Add books here that you've read between meetings that might be of interest to others! Here are mine:
The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty
*What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
Disaster Preparedness - Heather Havrilesky
Funny in Farsi - Firoozeh Dumas
*Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
*Unwind - Neal Shusterman
*Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
*A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Housseini
*Change of Heart - Jodi Picoult
* Book Club books
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Frequently Asked Questions
An interview with Christy, founder of The Remedial Book Club.
Q: How did the Remedial Book Club get started?
A: I was telling some of my tennis friends about how my mom was mentioned in the book Big Stone Gap (which is being turned into a movie right now!) and a lot of us read so we decided to form a book club and that this would be our first book.
Q: Why is it remedial?
A: Unlike most groups that aim to meet once a month, we are lucky to read a book once every two months. And completing--or even reading--the book is not a requirement for participation. And attendance is often a fairly low.
Also, we spend a lot more time gossiping about tennis people than we do talking about the book, although we were approaching a ratio of 50:50 until our meeting tonight. In all fairness, though, the host's daughter got sick and she had to leave, so this meeting is an outlier. Plus we also spend a lot of time catching up with each other's lives, which is really the most important thing.
Our discussions also tend to be more superficial. We talk a lot more about tangentially related movies and who would play the characters in the movie version of the book (great actors selected for Big Stone Gap!). However, we have several members who read a lot, so there's always discussion about interesting books that may or may not be related to the topic of book club.
Finally, the choice of venue is just as important as the book selected. Our favorite venue was Teri's house because she cooked most of the food and there was space to do Karaoke or Just Dance or Wii. We used to try to pick restaurants that fit the theme of the book, but our restaurant choices are pretty limited. Plus when you read something like "Water for Elephants," it's hard to pick a place with circus food.
Q: How do you choose your members?
A: We usually extend an invitation to anyone who expresses interest in joining. Some members have dropped out because of lack of participation. Only two members from the original book club remain--Norma and myself.
Q: How do you choose the books?
A: Every meeting we choose a host for the next book--usually a new member to solidify their commitment to the group. She chooses the book, organizes the meeting time, and chooses the venue. She is loosely responsible for leading the discussion of the book, usually by saying something like, hey we should probably talk some about the book now.
Q: Why did you create a blog for the book club?
A: Honestly, it's because I wanted to write a book about our club, and I thought it would be easier to develop material for it this way. Plus it's a way for people who missed the meeting to participate in the discussion. This is our first time trying it. If I'm the only one who posts anything that's fine. I like to do most of the talking anyway.
I will say that Marie really likes the idea and we have already begun discussions about who will play us when the book gets turned into a movie.
Q: How did the Remedial Book Club get started?
A: I was telling some of my tennis friends about how my mom was mentioned in the book Big Stone Gap (which is being turned into a movie right now!) and a lot of us read so we decided to form a book club and that this would be our first book.
Q: Why is it remedial?
A: Unlike most groups that aim to meet once a month, we are lucky to read a book once every two months. And completing--or even reading--the book is not a requirement for participation. And attendance is often a fairly low.
Also, we spend a lot more time gossiping about tennis people than we do talking about the book, although we were approaching a ratio of 50:50 until our meeting tonight. In all fairness, though, the host's daughter got sick and she had to leave, so this meeting is an outlier. Plus we also spend a lot of time catching up with each other's lives, which is really the most important thing.
Our discussions also tend to be more superficial. We talk a lot more about tangentially related movies and who would play the characters in the movie version of the book (great actors selected for Big Stone Gap!). However, we have several members who read a lot, so there's always discussion about interesting books that may or may not be related to the topic of book club.
Finally, the choice of venue is just as important as the book selected. Our favorite venue was Teri's house because she cooked most of the food and there was space to do Karaoke or Just Dance or Wii. We used to try to pick restaurants that fit the theme of the book, but our restaurant choices are pretty limited. Plus when you read something like "Water for Elephants," it's hard to pick a place with circus food.
Q: How do you choose your members?
A: We usually extend an invitation to anyone who expresses interest in joining. Some members have dropped out because of lack of participation. Only two members from the original book club remain--Norma and myself.
Q: How do you choose the books?
A: Every meeting we choose a host for the next book--usually a new member to solidify their commitment to the group. She chooses the book, organizes the meeting time, and chooses the venue. She is loosely responsible for leading the discussion of the book, usually by saying something like, hey we should probably talk some about the book now.
Q: Why did you create a blog for the book club?
A: Honestly, it's because I wanted to write a book about our club, and I thought it would be easier to develop material for it this way. Plus it's a way for people who missed the meeting to participate in the discussion. This is our first time trying it. If I'm the only one who posts anything that's fine. I like to do most of the talking anyway.
I will say that Marie really likes the idea and we have already begun discussions about who will play us when the book gets turned into a movie.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Tender at the Bone Meeting
October 18, 2013
Well, it was our lowest showing ever for book club, and the host, Denise, actually had to leave and tend to a sick child. We decided to count this as a meeting anyway because we are on the verge of losing our book club status altogether. So here were the highlights:
Venue: Fork in the City. Excellent! Not the gourmet food described in the book, but you can't go wrong with gourmet hot dogs and pizzas!
Latest gossip:
- Lots of sad events: my break up with Jamie, Marie's dad passing, Lauren's ectopic pregnancy, Annette's father is ill. Send positive vibes our way.
- Good news: I am a freelance writer! I am going to write short psychology articles giving advice on relationships. With my 2 divorces and recent breakup, I should be well-qualified to tell people what not to do! And I'm excited about my blog. Please spread the word about it so that I can become a famous writer! I'll be sure to mention you in it!
- As of Jan. 2014, there may be changes to the book club list. Be sure to attend the next meeting and/or participate in the blog to maintain your status!
- We might have talked about you. Better come to book club next time to keep that from happening!
- About the Author
- We forgot our movie discussion! I can't believe it!
- Gina and I agreed that Reichl's parents must have been dead when she wrote the book and that if we had said those things about our parents, they would have been PO'ed.
- We all agreed that it was easier to eat in a restaurant than to try any of those recipes from scratch--especially Annette and me. Although coconut bread sounded good!
- I said that Janette Wall's parents were homeless when she finished Glass Castles so they probably didn't read her book and therefore were not upset about their portrayal in it.
- Which made us decide to do Half Broke Horses, by Jeanette Walls, as our next book. Gina will host. Since she's already read it, she will read Glass Houses so we can have a more intelligent discussion about the two books together. We have some ground to make up after this poor showing for this meeting.
- Annette and I shared some of the most memorable moments from Glass Houses with Gina--mostly about how crazy the dad was.
- We had the waitress take our picture. She seemed kind of PO'ed about it, but then she came all the way outside to give me my captain's gift, which I had left behind, so I guess that made up for it.
This is sort of like taking minutes. I wonder if I will always have to be secretary? Denise, Gina, and Annette let me know if I forgot anything.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)