End of 2010 Books

Hmmm...I guess having a baby and then going back to work slowed me down on my updating!!!  We've been meeting for book club though!  We've been on a roll with really good books lately.  Here's to more great books in 2011!

Our August Book

Island Beneath the Sun

By Isabelle Allende

This was a book that I didn't finish.  I started it and the language was beautiful, but very literary.  I was just too sleep deprived that once I started it I was asleep!  I'd like to go back to it someday though.

Our September Book

Tricks 

By Ellen Hopkins

 This book I loved.  Ellen Hopkins has a way of getting down and dirty when it comes to teen issues.  She talks about topics that aren't easy to broach.  I love her novels in poetry.  This book was interesting because it tied in so many different stories.

Our October Book

Pope Joan 

By Donna Woolfolk Cross

I was at least halfway into this one when book club snuck up on me.  I need to check it our from the library again so I can finish it.  I liked the writing, it reminded me of Beneath a Marble Sky and The Red Tent.

Our November Book

Room 

By Emma Donoghue

I listened to the audiobook in my car and found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next!  This book starts of without telling you where the main character is and what his circumstance is.  I liked the way it was written from the perspective of a 5-year-old. 

Our December Book

Zeitoun 

By Dave Eggers

I'm still only at the beginning of this book, but I really like the few chapters I have read.  This book is a nonfiction account of a man who experience Hurricane Katrina.  I'm hanging on to this one so I can finish it even though we had book club tonight.  

Our June and July Books

Our June Book:

The Devil in the White City

By Erik Larson

I have been so caught up with having my baby that I haven't blogged about book club!  In June we read one of my all-time favorite books: The Devil in the White City.  It was fun reading about Chicago history since we live in/around Chicago!  We ate yummy pizza and talked about the book!  (But I totally forgot to take a picture...I blame pregnancy brain!)

Our July Book:

The Botticelli Secret

By Marina Fiorato

In July, we read The Botticelli Secret...well, everyone else did because I was just a little bit busy having my baby and then feeding him nonstop!  I did, however, make it to book club with Danny!  It was fun eating at California Pizza Kitchen.  From what everyone said this was a pretty cool book, it was like The DaVinci Code except actually set in the past.

A Reliable Wife

Our May Book:

A Reliable Wife 

By Robert Goolrick

There were only a few of us who met at Big Bowl to discuss this book, but we still had quite a bit to talk about.  Overall, it's was a book that we read but that wasn't all the great.  What threw us off the most was trying to understand the character's and their turn-of-the-century life.  It was hard to relate to the woman who is the "reliable wife" but also hard to relate to her husband.  It was just a little too weird.  As you can tell, not really a book club favorite.  

Nefertiti

Our April Book:

Nefertiti

By Michelle Moran

What another great work of historical fiction! This book was abo

ut (you guess it!) Nefertiti, the first female pharoah of Egypt. It's actually written from the perspective of her younger sister as she deals with Nefertiti's rise to power. This is one book that we all read and all really enjoyed...even though it was a loooong book!

The City of Thieves

Our March Book:

City of Thieves

David Benioff

It was a small group this month for book club! We had fun though! We had lots to talk about this book. It took me the first few chapters to get used to the story and what was going on but once the grandfather starts telling his story of living in Russia during WWII I was hooked. I've read quite a few WWII books, but never one about people in Russia during the time. It's a great story about a guy who's sent on a mission to find a dozen eggs when everyone everyone is struggling just to find any food to eat. It's also a love story...at least, I thought it was a love story. And it was also funny because of the characters, it's weird to say it was funny, but it was funny. Overall, I the two of us who came to discuss the book really enjoyed it!

I'm so sad that we forgot to take a picture this time...bummer.

This Is Where I Leave You

Our February Book:

This Is Where I Leave You

By Jonathan Tropper

This month we met at Red Robin to discuss our February book! Red Robin is one of my favorite restaurants. I love their french fries with the seasoning they have on the table and dipped ranch. Insanely awesome.

I think we all loved the book, except for one of us who didn't end up finishing it because she wasn't into it. We heard it's going to be made into a movie and I can so see this as a great movie. This book is about a guy who has a crazy life, his marriage is in shambles just as his dad dies and him and his siblings and mother sit shiva for him. You can only imagine the craziness that ensues. I think it's definitely worth reading!

Shattered Silence

Our January Book

Shattered Silence

By Melissa G. Moore and M. Bridget Cook

We had book club this month at our tried and true Cheesecake Factory! We were all so excited for the great food...but even more for the Red Velvet Cheesecake! I was so excited to get home and break into my dessert! That was the best part!

The book this month was about a girl who's dad was a serial killer. It talks about her life growing up with divorced parents, step-parents, friends, boyfriends. It was a very intense and difficult childhood to say the least. It's hard to criticize someone's life...I think what we disliked about the book was her ability to write about her life and all that she went through. Most of us would have liked more information about her dad. We also felt that sometimes her writing was confusing and other times she spent such a short amount of time on something traumatic. It was poorly written if you ask me. (Plus, there were typos all over the place!) It's an uplifting story about how she prevailed through all the hardships in her life and I'm happy for her...but the book wasn't worth reading.

Here's our beautiful picture...we don't usually get such great pictures in dark restaurants but this one turned out great! Love Cheesecake Factory!