Saturday, November 30, 2013

In preparation of the Co-Ed Meeting


Hello, Book Club members!  
The meeting at Shirley's to discuss Miss Peregrine's Peculiar creatures was a great success, thanks to Shirley's hospitality and our general approval of the book. 
Shirley has offered to host the Co-Ed meeting on December 4th, when we will discuss "In the Garden of Beasts" by Eric Larsen. Remember, this is an early meeting (at 6:30PM), and we will bring substantial dishes to pass, sort of in place of dinner for that evening.  Please call Shirley to tell her if you are attending, and what you plan on bringing. 
As a side note, Jackie is collecting checks for the Rob Freeman "Candy Man" memorial fund at Roswell until the end of November...please get your checks to her ASAP!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

September 2013 Meeting Notes

Dear Book Clubbers,
Wednesday’s meeting to discuss Girls Like Us was a giant success.  After setting the mood with a multimedia presentation, Peggy did a great job of leading a cohesive, meaningful discussion despite the fact that not all of us were able to finish the book.  We gave the book a solid 3.0 with most people appreciating the exhaustive research that went into the writing, but also finding that the details got in the way of its readability.  We were pleased to welcome Tara’s sister, Nicole to our ranks.  Thank you to Barb for hosting, to Peggy for leading and also to everyone who brought snacks and wine.

For those of you thinking of reading the “long, classic” this year, we have arrived at Middlemarch by George Eliot as our choice.  Don Quixote was a close second in the voting.

At the request of the newer members, I have attached an amended copy of the schedule for the year ahead with last names included for hostesses so that everyone can easily find addresses using the Craneridge directory.

October’s meeting is scheduled for 7 PM on Wednesday, October 23rd at Shirley’s house.  The book is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  Karla informed me that this book is very visual with lots of interesting and important illustrations.  If you are reading on an e-book, you might want to do a little Internet search to check out these visuals at one of the many websites relating to the book.  We still need one Chardonnay and one red wine volunteer for this meeting.  Please let Shirley know if you plan on attending. 

I am fairly sure that Rob and I will be able to host the co-ed meeting to discuss Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts on Wednesday, December 4th.  Since this is a “big food night”, there will be a sign up sheet at the next meeting.  Get your guys working on the book, show them our list of ideas and remind them that their suggestions are encouraged as well. 

With things pretty well in ship shape for our year ahead, I would like to make this newsletter my swan song for monthly updates.  As much as I have enjoyed fifteen years of reviewing the meetings and distributing the club’s business and social news, it is really no longer necessary with our schedule set and so much information on our amazing blog.  In our effort to make the club more self-sustaining, we should only have to determine snack volunteers on a monthly basis.  Whoever hosts or leads each meeting can pass the snack volunteers on to the next hostess.  The hostess will then have the volunteers’ names in her hands and can remind them if she chooses.  Of course I will continue to distribute important Craneridge news, member health updates and occasional organizational blurbs or changes of plans.  The rest of you are encouraged to do the same. 

You will probably still have more e-mails from me than you do reminding you to use your favorite store coupons, but I thank you all for putting up with my ramblings all these years and hope that this new approach can be efficient and effective for our group.

Jan

Monday, September 16, 2013

Schedule: 2013-2014



DATE
BOOK
AUTHOR
HOST
LEADER
10/23/13
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Shirley
Elizabeth
12/04/13
In the Garden of Beasts
Erik Larson
Shirley
Chris
1/15/14
The Snow Child
Eowyn Ivey
Loraine
Barb/Loraine
2/19/14
Room
Emma Donoghue
Terry
Beth
3/19/14
Flight Behavior
Barbara Kingsolver
Tara
Jennifer
April 2014
Long Classic – TBD
TBD
Marty
Linda
5/21/14
A Town Like Alice
Nevil Shute
Sue K
Karla
6/18/14
The Light Between Oceans
M. L. Stedman
Grace
Marilyn
July/August 2014
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
Anton DiSclafani
TBD
TBD
August 2014
H. G. Wells book of your choice
H.G. Wells
Jill
Jill
9/10/14
ANNUAL SELECTION NIGHT
------
Pool shelter?
TBD
9/24/14
TBD
TBD
Carol
Jackie


Selection Night 2013

Dear Book Clubbers,

Last week’s Selection Night/Organizational/Book Swap meeting went very well.  Thank you, Jill for pulling things together at the pool and keeping the evening moving.

As you will see, we very nearly have our year set up.  This should free up more time at meetings to discuss the book and have social time with each other.  Thank you for everybody who volunteered.  Your efforts are what make our club so successful!

The book choices, dates and other info are included in a separate document.  Please save this to refer to throughout the year.  Of course it will be on our awesome blog (crbc.blogspot.com) as well.  Anyone wanting a paper copy that was unable to print at home can let me know and I will bring one to you at the next meeting.  Remember that if something comes up and the slot you picked no longer works, you need to arrange a swap or ask somebody to cover it for you.

Of course, everyone always wants to know what books were recommended and not chosen so they have some ideas for other reads during the year.  Here is the list of those

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
The Sisterhood by Helen Bryan 


We currently have 3 recommendations to put before the guys for the 2014 co-ed meeting.  We welcome more suggestions from the men at this year’s co-ed gathering.  Depending on what the guys choose, we may end up with one of these for our September 2014 meeting.


If the above lists look a little funky to you (some underlined in blue, some black), I can’t really explain it except to say that the titles and authors may be “magical”.  Click on them and you may find yourself taken directly to the relevant Amazon link!

Remember that our meeting to discuss Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller is just around the corner.  Barb announced at the selection night that all are encouraged to come even if they didn’t finish the book.  Peggy has put together a little multimedia presentation.  Between that and the marvelous book companion website http://www.girlslikeusthemusic.com, you can easily participate in the discussion without getting the whole way through.  Please let Barb know if you plan on attending.  Snack volunteers for that night are:

Appetizers:  Nancy and Sue K
Desserts:  Tara and Donna
Chardonnay:  Loraine and Karla
Reisling:  Polly
Red:  Marilyn

Finally, it was great to see so many new and newish faces at the meeting.  A special shout out goes to Donna Harris who carted all the extra books away to donate.  Woohoo!

It is officially the last week of summer!  Enjoy!

Jan

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon -- and the Journey of a Generation


Hello all,

Thanks to Jan for suggesting our September selection, Girls LIke Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon -- and the Journey of a Generation.  [http://tinyurl.com/mudy57q]. The book is both a compelling biography of three musical icons and a social history of an era in which many of us grew up. 

As Jan noted in her last email, the book is longish -- about 600 pages. Regardless of whether you read the book cover to cover. I think you'll enjoy this excellent website -- Girls Like Us: The Music [http://www.girlslikeusthemusic.com]. It provides a brief summary of each chapter along with relevant music and video clips -- a sort of multimedia "Cliff Notes". It's a great companion as you read each chapter, a good review at the end… and helpful if you don't get through the whole book.

Looking forward to seeing you in September!

Peggy

Summer updates 2013

Hi all,

Heard that the meeting last week at Ina’s was a great success.  Sounds like everyone who attended had a lot of fun.  Thanks, Ina for hosting and leading this special night.

As promised, there has been some behind the scenes brainstorming going on over the last several weeks.  As we get ready for the important Book Selection Night on September 11th, Jill, Grace and I (along with your feedback) have been working on coming up with some ideas to help make our club even better and to attempt to even out the participation and work load a bit. 

Rolling into the start of school and the beginning of a new year of reading, we realize that not everybody can make the Book Selection Night meeting.  Because it is so critical to the planning and success of our club, we have decided to proactively tackle some organizational groundwork ahead of time.  For 2013-2014 there is an important issue our club needs to address.

Despite several attempts to make “steering” the discussion or hosting the meeting as painless as possible, we are still hurting for volunteers.  At one point, we had hoped that there were enough people willing to host or lead that those who were uncomfortable in either role could simply serve by frequently offering to bring snacks or help with clean up.  That has not proved to be the case. 

While we are blessed with a core of individuals who have consistently offered to steer the discussion, having a variety of leaders capitalizes on the diversity and enhances the perspective of our group.  Preparing to lead a book discussion can greatly increase your own enjoyment of a book.  In regard to hosting, with the pool shelter now equipped with weatherproof sides, electricity and heat, organizing a meeting there in the warmer months becomes an option for those who feel their homes are not suited to hosting.  The “long, classic read”, which has been moved to the spring, is another consideration for a hostess who can handle only a smaller group.

We recognize that part of the problem may be that we are asking for people to volunteer only a month or two ahead of time which can pose planning difficulties based on what everyone has going on in their busy lives.  For that reason, we are attaching a sign up sheet to the end of this newsletter.  We have projected the approximate number and timing of our meetings for the next 12 months.  This way you can choose what would be a good fit for you to host or lead.  You can consider teaming up with somebody if that helps.  Once the book selections for the year are in place, we may even be able to match hosts and leaders with books they suggested or are especially interested in. 

Back to the issue of encouraging all to participate and spreading out the workload, we recently tabulated hostesses and leaders for the past 2 years.  Jackie, Jill and myself were overrepresented.  I propose that these three J’s take a break from hosting and leading in 2013-2014.  Having said that, Rob and I will continue to host the co-ed meeting (unless someone else wants to?).  Jill has graciously offered to act as a mentor to anyone volunteering to lead a discussion that needs a little coaching on how to prepare.  No doubt Jackie will continue to play an important role as well. 

In the course of these weeks spent brainstorming on how to encourage members to volunteer to host or lead, the suggestion was made that we drop back to one book every 6 weeks.  While we are certainly willing to hear from more of you on that topic, the decision to go with a book nearly monthly has successfully accomplished a few things.  By selecting more books and meeting more often, members have been able to pick and choose the selections that most interest them.  This has kept attendance at any particular meeting to a manageable number.  I think it has also helped in the sense that if you miss one meeting, either because the book doesn’t appeal or because it is a bad time for you, there is not such a long stretch before the next gathering.  (Let’s face it.  We all love the social and friendship aspects of our group as much as we love the reading!) 

I realize this has been a lot for you to read and for that I apologize.  Please take it in the spirit in which it is intended.  We are constantly striving to improve our club via tons of member involvement.  Our book club is truly a special group of women who accomplish great deal in the community (not just reading, snacking and drinking) through the strength of the bonds of friendship and concern our mutual love of books has fostered.

A separate e-mail with more details regarding the selection night will follow in a few days.  In the meantime, please look at the sign up sheet at the end of this newsletter and let me know where you can fit in.  If we have more that one person per slot, we will try to work things out.  Our goal is to have the slots tentatively filled BEFORE the Book Selection Night. 

Savor these last weeks of summer and outdoor reading!

Jan

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Summer 2013 Meeting

Dear Book Clubbers,

Wednesday’s big summer meeting at Jackie’s was a smashing success.  As usual, Jackie put her heart and soul into setting the Maine theme.  Co-hosts Jennifer and Terry served up some amazing food.  While the book earned a 3.26 overall rating, the meal, the ambiance and the company earned a 5+.  We were thrilled to be joined by new friends, Tara and Nancy, and to have dearly missed Polly and Marion back in our midst.  Thank you again Jackie, Jen and Terry for creating a truly memorable evening. 

Next up is the Fifty Shades meeting at 7:15 on Wednesday, August 21st at Ina’s.  Many of you already signed up to attend and bring something.  If you plan on participating and did not sign the list, please contact Ina.  Conversely, if you signed the list and your summer plans change, please let Ina know so that she can prepare seating for the evening.

September 11th will be our annual book selection night, organizational meeting and used book exchange.  We are currently planning on holding this at the pool shelter since we now have wet weather protection and heat available.  Although this meeting falls at a hectic time of the year, we always hope to have a good turn out and tons of input at this critical event.  Remember our book club is what we make it, the sum of some pretty special friends who share an interest in reading and in our community.  If anyone has thoughts regarding how to improve our club going forward in 2013-2014, please feel free to share them with me, Grace or Jill in the next week or so.  Stay tuned in August for a reminder about how the selection night works as well as some new and different ideas regarding how we can best streamline book club doings and ensure that all of us have a role and a voice in our group.

Our first read of the 2013-2014 season will be Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller.  The meeting is tentatively set for Wednesday, September 25th at Barb’s with Peggy serving as discussion leader.

Finally, for those of you who requested Terry’s crab and shrimp bisque recipe, it can already be found (along with some of our other favorites from over the years) in the recipe section of our blog, which remains www.crbc.blogspot.com.  (Thank you, Jill for maintaining our awesome blog!)

As you enjoy the rest of your summer, give some thought to books you would like us to read and any suggestions for improvements you might have.

Jan

Saturday, June 29, 2013

May/June 2013 Meeting

June 1, 2013


Dear Book Clubbers,

Wednesday night’s combo meeting at Marilyn’s worked out just fine.  We discussed both books thoroughly (thanks to excellent steerage by Jackie and Jen), had great snacks, talked a little business and did a lot of socializing.  The overall ratings for the books were 4.3 for The Night Circus and 3.3 for The Bolter.  Thank you Marilyn for hosting this double format and for everyone’s attentiveness through 2 sessions.  (Think about a group excursion to the movies when The Night Circus hits the big screen.)

Next up is our summer picnic meeting.  Jackie will once again host on her lovely deck on Wednesday, July 24th beginning at 6:15 PM.  The book for discussion that night is Maine by Courtney Sullivan.  Jackie, along with help from Jen and Terry, has sketched out an awesome menu.  They will be cooking up some typical Maine summer cottage dishes, which we will each contribute a few dollars toward.  In an effort to not have too many leftovers, Jackie is also keeping a detailed sign up sheet, which was passed around Wednesday night.  If you weren’t there and plan on attending, please call Jackie to choose your assignment.  This meeting is usually a great one for newcomers to check out our club.  If you have new neighbors, please reach out to them and invite them along.

At this meeting we will also firm up dates and locations for our book selection meeting and September musician biography choice.  (I think we sort of agreed to do Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation.)

On Wednesday, August 21st, Ina will host a summer mini meeting for anyone wishing to discuss Fifty Shades of Gray and the all the hoopla surrounding that trilogy. 

In other business, Jill brought a giant, comprehensive list of “summer doings” in Buffalo.  Look for that document in your mailbox soon!  Thanks Jill.

Marty announced that the newly repaired pool with saline replacing chlorination should be ready soon.  Watch the mail center billboard for news of the opening as well as a start date for the water aerobics class.

I think that about covers it.  Hope everyone gets their spring work done soon and can enjoy SUMMER!

Jan

Saturday, March 23, 2013

March 2013 Meeting


Dear Book Clubbers,

Brrrrrr!  I don’t think it has stopped snowing from the time we left Sue’s on Wednesday night.  We had a great discussion of The Kitchen House led by Jackie.  The group found lots to talk about with all the interesting characters of the story, although most found the magnitude and number of tragedies befalling them depressing.  The overall rating was 3.6.  Thank you, Sue for hosting such a fantastic evening.

Next up is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  I think you will all really enjoy this book, which is very different and unusual (in my humble opinion).  The meeting will be at Terry’s on Wednesday, April 24th.  Appetizer volunteers are Beth and Liz and Sue K. and Grace for desserts.  Shirley, Jackie, Jen and Kathy will bring wine. 

Following that, we will meet on 5/29 to read our non-fiction choice, The Bolter by Frances Osborne.  The location will either be Grace’s or my house.  We need a volunteer to lead the discussion that night.

This brings up a very important topic.  We are in dire need of people to step up and volunteer to host or lead the discussion.  For example, April will be the second meeting Terry has hosted in the 2012-2013 book club year.  We also seem to have the same handful of people acting as discussion steerers.  At the last few meetings when volunteers for those tasks have been solicited, there has been an awkward silence in the room.  While we understand that not everyone feels comfortable in either of those roles, it is not really so difficult and it would be great if we could all share the load a little more evenly.

June will be a month off and then our big summer meeting will be on Jackie’s deck in July (date TBD) to discuss the book Maine, a reportedly great summer read by J. Courtney Sullivan.  At that time, I would like to see us pick our “long classic” for next spring.

I think we are still planning on those who would are interested discussing the Fifty Shades phenomenon at some point in August.

Of course, we will have our annual selection meeting in early September.  We thought for the first read of the fall (mid September) we might choose a musician biography and discuss it while Peggy is in town to join us.  Since the guys didn’t bite on this idea, we can perhaps choose a female one such as Girls Like Us, which chronicles the lives of Carole King, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell. 

I guess that is about all there is for now.  With spring not springing yet, we all have a chance to get in some late winter sports or reading by the hearth this weekend. 

Jan


Saturday, March 02, 2013

February 2013 Meeting

Hello Book Clubbers!
  In Jan's absence, I'm sending the updates from the February meeting... and what a fun meeting it was.  In fact, Jan wasn't absent at all!  She and Marilyn joined us via FaceTime during the discussion & social part of the meeting - they even shared a glass of wine with us!

This month's book was The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - seems folks enjoyed it, it came away with an overall rating of 3.8 (out of 5) because of it's interesting characters, themes of love, trust, and family, and, especially, the intertwining of meanings of flowers throughout the story.  Many agreed, this isn't just a novel, but a reference book for future bouquets!
Many thanks to Loraine for hosting the evening and Marty for leading the lively discussion.

Upcoming meetings look a little like this...

March 20th at Sue's house.  Please be sure to RSVP to Sue if you can attend.
The book is The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, discussion being lead by Jackie
And food for the night...
Appetizers:  Jen & Marty
Desserts:  Shirley & Kathy
Wine: Carol, Kathy, and anyone else who would like to add to the collection (the CRBC cupboard is bare)

Moving on to April...
The meeting will be on April 24th at Terry's house (again, RSVP, everyone!)
The book is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, discussion lead by Jill & Jen (or just Jen, or just Jill, TBD)
We didn't pick food people, we'll do that in March (or... feel free to volunteer by replying to Terry, Jan, or me)

It was good to hear that our sister Book Clubbers are on the mend... and that we have a future member due to arrive VERY soon.  Congratulations, on your soon-to-be new arrival, Natalie & Rory.  Speedy delivery!

The calendar says we're only 16 days away from Spring.  Till then, stay warm and happy reading!
~ Jill

Saturday, January 19, 2013

January 2013 Meeting

Dear Book Clubbers,

Last night’s meeting to discuss Objects of My Affection was highly successful.  The consensus was that the book was a fast and enjoyable read which made you want to go clean out your closets with enough meaty issues to twang the old thinker as well.  We rated the book a 3.4, which incidentally is very close to the 3.6 it received online per Marty.  Many thanks go out to Shirley for her great job hosting and to Elisabeth for adeptly leading the discussion.  We were pleased to welcome long-time Craneridge resident, Kathy McDonald to our ranks and to raise a glass to Shirley’s recent milestone birthday.  Shirley assures us that 80 is not to be feared and is the new 50!  Sounds good to me.

The next meeting is scheduled for 7 PM on Wednesday, February 20th at Loraine’s.  The book is The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  Marty will steer the discussion.  Terri and Kathy will bring appetizers and Elisabeth and Ina will bring desserts.  We think we may be set for wine for a bit.  Please let Loraine know if you are coming. 

We reviewed the remaining books on our list and choose The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom for March 20th and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern for April 24th.  Sue K. will host the March meeting with Jackie leading the discussion.  After that we will be left with The Bolter by Francis Osborne, and Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan (our summer picnic read).  We will possibly pick up a few loose ideas from the co-ed list overflow.  For now we are set through April.

Nothing much new to add to my medical update of a few days ago except to say that Jen is doing super and is being sprung from rehab tomorrow.  Jackie is sure Jen will be bored, so feel free to arrange a de-boring visit when you can.

As always, anything you may miss if you forget or delete newsletters is available on our blog, which Beth began and Jill faithfully maintains.  The address again is www.crbc.blogspot.com

Did I forget anything, Grace?

Jan