Saturday, October 3, 2009

New Book



Ok after much blood sweat and tears....and a few sex issues....I found our next book....thank goodness!!!! The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This is a 560 page turner....get your book this weekend and find a comfy spot and get started :) Nov 11.... Dont forget about our OTHER reading material (wink)

Information:
  • Hardcover: 560 pages
  • ISBN-10: 1416550542
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416550549
  • Check for Paper back before you buy Hard Cover, unless your like me and like to hold a solid book, and it looks nice in your library.

Here is a readers review:

The Forgotten Garden, the follow-up to The House at Riverton, is a muti-layered novel with complicated characters and a highly intriguing storyline. The story jumps back and forth in time, but rarely is the reader confused as to what's going on. As I mentioned here, this novel won't be out in the US until April 2009, but of course that didn't stop me from running over to Amazon Uk to purchase a copy of The Forgotten Garden! Let me just say that I wasn't disappointed.

The book opens in1913, when a young girl with no name is found on a quayside in Australia. She doesn't remember anything about herself, and all she carries with her is a white suitcase containing, among other personal items, a book of fairytales penned by a woman the girl calls the Authoress.

In 1975, the girl, now a woman called Nell, goes back to England, where she attempts to find answers to questions about her identity. Her travels lead her to Blackhurst Manor, delving deep into the Mountrachet family's secrets and purchasing a cottage on the Blackhurst property. But before she can solve the mystery of her past, Nell's flaky daughter Lesley shows up, dumping her granddaughter Cassandra on her doorstep--permanently.

In 2005, after Nell's death, Cassandra inherits the cottage and tries to answer the questions her grandmother raised. The stories of these two women are complemented by that of Eliza Makepeace, who grew up in the slums of London around the turn of the nineteenth century, and her cousin, the genteel Rose Mountrachet.

This is clearly a novel written by a woman, for women, about women; the male characters take a backseat to the female ones, sometimes becoming unlikeable. In fact, Linus Mountrachet is downright creepy, and Nathaniel West is a bit of a cad. The novel is punctuated here and there with some of Eliza's short stories, which provide wonderful little interludes, kind of like AS Byatt'sPossession, in a way. Possession, mixed with a little bit of The Secret Garden. We're even introduced to Frances Hodgeson Burnett, suggesting that she might have received inspiration forThe Secret Garden from Eliza and Rose's garden.

What I loved about this atmospheric, fairytale-like novel was that Morton tells the story of these different, but connected, women, but she doesn't give everything up right away. I tried to guess at the mystery many times, but ultimately my guesses were never correct. The characters are well developed, and although it takes a little while to get into the story, this is an excellent novel, filled with old houses and hidden gardens with secrets and surprises. It's also a novel about foreshadowing; even Cassandra's name suggests someone who can foretell the future. Aside from some too-fortuitous chances (for example, Eliza is rescued from poverty at the exact moment that she's about to be sent off to the workhouse), I found it really, really difficult to put this novel down, and only finished it reluctantly.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Last Night!

What an amazing group of ladies we are. I think we can say that we had a blast last night.
Kathryn Stockett did not let us down, in fact she really set the bar high for the next Author. We fell in love with all thecharacter's. We will miss them.
What a treat it will be to read her next book. She's so refreshing, she keeps us on our toes,
we want more, please. :)

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tonights Questions


DO NOT ANSWER: Information Only for Tonight. I will have print outs :)
1. Who was your favorite character? Why?
2. What do you think motivated Hilly? On the one hand she is terribly cruel to Aibileen and her own help, as well as to Skeeter once she realizes that she can't control her. Yet she's a wonderful mother. Do you think that one can be a good mother but, at the same time, a deeply flawed person?
3. Like Hilly, Skeeter's mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter--and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultimatum she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character? Why?
4. How much of a person's character would you say is shaped by the times in which they live?
5. Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart's faults so that she can get married, and that it's not until he literally gets up and walks away that the engagement falls apart?
6. Do you believe that Minny was justified in her distrust of white people?
7. Do you think that had Aibileen stayed working for Miss Elizabeth, that Mae Mobley would have grown up to be racist like her mother? Do you think racism is inherent, or taught?
8. From the perspective of a twenty-first century reader, the hairshellac system that Skeeter undergoes seems ludicrous. Yet women still alter their looks in rather peculiar ways as the definition of "beauty" changes with the times. Looking back on your past, what's the most ridiculous beauty regimen you ever underwent?
9. The author manages to paint Aibileen with a quiet grace and an aura of wisdom about her. How do you think she does this?
10. Do you think there are still vestiges of racism in relationships where people of color work for people who are white? Have you heard stories of parents who put away their valuable jewelry before their nanny comes? Paradoxically, they trust the person to look after their child but not their diamond rings?
11. What did you think about Minny's pie for Miss Hilly? Would you have gone as far as Minny did for revenge?

Tonight

Hey girls! So excited for our FIRST Book Club Meeting tonight at my House. Here is my address:
326 Brook Forest Trail Sugar Land TX 77478
281-871-8957

See you tonight!!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Start READING!!!!

On your mark get set gooooo! Start reading girls! Borders has the book in stock......so go get it tonight. Sept 30th will come really fast, dont be the only girlie with nothing to talk about.... :)

Wine & Cheese Please!

Everyone please bring a bottle of wine....(rules regarding wine).....NO ONE BUY WINE OVER $$9.99 or be prepared to do the chicken dance while we sing to you. :)

I'll have lite refreashment for us to enjoy.

Love you all,

Jennifer B.
Head Book Worm (i just made that up) hehe

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

DATE & TIME

Sept 30th will be our first Girls Night in Book and Wine club Meeting, make sure to bring the book that has been chosen by the members. Our first Book is "The Help", at our first meeting we will discuss what types of books us pretty girls are interested in reading. This will be a fun night! Again set your date books, iphone, crackberry to this Date and Time: Sept 30th 7:00pm @ my house. I will email address.

Friday, August 7, 2009

First Club Meeting

Hello Ladies, I need to know the day and time that would best suite every ones schedule. Please keep in mind we will keep club meetings to 90 minutes long.

Also, it looks like we have a winner, we will be reading " The Help" this should be a fun interesting first book for all of us to read.

I will speak to you all soon,

J~

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Our First Club Meeting

Hi Girls, welcome to "Girls Night In" Book & Wine Club . We welcome local and remote sisters from California, Texas, Florida and beyond........this is a place to relax with close friends with a glass of wine in one hand and a good book in the other. Cant get any better then that :)

Lets get this party Started~

What we need to do first is, pick one of the two books I have posted below. I would like this done by Friday August the 7th 2009, so please put your vote in at the poll. If I do not have an answer by Friday I will be obliged to pick the First Book.

Once it is chosen, I will provide a coupon for the book and post it on our blog to print. It would be most appreciated for you to bring the chosen book to our first club meeting.

I will be the host for our first "Girls Night In" we will have yummy treats to pair with the wine of the evening. We will then choose a new location for each meeting there after. We will have some meetings at a comfy wine bar, and at times we may meet at a local wine tasting event. Everything will be discussed and posted on our blog.

At our first meeting we will meet and greet, get the rules and questions answered. For the remote girls you'll be part of the club via Blog and Video phone the night of the meeting.

All books chosen will be of Good Taste. But please note, a few light romance scenes or light crime related stories might be in the books we choose. If this is something your uncomfortable with please let me know. We will never read a book that could offend one of our sisters or give anyone something to question our integrity.

This is a time to get together with our dear friends to bond and read books to uplift, put smiles on pretty faces.....make us giggle....move us to tears.... and the wine to comfort us :)

I look forward to seeing you all, I will post our first GNI Club Meeting Date By Monday August 3rd.

Cheers,

Jennifer

Our First Book





I've researched Two Novels that look like fun interesting books, please review the two synopses below. If anyone opposes both books, I'm always open for suggestions. Please add your vote to the poll box to the right.


I posted a link to the Authors web page, to help with your decision making, enjoy!


The First Novel is "The Keep" by Kathryn Stockett

Its about three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

For more information visit: http://www.kathrynstockett.com/



The Second Novel is BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, by Jennifer Weiner.

Some bonds can never be broken...

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

Best Friends Forever is a grand, hilarious, edge-of-your-seat adventure; a story about betrayal and loyalty, family history and small-town secrets. It's about living through tragedy, finding love where you least expect it, and the ties that keep best friends together.

For more information: www.jenniferweiner.com/bff.htm



We look forward to thoughts & view points, fun & laughter, good wine & Company.

Jennifer Bradshaw