Dear Book Clubbers,
Last week’s meeting at Marilyn’s to discuss The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet was a small, but spirited gathering. Although there were only eight of us, Jen led a great discussion of this interesting book depicting a historical period and region that we had not experienced through previous club selections. I think the overall rating was somewhere around a 3.5, with most of us glad that we had read it. One thing we all seemed to agree on was that David Mitchell was a tremendously skilled writer, weaving a well-crafted story. Thanks go out to Marilyn and Jen for doing such a great job.
The next meeting is at 7 PM on Wednesday, October 19th at Jill’s. The selection is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Jill has promised to do some side reading to enlighten us on the author herself, so it promises to be a very intriguing meeting. Please let Jill know if you will be attending. Because everyone who was at Marilyn’s brought something, we did not pick snack and wine volunteers for the October meeting. Please consider offering to bring something when you call Jill. It would be great if she could hear from people willing to bring food and wine ASAP so that she doesn’t have to figure those logistics out at the last minute.
Because of the small group and the close proximity to the book selection night, there wasn’t really any new business. One interesting suggestion did arise out of our discussion of Jacob, however. As we chatted about the book, most of us seemed to have a specific question that we wanted to ask the group. In some cases it was a part we didn’t quite understand or something that we just wanted to hear the others’ opinions about. The observation was made that one way we could ease the burden on the moderator and also make the discussions more meaningful to all of us, would be to have each of us consider, while reading, what they might like to ask the group. The intent wouldn’t be to go around the room and systematically address those questions, but rather just to have additional input beyond the moderator’s perspective to broaden the range of our discussion. Worth a try, right?
That’s all for now. Hope everyone is enjoying these great fall days!
Jan
Monday, September 26, 2011
Friday, September 09, 2011
Planning Meeting: A Recap
Dear Book Clubbers,
Last night’s book selection meeting was a huge success. Barb did a fantastic job of accommodating all of us even though it was too cold for the deck. Thanks, Barb. Appreciation also goes out to all who pitched in and brought yummies to the meeting and to those unable to attend who still took the time to send ideas along.
In new business, I pointed out that there is a drop box for paper recycling (every thing but cardboard) that is accessible 24/7 at the Colden Elementary School. The volume of paper collected there somehow benefits the school a bit. Grace added that there is a similar green and yellow box at Bertrand Chaffee Hospital. Jill mentioned that there is a drop site for returnables at the Colden Fire Hall with those proceeds going to a local Boy Scout troop. Please consider making your green efforts also help a local cause.
Stay tuned for a direct e-mail from Ina detailing some upcoming quilt shows and the liquidation sale of a fellow crafter’s inventory of fabric and beads. Marion’s sewing machine is still available. Jennifer advised us to stay alert next Thursday, September 15th, as there will be local painters setting up their easels to capture some Craneridge scenery on canvas. How cool is that?
Lots of wonderful books were proposed last night. We also included the two selections we didn’t get to last year, Sense and Sensibility and Left to Tell, in the voting process.
Click here to see the full list of 2012 suggestions.
Last night we decided to try to shoot for one meeting a month after finishing out the fall on our usual schedule. The suggestion was made and welcomed that we at least try for one book a month. Obviously, not everybody can always read every selection, but the thinking was that this would allow us to get more books in. If something doesn’t appeal to you or you don’t have time, you can skip one knowing another discussion is just around the corner. In the next few weeks, I would appreciate hearing from those of you who have conflicts on a particular week of the month (i.e. the first Wednesday of the month), so that we can evaluate if having a consistent meeting week is worth attempting.
Speaking just of around the corner, we will meet at Marilyn’s at 7 PM on Wednesday, September 21st to discuss The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Volunteers are: Jill and Kathryn for apps; Barb and me for desserts; and Carol, Terri, Jackie, Ina, Grace and Jen for wine. If you are able to attend, please call Marilyn.
After that, we will meet at Jill’s on Wednesday, October 19th to discuss Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Should be a great read to do around Halloween, and Jill has promised to educate us on the life of a woman writer during a time when there weren’t a lot of them!
The co-ed meeting will likely be November 30th, but your hosts (Rob and I) reserve the right to change that depending on what our Thanksgiving plans become. We will let you know as soon as the date is firm. The book is Catch-22 and hopefully, Chris Strong remembers that he is leading the discussion.
I hope those of you who weren’t able to make it last night will be as excited about our choices for the coming year as the rest of us are! See you in two weeks.
Jan
Last night’s book selection meeting was a huge success. Barb did a fantastic job of accommodating all of us even though it was too cold for the deck. Thanks, Barb. Appreciation also goes out to all who pitched in and brought yummies to the meeting and to those unable to attend who still took the time to send ideas along.
In new business, I pointed out that there is a drop box for paper recycling (every thing but cardboard) that is accessible 24/7 at the Colden Elementary School. The volume of paper collected there somehow benefits the school a bit. Grace added that there is a similar green and yellow box at Bertrand Chaffee Hospital. Jill mentioned that there is a drop site for returnables at the Colden Fire Hall with those proceeds going to a local Boy Scout troop. Please consider making your green efforts also help a local cause.
Stay tuned for a direct e-mail from Ina detailing some upcoming quilt shows and the liquidation sale of a fellow crafter’s inventory of fabric and beads. Marion’s sewing machine is still available. Jennifer advised us to stay alert next Thursday, September 15th, as there will be local painters setting up their easels to capture some Craneridge scenery on canvas. How cool is that?
Lots of wonderful books were proposed last night. We also included the two selections we didn’t get to last year, Sense and Sensibility and Left to Tell, in the voting process.
Click here to see the full list of 2012 suggestions.
Last night we decided to try to shoot for one meeting a month after finishing out the fall on our usual schedule. The suggestion was made and welcomed that we at least try for one book a month. Obviously, not everybody can always read every selection, but the thinking was that this would allow us to get more books in. If something doesn’t appeal to you or you don’t have time, you can skip one knowing another discussion is just around the corner. In the next few weeks, I would appreciate hearing from those of you who have conflicts on a particular week of the month (i.e. the first Wednesday of the month), so that we can evaluate if having a consistent meeting week is worth attempting.
Speaking just of around the corner, we will meet at Marilyn’s at 7 PM on Wednesday, September 21st to discuss The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Volunteers are: Jill and Kathryn for apps; Barb and me for desserts; and Carol, Terri, Jackie, Ina, Grace and Jen for wine. If you are able to attend, please call Marilyn.
After that, we will meet at Jill’s on Wednesday, October 19th to discuss Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Should be a great read to do around Halloween, and Jill has promised to educate us on the life of a woman writer during a time when there weren’t a lot of them!
The co-ed meeting will likely be November 30th, but your hosts (Rob and I) reserve the right to change that depending on what our Thanksgiving plans become. We will let you know as soon as the date is firm. The book is Catch-22 and hopefully, Chris Strong remembers that he is leading the discussion.
I hope those of you who weren’t able to make it last night will be as excited about our choices for the coming year as the rest of us are! See you in two weeks.
Jan
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Planning for 2012
Hello Book Clubbers,
I am sure we are all trying to fully enjoy these last few weeks of summer. As the days become shorter and the mornings become crisper, it is time to plan our year of reading choices. The selection meeting for 2011-2012 is at 7 PM on Wednesday, September 7th at Barb Reed’s. Please call her if you are able to attend. I don’t recall (and neither does Jill) that we picked snack and wine volunteers for that night, so please let Barb know if you can bring something.
I am super hopeful that we will have an excellent turnout with lots of great book ideas that night. Remember that our club’s success is a reflection of all of our input. We need everybody to pitch in with suggestions for books (or ideas for improvements for that matter) so that we can have a great year ahead.
In case this is your first selection night or you forgot how it goes…members bring suggestions for one or two books that they think the club would enjoy reading and discussing. (If you have a question regarding whether the club has already read a particular book, you can view our entire past on the blog) We will go around the room and give a brief description of our proposals. Please also bring something physical representing your suggestion. This can be the book itself, a printed review (from Amazon for example) or even just a sheet of paper with the title, author and brief synopsis. These items will then be laid out at Barb’s, and we will vote by putting chips on the ones we would each like to read. The top vote getters will become our choice list for the coming year. As we go around the room, we will also try to identify possible picks that might make good suggestions for the 2012 co-ed meeting that we will then propose for the guys to choose from at this year’s gathering.
You may also bring any books that you have finished and are willing to part with for our used book swap.
Even if you have been thinking about it all summer and still don’t feel that you have a good book to propose, we still would like you there to help make our selections. I can’t stress enough that the involvement of as many members as possible best assures good choices that we are all excited to read. This meeting is also an excellent time to put forth any other ideas you have regarding our club.
That’s it for now. Feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or confusions.
Jan
I am sure we are all trying to fully enjoy these last few weeks of summer. As the days become shorter and the mornings become crisper, it is time to plan our year of reading choices. The selection meeting for 2011-2012 is at 7 PM on Wednesday, September 7th at Barb Reed’s. Please call her if you are able to attend. I don’t recall (and neither does Jill) that we picked snack and wine volunteers for that night, so please let Barb know if you can bring something.
I am super hopeful that we will have an excellent turnout with lots of great book ideas that night. Remember that our club’s success is a reflection of all of our input. We need everybody to pitch in with suggestions for books (or ideas for improvements for that matter) so that we can have a great year ahead.
In case this is your first selection night or you forgot how it goes…members bring suggestions for one or two books that they think the club would enjoy reading and discussing. (If you have a question regarding whether the club has already read a particular book, you can view our entire past on the blog) We will go around the room and give a brief description of our proposals. Please also bring something physical representing your suggestion. This can be the book itself, a printed review (from Amazon for example) or even just a sheet of paper with the title, author and brief synopsis. These items will then be laid out at Barb’s, and we will vote by putting chips on the ones we would each like to read. The top vote getters will become our choice list for the coming year. As we go around the room, we will also try to identify possible picks that might make good suggestions for the 2012 co-ed meeting that we will then propose for the guys to choose from at this year’s gathering.
You may also bring any books that you have finished and are willing to part with for our used book swap.
Even if you have been thinking about it all summer and still don’t feel that you have a good book to propose, we still would like you there to help make our selections. I can’t stress enough that the involvement of as many members as possible best assures good choices that we are all excited to read. This meeting is also an excellent time to put forth any other ideas you have regarding our club.
That’s it for now. Feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or confusions.
Jan
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