the story. There was more detail . Oh one couple that they saw go in was probably in their 70’s and dressed very nicely. See I mentioned the story and no names. 

There was all kinds of stories flying but to avoid incriminating those who shared or offending anyone who wasn’t my lips are sealed and my keyboard frozen. What goes on at the Book Club stays in the Book Club but oh my Lordy this is one meeting I won’t soon forget.  At first I thought I’d drop subtle hints like “Don’t leave your doors unlocked or Magic Jeanies laying around” but you had to be there to understand the meanings.

Ahh Dawnie is back with us! There’s never a dull moment with her around. Glad to have you back. For those of you who have never met Dawn this little girl came to WTS at the age of 18 and the stories we could tell if she doesn’t. LOL. You know what else? I didn’t know anything could make that girl blush. But she did Thursday. I mean she blushed. What!
No Way you say
. Well it happened. Love you Dawnie.

Lisa Roper said that since she hasn't been to a meeting in forever she told me she felt it was only right that she pass. So atrick was at the meeting and has been at most of the other but he too passed. He said he didn’t have a book  ready to go to the next person. The next person who was at the meeting was Susan so without further ado….. She has chosen “Wicked Business” by Janet Evanovich. Tentative meeting date is Thursday August 9th.

This so called photographer left her camera bag in her office under her desk. I can’t believe I did that even now. So I did snap a few so so pictures on my phone. Sorry for the quality of my pictures.

Thanks Diana for saving the day by having your camera with you! Thanks Lisa for choosing such a wild book .
Thanks Suzanne for the use of your home.

 And Thank you Barbara for your compliments on my post about The Shack . It meant alot.
 Now Go buy your books … Next to choose will be Patrick, Suzanne, Angie. Or Barbara. Each of you should be ready with a book just in case I have to move down the list like I did this time.
In case you’re wondering why I skipped a few of the folks it’s because they haven’t been to a meeting in a long time but as soon as their schedule allows them to they will come back to us. When they do I’ll put them as one of the next to choose. We want you to come back to us girls. We miss you.
This is the email  version of the blog. It doesn't show pictures so you'll have to go to the actual website to see any pictures I inserted into the blog post.
On the website I'll post the current book choice, date and location in the left column. Hopefully I haven't made too many mistakes in this post but I do my best.   You can click on the title to go to actual website Or click  the following  http://wtsbookclub1997.blogspot.com/
Does anyone know of a good Thai restaraunt? Just asking......

So until I next meeting.... Happy Reading.
Your unofficial Secretary/Photographer




Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Shack Book Discussion

If you weren’t at Lupe Tortilla’s for the discussion of Lauren’s book choice “The Shack” by William P. Young you were missed and you missed some good conversation and food.
Kathy was able to join us for the first time in a long time. It was great to have her back and she looked good. And I hope those folks were sick that evening are definitely feeling better by now.

The Shack provoked a lot of conversation. I had heard that you either liked this book or hated it. Keep in mind that this book was not meant to be Biblical it was only the story of one man’s experience. ;o)  Everyone present liked the book while they may not have agreed with the whole content. The consences of the group.. the book is about “relationships.”

You know me there are always books that make me dig for more info and this was one of them. The author felt that this book tells you more about him than you could ever read any where else. His life is partly revealed in both characters Willie and Mack and more. His whole life is about the Trinity and guess what “RELATIONSHIPS.” I read his blog , yes a blog to find out that he actually never intended to have the story published. He wrote it for his kids to understand his relationship with God. Mack is not a real person but Mac’s family members resemble William P's own family and friends. In his blog he reveals that the story is fiction but the emotional pain is real. He has a shack and said the conversations are real. William P. lost his 5 year old neice to an accident not a murder.
One of the reasons I think people have trouble with books like this is because they are controlled by their beliefs and have no room for options. If it’s different from what they are taught then it must be wrong.
A few points made in the book hit home with me
1.     Forgiving isn’t about forgetting; it’s about letting go of another person’s throat
2.     . Even though God can work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies, it does not mean God caused it. Where there is suffering, you will find grace in many facets and colours.
3.     Jesus will travel any road to find his children. But only one road leads back to heaven
4.     We say: “Predators deserve judgment, their parents, too, for twisting them, and their parents, and on and on, until finally we go right back to Adam, and then, why not judge God? He started it all…isn’t God to blame for our losses? He could have not created, or he could have stopped the killer, but he didn’t.” If we can judge God so easily then, of course, we can judge the world. We must then (e.g.) choose two of our five children to go to heaven and three to go to hell, because that’s what we believe God does. Mack could not choose any one of his children because he loved them no matter what they did. So instead, he begged that he could go to hell for his children. This response is exactly what Jesus did. Mack judged well. He judged his children worthy of love, even if it cost him everything. This is how Jesus loves. ‘And now we know Papa’s heart.”
5.     Mack says: “I just can’t imagine any final outcome that would justify all this (pain, suffering etc).” Papa replies: “We’re not justifying it. We are redeeming it.”
6.     The different appearances of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were used to help Mack break his religious conditioning.
7.     You don’t have to worship in group or 4 walls to believe
An excerpt from his blog:  So is the story true?  The pain, the loss, the grief, the process,
                          the conversations, the questions, the anger, the longing, the secrets, the lies,
                        the forgiveness…all real, all true.  The story in particular… fiction… but….  
Then there is God who emerges so very real and true, unexpected and yet not
unexpected, but surprising and…
So… is all this real?  Is all this true?  I suppose each of us has to decide for ourselves, don’t we?



Next to choose was Lisa Rhodes and her book choice was “Fifty Shades of Grey” by EL James. Oh boy now this book ought to be interesting to discuss. We’ll tentatively set the meeting date for Thursday June 21st which if 5 weeks out. So get that book and get to reading..  What a book to come after The Shack!

Next to choose will be Lisa Roper then Naomi, Pam or Patrick, Sandy or Susan. 


Everyone get your book and get to reading and everyone start thinking about what book you want the group to read because you never know when I might ask you to suggest a book if no one else before you is ready.

Here's the actual blog link but you can click on the title and it will take you to the blog site and you can see the pictures I took. 

Your unofficial secretary/photographer




Saturday, June 23, 2012

The Ninth Wife and Nineteen Minutes Book Discussions

First off Ladies and Gents if you got this and are reading it in email form that means you activated you Feedburner Email Subscription. Yahoo!
Now if you click on the title above it will take you to the actual link and you’ll be able to click on the Photo Gallery Tab to see pictures and I’ll try to keep the Left Border up to date with the book, meeting date and location for you to view at anytime by going straight to the link http://wtsbookclub1997.blogspot.com/

If you save the link in your My Favorites you'll always be able to find and check out. 

On March 12th we met up @ Zio’s to discuss Kathy’s book the Nineth Wife and Kris’s book Nineteen Minutes.
I have to be honest the night of the meeting I wasn’t able to contribute much since I had only read halfway through both books. I don't know what's the matter with me besides at the time I was working on the taxes but it just seems that I've been so sleepy once I get home from work that I'm lucky I don't fall asleep and fall face first in my plate. Wouldn't that be pretty?
The first book we they reviewed was The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls. The title tells it all or does it? Why do you get married, why do some throw it away so fast, why do some stay in a married.... why why why?  What woman in her right mind would consider marrying a man who has been married 8 times prior?
One or two girls actually said the character Rory charmed them and said they would have married him and been his 9th wife too. Rory is definitely a charmer and it would have been easy to fall for him but I’d always be worried when he might someone who just needed his help and he’d think he’d have to marry them and leave me.  So is he a catch or not I just don’t know? So do you think he and Bess will make it for the long haul?  LOL We were suppose to review this book back in February but unfortunately Kathy, who chose the book was getting ready to have surgery and we decided to wait and combine this book with the next book hoping Kathy would be well enough to join us but unfortunately she wasn't. Some of the group claimed they are suckers for romance and thought this book was more realistic than some of the romance stories we've happened to read prior.  The group would recommend reading. We had a great turn out that night. There were 10 of us present.
The second book we they reviewed was Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. How long does it take to totally shatter the lives of the people in the small town of Sterling, NH? This book I finished the day after the meeting. I mean I had too. There was a twist that I didn't expect and I had to find out how that happened. This book is something you read or hear about in the news but pray to God it never hits near home.

Towards the end of the book one of the characters asked this question "What is your strongest memory of high school? 1/2 of us won't remember anything concrete and the other 1/2 will block it because it was too painful or embarrassing."  Can you relate?  
Most people grow up and realize these incidents in the grand scheme of things are just small pieces of the puzzle that molds us into what we are today while others who can't see the whole picture turn out like Peter.
I guess our reading group has turned out pretty good so we have dealt with our high school years. Thank God.
Kathy & Kris had a great turn out. I always look forward to an evening with my friends and lively conversation.

The next to choose was Lauren  and her book choice was The Shack by William P. Young. Don't delay. Get that book and get to reading.

Until our next meeting....  
Your Unofficial Secretary/Photographer 

.•*¨`*•. .•*¨`*•.  Happy Reading .•*¨`*•. .•*¨`*•.
………… .... •.Carla•´…………............…