Candy Girl

Our July Book

Candy Girl

By Diablo Cody

We met in July to discuss Candy Girl. We all thought it was interesting to read about stripping since none of us really have any experience with the world of stripping. I thought there were some interesting things in this book, things I had never thought about and some that were even hard to believe. We took lots of pictures at dinner because we had some good food! Oh, and, surprise! April is pregnant!

The girls with triple martinis!

Awesome artichoke dip!

Fried calamari!

I had to do some major editing to this picture because it just didn't turn out right...that's why it looks so funny!

Beneath a Marble Sky

Our June Book:

Beneath a Marble Sky

By John Shors

This month we ate at California Pizza Kitchen to discuss John Shors' Beneath a Marble Sky.  There were some mixed emotions about the book but I think most of us liked it.  We thought it was interesting to read about the history of the Taj Mahal...but weren't sure how much was true or what happened after the story ended.  (I'll have to go do some research.)  We're pretty sure though the royal family were based mostly on real characters.  We seemed to like how smart/witty the main character was at times.  We discussed the fact that the author was a man writing in the perspective of a woman.  It didn't seem that noticeable, at least not to me anyway.  Silvia noted that fact that we have read a few books that all have people who are in polygamist marriages and that that was interesting how it crosses cultures but yet is so harshly regarded in our society.  Here we are, our little group this month:

The Book of Dahlia

May Book of the Month

The Book of Dahlia 

By Elisa Albert

The Book of Dahlia is about a young woman who is diagnosed with a brain tumor.  As she goes through treatment, we learn about her life and about her childhood.  We all agree that this book definitely ended suddenly.  Some of us were disappointed that she didn't take advantage of the time she had but others felt it was true to the character and maybe even true to life. 

I, personally, enjoyed the book.  I loved the character's voice.  It truly re

ad as though yo

u were talking to a friend, and she was completely uncensored.  I felt bad for everything that happened to her in her life and for how people treated her.  I thought that the ending was unique because I'm sure there are people who die before they realize they are going to die and that it is so unexpected.  I was glad that it wasn't a story about someone overcoming cancer because not everyone does.   

It was a small group this time, but we had fun celebrating Silvia's birthday with her!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

April Book of the Month

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

By Stieg Larsson

We met Thursday night to discuss The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  I think the ones of us who finished it really loved it.  We agreed that it's a pretty messed up story and some parts were very graphic, but the plot was still great.  This book is the first in a series of three.  The second book will be released in July.  For some of us it was hard to get into at the beginning and others loved it from beginning to end (Christina!).  

We talked about what we were thinking was going to have happened to Harriet compared to what we found out actually happened to Harriett.  We also discussed what happened in Lisbeth Salander's childhood that made her as messed up as she was.  

We ate Mexican food at El Meson and then had chocolate covered pretzels with mini M&Ms for dessert.  This month we also celebrated our one year anniversary of The Chicks With Books Book Club!  Woo hoo to us!

The Mole People

March Book of the Month:

The Mole People

By Jennifer Toth

For book club this month, we read The Mole People which is a collection of stories about the lives of people living in the tunnels underground in New York City.  It was a pretty amazing and hard-to-believe book.  The author must have been pretty brave...or stupid...to go where she went and try get herself into situations she describes in the book.  It's also sad to think there are real people living in the underground tunnels, that our world allows that.  

We had fun eating Japanese food. Some of us tried suchi for the first time...me included.  I actually didn't mind it...although I wasn't a fan of having to put the whole thing in my mouth all at once.  We got to eat in a tea room and try all sorts of great food.  

The Red Tent

February Book of the Month

The Red Tent

By Anita Diamant

I can't speak for those of us who couldn't make it to book club tonight, but everyone who was there really enjoyed the book this month!  The Red Tent is a religious fiction book about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob.  I thought this was a great book about family and mothers and daughters.  I have to admit that it was a little slow moving, especially in the beginning of the book, but I found myself really liking the character.  

We welcomed a new member(...or two or three???) to the book club tonight.  Kim joined our book club this time and got a dose of our craziness.  We also have a potential new member...our waiter!  ...Or maybe his wife, perhaps?  

The Hour I First Believed

January Book of the Month

The Hour I First Believed

By Wally Lamb

We had some more crazy weather this month...but we decided to go ahead with book club anyway.  We met at the mall again this time.  I kind of like meeting at the mall because it gives me an excuse to get some shopping done!  Although, I don't think Chad necessarily likes all the bags I came home with!  In my defense, I think every single thing I bought was on sale!  

We had a pretty good discussion of the book because there were so many things to discuss.  I, personally, thought it was a well-written book and I liked the story and how so many things intertwined with each other, but at the same time I thought it was crazy that there were sooooo many different storylines going on and there were so many people with so many crazy issues.  I have to say it wasn't my favorite book though.  Tania, on the other hand, really liked this book and Wally Lamb is her favorite author.  She explained how she could relate to it because her family and friends remind her of the characters in the stories...as far as having crazy stories and issues themselves.