Schedule - Sept 2016 - May 2017

Mark your calendars!  Here's the list of the up-coming books... and meeting locations and leaders.  Please note, we need a volunteer for April 26th discussion.

-->

DATE	BOOK	AUTHOR	HOST	LEADER
9/28/16	The Little Paris Bookshop	Nina George	Shirley	Donna
11/9/16	Moloka’i	Alan Brennert	Barb	Marty
Friday, TBD Co-ed Mtg	The Boys in the Boat	Daniel James Brown	Jan	Dave C
2/22/17	Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend…	Velma Wallis	Joan	Irene
3/15/17	CLASSIC:  The Awakening	Kate Chopin	Nancy	Linda
3/29/17	A Mother’s Reckoning	Sue Klebold	Kathy	Jackie
4/26/17	The Nightingale	Kristin Hannah	Diane	TBD
5/24/17	When Women Were Birds…	Terry Tempest Williams	Irene	Linda

2016-2017 Nomination list

Hi Book Clubbers!

The list of nominees is now on line! 
Click HERE to access the pdf file

Bring your votes to the meeting on Sept 14th.

See you then,
 Jill

August Updates

Hi all!

This is my first newsletter as the Jan Freeman replacement.  I'm going to have trouble filling her shoes for her one year sabbatical to work on the Craneridge history for next year's anniversary.  I'll need your help!

 

We had a great meeting July 20th to discuss "the Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair".  Many thanks to June Marie for organizing the food and decorations.  Everything was delicious.  

 

Next month is our book selection night at the pool shelter on September 14.  

After much thought, we're making some changes to the selection method this year. Our method of bringing printouts to the meeting and speaking about them seems overwhelming and might not allow us enough time to look at the books. So....

Email your selection to Jill G by Sept. 4.  Please include a synopsis, if it is available in an audio book, paperback, plus Title and author. Jill will prepare a spreadsheet of the books and send it to us. We can then review the list at our leisure before the meeting.

We will be picking out FIVE books to cover the first half of the year...until February,  when we will select the remainder for the year.  We'll choose the host houses as well from October till March on the 14th.  

We'll use the poker chip method as in the past to vote on our favorites.  Please bring your book or amazon printout on the 14th.

also...bring a comfy (er) chair if you'd like, and your wine glass! 

 

September 28 is the date for "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George, at Shirley 

S' s house.  We'll choose snacks n wine suppliers on the 14th.

the wine and snack list for the 14th is:

Wine. - Tara. Kathy. Lorraine Marilyn

Appetizer -  jen. Nancy

Dessert. -  Shirley,  Linda

I've given you a lot to think about.  Please call me with any questions or comments.  Happy reading!!!

Jen

Summer Meeting Info

Hi all,

Here is the latest on the summer meeting to discuss The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair at 6:15 PM on Wednesday, July 20^th at the pool shelter.

 

The meal will be a giant salad bar!  June will shop for the greens since she will be the one receiving RSVPs and totaling the number attending.  Everyone else will bring a couple of items from the list June sends out after first checking with her by phone, text or email to avoid duplication. 

In addition to your own wine glass, please bring your beverage of choice or buddy up with a friend to share a bottle.  By having this be a BYOB, we should be able to focus on getting a large range of food items there so that we can assemble some really awesome individualized salads. 

If sitting on a picnic bench for the evening will be uncomfortable, consider bringing a folding chair as well.

Look for a list of ideas of what to bring coming from June soon.  Don’t forget this is a great meeting to reach out and invite new potential members since the social part of the night is longer.  Also remember to take note of who you felt the murderer was at the 25%, 50%, 75% and right before the end points in the book.

Get reading and give some thought to what food items you are able to bring to the BAR! 

Jan

June 2016

Hi all,

Last week’s meeting at Grace’s to discuss The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was super duper great!  Grace did a terrific job dreaming up a fun twist on the evening to start things off in an unique way.  Shirley and Jackie were co-conspirators in the plan, and Jackie also came up with a creative take home “message”.  Jill did a fantastic job facilitating the discussion and also jumped started our brains by sending out some topics to contemplate before the meeting.  Of course the snacks were delightful as always.  Thanks to all who did or brought something and to everyone who made it there to share in the wonderful evening.  The overall rating was 3.7.  It seemed like most people really enjoyed the book.

Next up is our big food summer picnic meeting.  The date is set for Wednesday, July 20th at the pool shelter.  We will begin at 6:15 PM.  June Marie is leading the charge on this event.  She will be reaching out to us soon with a sign up sheet for food and beverages.  You may remember that the last couple of meetings we have had up there we have had people bring their own plastic wine glass.  I think that would be a good idea again.  Also keep in mind that, while new members are welcome any time, this is a particularly good meeting to invite them since the social part of the night is longer.  

The book for that night is The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Decker.  One of my sisters passed on that when her book club read this selection, they each wrote down who they thought “dunnit” at the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and right before the end points.  It sounds like one’s suspicions shift a lot in this book, so please jot your thoughts on the culprit down as you progress.  

June (and Diane) also reminded us of several items related to the Bread of Life Outreach (BOLO):

Health fair/Blood drive taking place on Saturday, July 9th from 10-2 PM in conjunction with the normal farmers’ market.  Time slots for the blood drive are still available.  There should be a lot of great wellness info available at this event.

A truck will be distributing fresh produce and other food stuffs at BOLO one Thursday a month starting in July.  This is not a need based program, but is open to all.  Volunteers are needed to assist with unloading and other jobs that are less strenuous.  

Bread of Life is now on the official donation list at The Can Man in Springville.  Please consider earmarking your returnable refund to BOLO.  Donations of clothing and other items are always welcome.  See the Bread of Life website for donation details and hours or consider a drop off to June if the hours are inconvenient.  

Grace also mentioned that Polly Ehmke so wishes she was able to join us.  She loves receiving emails and notes, so drop her a line if you have a chance.

I am sure there was a lot more news.  If i missed important stuff, please feel free to do a direct email to the group yourself.

That’s it for now.

Jan

Oliver Sacks... Filter Fish

Published after his death in August, 2015, the amusing article below recounts Sacks' reminiscence about "filter fish".  Enjoy!

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/14/filter-fish

Thanks, Barb, for passing this along.

May Newsletter

Hi All,

Despite the difficulty of the subject matter and the technical nature of the writing, Awakenings turned out to stimulate a great discussion.  The overall rating was a 2.8.  We could all easily recognize the significance of this book as it relates to Oliver Sacks ground breaking insight into the importance of treating individuals as such instead of just treating a “dis-ease” in medicine.  It is truly a “classic” in its genre.  Thanks to Beth for asking some key questions and for Sue K. for hosting our gang.  As always, hats off to the snack (and wine) volunteers.

The next meeting is at 7 PM on Wednesday, June 15th to discuss The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.  We will meet at Grace’s.  Let her know if you are coming.  Jill G is leading the discussion.  Please bring an extra layer in case we can be outside for a lovely June evening.  We could probably use another appetizer and some more wine.  So far snack volunteers are:

Appetizers:  Diane and Sue K

Desserts:  Jill B and Beth

Wine:  Barb, Jen, Marilyn

We have set a tentative date of Wednesday, July 20th for our summer big food meeting to discuss The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Decker.  June, Grace and Diane will head up the organizing crew.  Details will follow, but we are currently looking for a volunteer to lead the discussion.  

There is sad news about neighbor, Doug Okulewisc.  Many of us knew Doug as the man who walked extensively in the park and always had his camera at the ready.  Doug was a loner and unfortunately passed away in his home recently.  Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.  

Looking forward, I would like you to start thinking of a few things in the coming months.  Once our awesome WNY summer weather hits, the fall planning meeting will be on us before we know it.  The last few years we have not been able to agree upon a true classic for our “long classic” read.  Several people have mentioned that they would like to see us tackle a “classic” regardless of length.  Grace suggested Vanity Fair, but we can sure consider others.  Since our new rating system takes into consideration the likelihood that a book can stand the test of time and become a classic, surely there are some books written in the last several hundred years that are worth our attention!  Also, please think about whether the co-ed meeting should be kept in its pre-holiday time slot or moved to mid winter when there is less going on.

I think that is all for now.  

Jan

March/April 2016

Hi All,

Little late with my follow up, but the meeting at Tara’s the week before last was lovely, interesting and well attended.  None of us could quite remember why we decided to read these two books together.  I think we might have erroneously thought they both were related to amnesia.  Themes of memory did tie them loosely, and Tara and Marty did a great job of pulling the discussion together.  Neither book blew the group away.  Scores tallied 2.3 for What Alice Forgot and 2.8 for Vanishing Acts.  Just average, with our new rating system of 2.5 being your standard, solidly written book.  

 

In other news, Kathy was congratulated for her and her paintings being featured in an art magazine. Donna announced that the Craneridge Moondance catamaran excursion is set for a Saturday in July.  I believe it is July 23rd, but she can correct me if I have that wrong.  Thanks again, Tara, for opening up your home.  

I do know one reason that we choose to read two books last month was that we couldn’t agree upon a “long classic”.  May I suggest that perhaps next year’s March meeting be devoted to a classic (regardless of length) so that we can get at least one of those in per year?  Just a thought…

Next up is Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf.  If you haven’t started it yet, don’t worry.  Jen assures us that it is less than 200 pages of very spare, yet beautiful, writing.  The meeting is set for Wednesday, April 20th at Carol’s.  Please let Carol know if you plan on attending.  We could probably use another wine volunteer or two.  So far we have:

Appetizers: Marty, Donna and June

Dessert: Jill B and Irene

Wine:  Kathy, Jen, Loraine and Tara

There have been a couple of changes to the previously published e-mail list.  Please make the changes in your contact lists.  We will try to get out an updated rooster soon. 

That’s all I have for now.  I hope you are all curled up with a good book today, listening to the wind blowing some spring snow our way.  Hopefully after this we will sail into spring!

Jan

February Meeting Recap

Hello Book Clubbers!
Hope you got your reading sneakers on... 'cuz you'll be racing to get the two March books read by the 23rd, if you haven't read them already.

... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Many thanks to all who made Wednesday's meeting another successful evening:  To Loraine for opening her lovely home... to Marilyn and Nancy for leading the discussion... and to those who provided snacks, desserts, and drinks.  (I really should know better by now and NOT eat dinner on Book Club nights).  Thank you all!  Thank you, thank you!

The book, House Girl by Tara Conklin scored a better-than-average rating (overall, a 3.38), but the range was wide - from a 2 to a 5.  Consensus was that is was a good book with interesting characters (many of whom could be a book all by themselves), but not one of the most memorable stories.  It was interesting to hear the discussion about the parallels between the lives of Lina and Josephine (and contrast the undeniable differences).  Perhaps we'll see more from this Lawyer-turned-Writer in the future... more Caleb, perhaps??

As for next month... get ready, it's a Dual-Book meeting!
   Date:  March 23 @ 7pm
   Location:  Tara's house
   Books:  What Alice Forgot by L. Moriarty
                Vanishing Acts by J. Picoult
   Appetizers:  Nancy & Jennifer
   Desserts:  Shirley & June
   Wine:  Barb, Irene, & Jackie
*** DON'T FORGET TO RSVP TO TARA ***

Finally - a couple announcements/requests:

1. The Craneridge Board of Directors is looking for members to be part of the Nominating Committee for the BOD (they aren't BOD member, but help find and recruit BOD members) as well as possible Directors.  Contact Dave Harris if you'd like to learn more.
2. Save the date!  The Moondance Cruise is back for 2016.  This year's event will be July 23 @ 6pm.  See Donna Harris for more info.

That's all I've got, for now.

Happy reading!
~ Jill

February Meeting - Location Change

Due to some changes for Barb, the meeting has been relocated...

Hope to see you all at Loraine's on February 17th to discuss The House Girl.  Let her know if you are attending - RSVP via email or phone.

Thank you!

January Newsletter

Hello Book Lovers,

Sending out huge kudos to Diane for not only opening her gorgeous home to the club, but also taking the lead on the discussion for the first time.  Well done, Diane!  Thank you!!

Snack/dessert/wine volunteers - many, many thanks to your contributions to make the evening even better.

Tho the book got mixed reviews, I think we would all agree, there was great discussion about it.  I heard throughout the night "I learned a lot from this book" - from how tough the residents of 1925 Nome were, to the bravery (and craziness) of the men and dogs, to how this event had a profound impact on medicine and air travel after it.  The overall rating was 2.86 - with ranges from 4 down to 1 (and a couple abstentions).

For those of you who would like a video version of this story, check out the BBC Documentary on the event, "Icebound: The Greatest Dog Story Ever Told"

Click HERE to watch "Icebound" video

Next Month... the book is "House Girl" by Tara Conklin at Barb's house, with co-discussion leaders: Marilyn and Amy.  Thank you all, in advance!

Snack volunteers are (I hope I got these right... please reply-all if there's an error)

   Appetizers:  Jennifer, Leslie

   Desserts:  June, Irene

   Wine:  Marilyn (red), Donna (white), and there's another white with me... leftover from January's meeting

Please, don't forget to RSVP!

We had a couple announcements that came out of the meting, too..

• You should have received your invite to the Craneridge Winter Party... it's Saturday, Feb 6th @ Holland Hills CC.  See Donna Harris for more info - Must reserve your spot by 1/25
• The Craneridge Board is looking for volunteers to be on the Nominating Committee.  This is not a BOD position, but helps find individuals interested in sitting on the Board.  Board members are also being recruited at this time.

Happy winter reading!  See you next month!

 ~Jill