In the Lake of the Woods

December Book of the Month

In the Lake of the Woods

By Tim O'Brien

This month we read In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien.  Unfortunately, because of a crazy snowstorm that is supposed to hit tonight we aren't out eating and discussing this book right now!!!!  Unfortunately, I did not finish the book this time!  Unfortunately, this has been a crazy month for The Chicks with Books.  

I'm about halfway through the book right now.  I have to say this was a really hard book for me to get into.  I think the plot is actually interesting but I think the way the story was told was really hard for me to follow and to figure out what is actually going on.  I guess I'll have to finish it and see if it all makes sense in the end.  I'm slowly trying to make my way through it.  

My dad is a Vietnam veteran and he has post-traumatic stress disorder.  Post-traumatic stress disorder is something many war veterans and other people who have been through extremely horrible experiences suffer from.  Again, I have to finish the book, but at this point I'm kind of disappointed with the way he portrays John Wade, the main character, in terms of being a Vietnam veteran.  I'm sure everyone deals with post-traumatic stress in different ways, and obviously, the kind of person you are before the war will play into how a war, especially Vietnam, will effect you.  I just hope not everyone gets the impression that all veterans, from Vietnam or any other war, are all as strange as John Wade.  I will definitely post when I actually finish the book, but I really felt that I had to explain that the main character is, in my opinion, psycho before he goes to war, and that that seems to play a major role in how he acts when dealing with the war and as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.  

I am glad the author describes some possible experiences for a soldier in Vietnam and isn't afraid to talk about them.  In my knowledge of the Vietnam War, so many things that happened were hidden or even denied and no one wanted to acknowledge what soldiers went through in Vietnam.  I think besides having to deal with the horrible unimaginable experiences the soldiers had to go through, when they came back from Vietnam they weren't able to talk about it or deal with it, instead they had to keep it to themselves and try and pretend like they had no problem going back to being in normal society.  This is something we do see in John Wade, the main character.  He keeps everything to himself and it haunts him even more because he tries to tell himself it didn't happen.  I think it is so sad that these soldiers had to deal with all their memories on their own.  Just think of how common it is to talk through a problem with a friend, or to share an experience with a friend, and how much better it makes you feel.  What if you had something, probably many things, completely unbelievable that you have no choice but to keep with yourself.  It breaks my heart.  I think that now that post-traumatic stress disorder has been recognized as an actual disorder, soldiers are getting help when they come back from war.  I hope at least they have the chance to discuss and deal with their experiences in the war instead of having to hide it and keep it to themselves.   

I would really love to hear your opinions on the book and I hope we can discuss this book at our January book club along with the book we pick for January.  I welcome any thoughts you have now...and feel free to ask me any questions you have.  

Those Who Save Us

November Book of the Month

Those Who Save Us

By Jenna Blum

We had a fun night at this month's book club!  We met at a Tapas restaurant and enjoyed lots of red wine sangria!  I think this was a book that we all really liked.  It was definitely well-written and also written from an interesting perspective.  This book is written from the perspective of a young woman living in Nazi Germany who has a daughter with a Jewish man and then does what she has to do to keep the two of them alive through the war.  The book is also written from the perspective of the daughter when she is a grown woman and how she sees her mother and her journey to understand her mother, who refuses to ever talk about their life in Germany.  There were of course stories of the Holocaust that were horrible to read and that accurately portrayed the gruesomeness of the war.  We could not believe people could have treated others so awfully and are hoping that our mentality is common among our generation and that the world will only get more and more tolerant and embrace the difference among us.  

Here are the Chicks:

Remember Me?

October Book of the Month

Remember Me? 

By Sophie Kinsella

This month we read Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.  We all agreed that this was an easy read although not all of us liked the book.  Personally, Sophie Kinsella is one of my favorite authors.  I don't think she's an author that you can add to a list of classic authors who are going to be read through the ages, but she's a great chick lit read for relaxing right now.  I loved the part when she has sticky notes all over her saying some sexual comments about her boss...when her boss walks in.  I also loved the part about mont blanc...you'll just have to read it to figure out what it's all about.  Another Kinsella great in my mind.  

We met at Cheesecake Factory to discuss the book.  I'm always in the mood for Cheesecake.  Yum!

Peony In Love

September Book of the Month

Peony In Love

By Lisa See

This month we read Peony In Love by Lisa See.  We met at P.F. Chang's because Peony In Love is a historical fiction book about a girl growing up in China studying The Peony Pavilion.  It was a very interesting book that provided an in-depth insight into the beliefs in the Chinese culture in regards to death and ghosts, and their traditions.  

I, personally, thought the book was very well written.  I was completely enthralled by the story. I thought it was yet another example of women being strong and smart, which seems to be a trend in our books.  I loved that the story was very much based on a true story.  My favorite saying in the book was: man-beautiful.  

Here we are with our books!  It was another great night of yummy food and good company!! 

Water For Elephants

August Book of the Month

Water For Elephants

By Sara Gruen

It seemed unanimous that we loved Water For Elephants!  This was a great story about Jacob Jancowski, a man who suddenly loses both parents in a car accident and leaves his life to join the Benzini Brothers circus.  I, personally, learned a lot about the traveling train circuses from the 20's and 30's.  We liked Jacob as a character, both as a young man and an old man.  This is also a love story, in more ways than one.  It is a great piece of historical fiction.  

My camera was really low on battery so we barely had time to turn it on and snap a picture...but we do have a picture!  We were a small group this time...what did everyone who couldn't make it think?  Please post!  

The Other Boleyn Girl

July Book of the Month

The Other Boleyn Girl

By Philippa Gregory

This month we chose The Other Boleyn Girl which was recommended by Alba.  Those of us that read the book seemed to have really enjoyed the book.  The Other Boleyn Girl is the story of Mary Boleyn, younger sister to Anne Boleyn who married King Henry VIII.  Through Mary Boleyn, the author tells the story of all the Boleyn siblings.  We thought that the author made a wise choice by picking Mary Boleyn as the main character because she was a like-able and relate-able character who also was in all the right places to tell the story.  Overall, we felt bad for the young people of that time because it seemed like their parents/family just played them as pawns to improve the status of their family.  We were missing quite a few book club members this month so please comment on what you thought of the book!  

We ate at an Irish restaurant called Peggy Kinnane's.  The food was great and pretty much everyone who worked there was hot.  No complaints!  Here is our group of lovely ladies!

Loving Frank

June 2008 Book of the Month

Loving Frank

By Nancy Horan

This month we chose to read Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.  Loving Frank is a historical fiction piece written about a woman who had an affair with Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect.  The author wrote the story based on research she did about their lives together.  We met at Maggiano's for yummy Italian food because during part of the book Mamah, the main character lives in Italy.  

We all seemed to agree that Frank Lloyd Wright was not such a great guy (that's kind of an understatement).  We had mixed feelings about Mamah and her decision to leave her marriage that she was not happy in.  We were proud of her for leaving and for not staying in a situation she was not happy in, but really disappointed in how she dealt with it.  Her selfishness was evident, and it led to her greatly impacting the lives of so many people: her ex-husband, her sister, but, most of all, her kids.  

Escape

The May 2008 Book of the Month

Escape

By Carolyn Jessop

The May book of the month was recommended by Veronica.  The other books it beat out were Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santos and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.  We met at Ram to discuss the book over a tall glass of Merrill "Buttface" Jessop beer and a plate of shrimp.  

Escape is the "dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman's courageous flight to freedom with her eight children."  We were all appalled to read about the suffering and abuse women and children had to face within the FLDS cult.  Even more outrageous is to think that this was happening recently and is still going on even today.

We didn't really have focused discussion questions but the discussion kind of just led itself.  Here are some of the topics we discussed:

1. Which part of the story appalled and outraged us the most?

2. How were the men in the FLDS able to totally and completely control the women and children?

3. What do we learn from Carolyn's relationship with her children in regards to mothers?

We all agreed that Carolyn has an amazingly strong will and that she is definitely smart to have been able to carefully plan her escape so she would be successful.  We also discussed our opinions of long underwear.  To end the night, we all shared a mile high mudpie.  Yum!  

  

The Time Traveler's Wife

The April 2008 Book of the Month

The Time Traveler's Wife

By Audrey Niffenegger

For the inaugural The Chicks With Books book club meeting, we read The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger.  We met at a Thai restaurant because Clare and Henry go out for Thai on their first date.  This book was chosen by me, Jen, because it is one of my absolute favorite books.  

The Time Traveler's Wife is the story of Clare and Henry.  Henry is a time traveler and Clare is his life-long lover thanks to Henry's ability time travel into her childhood.  This book is the story of their lives and their love story.

Here are some questions we discussed last night:

1. What qualities do you see in Clare as "the time traveler's wife"?  Is the label a positive or negative one and why?

2. What role does fate play in the book, if any?

3. How do you imagine Clare and Henry's final "visit" together?  What do they do?  What do they talk about?  How long does he get to stay?

Besides discussing these and other questions, we discovered who are the hopeless romantics in the group-who actually cried at various times in the book, which time in our lives we would time travel to to relive, and that it's best to request separate checks rather than trying to separate it ourselves! 

Welcome to The Chicks With Books blog!

Welcome to The Chicks With Books blog!

I am very excited to be hosting the blog for our newly founded book club, The Chicks With Books! We will be meeting to discuss the book on the 3rd Thursday of the every month.  Every month one of the book club members recommends 2 or 3 books for the group to read and we will vote which book to read for the month.  Yesterday, April 17th, 2008, was our first ever The Chicks With Books book club meeting.  We met to discuss The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.