Just wondering . . .

if we are going to pick our newest book. I think this month has been crazy for all of us, and so I was thinking - since December isn't likely to get any less busy - if we should pick a book now to be for both months, November and December. What do you think? And I know Cat definitely has other things on her plate right now (ie. having her baby), but I was wondering who has the list of books we submitted to choose from?

PS. And I apologize for not getting to October's book. It looked so good, but October hit me like a train (a wonderful train, but still a train) and I am still recovering :).

PPS. Jessie, we would love to have you!!

Questions...

I have been such a slacker I haven't even posted my thoughts on the book yet, so I wanted to do this while I could and before anymore house stuff came up.

And I found some fun questions to answer:
1. What genre do you prefer?
2. Do you buy books, or use a library?
3. Do you read many books in a month, or just a few?
4. What is your favorite book, one that you've read several times because you love it?

My answers:
1. Mystery and tasteful romance
2. I buy more books, I love the used bookstore next to us...and I use the library for our bookclub books at first, if I really like them I'll buy them.
3. I go in spurts, I'll read 5 books a month or I'll only read one...it depends on the time
4. I love Stephanie Meyers books, I have read them a lot. I love Wuthering Heights and have reread all Tami Hoag and Patricia Cornwell

Check out Shelfari

Cat just invited me to join Shelfari and I'm getting really excited about it. Check it out here: www.shelfari.com or look on the side of Cat's blog.

And I found some fun questions to answer:
1. What genre do you prefer?
2. Do you buy books, or use a library?
3. Do you read many books in a month, or just a few?
4. What is your favorite book, one that you've read several times because you love it?

My answers:
1. Fiction (anything fiction - historical, romance, mystery, scifi, fantasy, etc..)
2. Library and borrow as much as possible
3. How many is many? I average about 3
4. There are too many books to read one more than once - although I do fall back on the Emily of New Moon series when I want to read something comforting.

In the Time of Butterflies - discussion part 1

The three Mirabal sisters who were killed, as pictured on this historical web site.

Okay, I am starting discussion for "In the Time of the Butterflies" a little early. And I think I'm going to spread it out over a couple days, since we still have a few more days of October left. Here are today's discussion questions. Check back tomorrow for more.

1.) First off, did you enjoy the book? What was your favorite part? What was your least favorite part? Who was your favorite sister?

Book talk this Tuesday!

Hope everyone is enjoying "In the Time of the Butterflies"! I'll be back on Tuesday to start our discussion and I can't wait to hear what you all think.

On another note, has anyone ever read “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”? The movie is being screened at the Savannah Film Festival this weekend. I was curious about it after I read it was based on a book written by the former editor in chief of Elle France, who suffered a rare stroke to the brain stem at age 43. He was in a coma for a while and when he awoke, all he could move was his left eye. Somehow, he arranged a way to communicate with blinks and wrote this book. It is all about the freedom he found living in his imagination for the remainder of his life.

Sound pretty incredible, huh?! Anyway, let me know if you've read it. I'll be sure to tell you how it goes when I'm done with it. It is pretty short, but I've got a few other things to finish reading first.

Time of the Butterflies

Heads up - I will be leading our discussion for Time of the Butterflies on:

Tuesday, Oct. 30

And just to get you pumped for reading, here are a few reasons why I like it:

**** It is narrated by four sisters - each sister has her own section.

**** After I finished it, a light switch went on over latin literature for me.

**** The story is strong, emotional and inspiring - and that's all I'm going to say about that without giving the rest away.

This is a great excuse for me to purchase a book I've wanted in my library for at least 7 years now.

October Book

This months book is.......

In the Time of the Butterfly's by Julia Alvarez.

Hooray for celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month!!

Melissa will lead the discussion for this book at the end of the month and then starting November we will have a calendar posted for what book, who is leading the discussion and what day we will have the discussion started.

New Book Club Blog Format

Some people have expressed a desire for more interaction and better organization for our online book club. Since this is our first foray into the world of book club blogs, we are still working out the kinks.

We want to start a calendar. It will include what the book is for the month, who will lead the discussion, and when the discussion will start.

Email me at cjwaldorf@hotmail.com with what your book suggestions (title and author) are by Oct. 15. It can be 1 or 20, I don't care. I'll pull titles out of a hat. Like we have done in the past, who suggests the book will lead the online discussion. I will try to keep it fair so that one person isn't doing all the discussions. Unless you don't care that you are doing it month after month. In your email, let me know what your preferences are. Please put book club in your title of the email so I know it is legit.

We also want to encourage discussion on the blog about anything else. Authors you love, other books you are reading and want to know if someone else has read or to turn us on to it, any kind of news, like the recent deaths of Madeleine L'engle and Robert Jordan. Anything book related or writing related or something fun to think about.

If there are any other ideas, let us know.

Thanks and Happy Reading!!

October book suggestions

My book picks for this month are mixed, 1 like Melissa said delving into Hispanic Heritage month and one completely unrelated.

East of Eden- John Steinbeck

The Color of My Words- Lynn Joseph

The second suggestion is one I haven't read, but sounds really good...especially for those of you who are writers.

Book Picks

My book pics don't have anything to do with Hispanic literature, but I am impressed that you knew that Melissa.

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Both are books that I still haven't read. Blame it on moving and pregnancy, but I really thought I would have gotten to those by now.