BLOG: SP Book Talk and Club Forum
Having been in a book club for nearly four years in Severna Park, one of my book club friends thought it might be fun to do a feature story of Book Clubs in Severna Park. Not knowing if any other book clubs meet in this area, I brought this idea to the editor of Patch, who in turn thought that creating a ‘book club blog’ might be a great way to help book clubs in the local area enhance their own groups with book selections, recipe ideas for the hostess, wine selections, and small hostess gift ideas.
A few rules:
- Please don’t post any spoiler alerts for those who have not read the book.
- No gossiping allowed.
- This is not a political or a religious forum, so please refrain from these book topics.
- Happy Reading!
This is a blog about book clubs for all the ladies of Severna Park that meet every month to talk about a book that they may or may not have read for five minutes then proceed to indulge in appropriate amounts of wine.
Some books will cause us to talk for much longer periods about characters, plots, opinions, etc while others leave us dry and sorry we selected it.
Normally when our book club meets, there is one hostess for that month to do the food and wine. Unfortunately, last week I hosted my group, selected numerous wines, but fell short of providing enough. Shocker! Lucky for me and for my guests, three of the women who came each brought more spirits to help enliven our meeting. For my first blog book club suggestion; the best hostess gift to bring is WINE!
The book we select has become less important than the company with which we surround ourselves; however, we always enjoy what novel we select. Everyone is forgiving to me for not having read and/or finished a book, which is the key to knowing they are good friends.
Our March book was Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran. Everyone enjoyed this book very much. Experiencing the French Revolution through the eyes of Madame Tussaud and her famous wax modeling was extremely entertaining with accurate historical references.
This book selection was true page turner. By the way, we have a name for our book club: The Five O’Clock Angels. I belong to another book club which has not created a name for itself but it has been in existence for over ten years. I am fairly new to that one and enjoy it as much.
This particular month both of my book clubs chose the same book, mostly because I am hosting each this month.
Hopefully, this blog will help others to create a book club or to join in one that meets regularly. Enjoy. Feel Free to join in for suggestions even if you are not currently in a book club. Next month, the Five O’Clock Angels book selection is The Expats a novel by Chris Pavone.
Leslie Hunt
5:27 pm on Sunday, April 1, 2012
Hi- How/who chooses the books that you will read each month?
Patty Rush
9:53 pm on Sunday, April 1, 2012
n my book-club, the Hostess of the Month provides the main menu item. Each book club member (there are 11 of us) sign up to bring wine, appetizers, or dessert. We always have enough of everything. The Hostess is asked to select the book for the next month, (with opinion of members). Sometimes we have a list of books we want to read, which always leads to a lively discussion. My book club has been going strong for 16 years. I think at one time we had a name for ourselves but I can't remember what it is. I'm sure it had 'wine' somewhere in the name. ~ Patty Rush, Kansas City
Erin O'Neill
11:46 pm on Sunday, April 1, 2012
Sometimes we go over the New York Time bestseller list, but mostly the members bring in suggestions from friends, co-workers, and family members. It is ultimately decided by who hosts the book club in that month. In the newer book club that I am in, they have read over 60 books that we can list over the last ten years. There are probably more books to speak of, but sometimes we forget which books were read.
Jan Hicks
7:42 am on Monday, April 2, 2012
If you are interested in reading a local author's books, I would like to suggest any of the books by Michael R. Hicks. He lives in Arnold and writes Sci-Fi/Fantasy as well as one very relevant/timely thriller called Season of the Harvest. If you should happen to pick one of his books, he is happy to come to the book club meetings to talk to the members about the book. (Disclaimer - I am his wife and biggest fan, but you will see from his reviews, that most people think his books are excellent. :)) He can be found on Amazon.
Carrie Hilliard
8:51 am on Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Will check him out Jan. Thanks!
Judith Plymyer
9:13 am on Monday, April 2, 2012
My group of dorm friends from college shares books online, because we live in Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, England, and France. We include a mathmetician, a teacher, an architect, a professor, a translator, and an attorney. Because of our professional and geographical differences, we get lots of interesting book choices, but, alas, we have to eat and drink alone. We also share recipes and craft ideas, with pictures. Oddly enough, all of us have lived or traveled in Hawaii and Asia and enjoy books from these areas. A fun light mystery series recommended by my freshman roommate (translator in France) is about Vish Puri (a Poirot-like private eye in India) by Tarquin Hall, a Brit married to an Indian woman. Puri's mother often assists in solving the cases! There is a great glossary of Indian words at the back of these delightful books.
Krystine Milewski
2:17 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
I am a member of a small book club in SP now and was a member of a much larger (25+ members) previously. I love the bookclub because I read books I wouldn't normally pick up. My first book was "Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons". After getting over the title, the book was wonderful. I would also highly recommend Alexander McCall Smith series about the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I have read about 3 or 4 in the series.
The books I have enjoyed most (in a club and on my own) are: The Red Tent, A Year of Wonder, and Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain. All 3 books are very different, yet excellent. Our club will be reading Breaking the Silence in the next month or 2.
I would love suggestions from others to bring back to our club.
Happy Reading!!!
Maribel Ibrahim
7:44 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
I love the idea of a virtual book club. I was in a book club when my youngest was a baby and it was great to force myself to have some "adult" brain activity every once in a while. I'll confess that I don't have much time for reading a good book, but The Help was one that I read before I saw the movie. I couldn't put the book down and finished it within a week. Very compelling read...
Erin O'Neill
8:42 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012
It is exciting to see our local response to this blog. I am hopeful that other recommendations will be offered. So far, suggested author's include: Michael Hicks (our local author) "Season of the Harvest", Tarquin Hall "Vish Puri"
Other Books: The Year of Wonder, the Red Tent, and Breaking the Silence, and The Help.
It was fun this week to see that Prince William and Princess Katherine were part of the Madame Tussaud's newest exhibition world wide. I have an entirely new perspective on the importance of her famous wax model's since reading the book. Happy Reading.
Amy Leahy
10:19 am on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
I am in a book club that meets at a local restaurant over lunch. Not as much opportunity to drink wine and have girl time, but it works for us. It's only a couple of years old and not as large as some others - maybe because of the lack of wine - but we've read many really good books and enjoy the fellowship. Some suggestions I have are: Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (author of Seabiscuit), and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Both of these books by the way are true stories and very well written. What I like about the book club is that it gets me reading books that supplement my normal favorite reading which is murder mystery kind of stuff.
Carrie Hilliard
8:50 am on Wednesday, April 11, 2012
I'm in two book clubs. One where we actually discuss the book and the other for more of just a reason to get together! Anyway, great idea! Whoever hosts, picks the book and hosts at their house. Last month, I hosted and we read the book Molokai by Alan Brennert. A great read as it was historical fiction about the Hawaiian lepresy colony on the island of Molokai and one that definitely had discussion points. There even was a book club discussion questions section in the back.