A Little Holiday Reading

Hey Princesses!
Well, November's book - Little Bee - was fantastic. Thanks Clara for hosting such a lovely evening.

As discussed, we won't be meeting in December because of busy holiday schedules. Hopefully we all have a great time during Christmas and Hanukkah and get a chance to re-charge and spend time with family.

Our next party will be taking place on Sunday, January 10 at Sarah D's place. Sarah's pick is called Lullabies for Little Criminals, by Heather O'Neill. Here's the blurb:

This strikingly original portrait of a year in the life of a young Montrealer opens with dash and optimism. Baby, almost twelve, and her father, Jules, twenty-six, have taken up residence at a once-stylish downtown hotel.
Like all their friends, Jules exudes style: fur hat, long leather jacket, slippery leather boots. He also has a heroin habit. Yet Montreal’s decrepit downtown is viewed through Baby’s eyes as an enchanted place where everyone plays an endless game of dress-up. Going out for “chocolate milk” means dad needs to score.
But the strong love and good memories between them keep her hopeful. Baby moves in and out of foster homes and even into a detention centre where every kid she meets is a character. Although nothing shakes her love for Jules, there’s only one career option for an attractive, neglected girl, no matter how bright and imaginative. But O’Neill allows us to see beyond the squalor into the heart of a girl who won’t be destroyed.

Sounds great! Happy reading and Happy Holidays!
S

November's Read

Hi ladies!
So, the discussion on the 13th Tale was great... it seems like we all enjoyed it very much! I think reading something a bit spooky was great to get us in the Halloween spirit :)

And now - on to November!

For November's book, Clara has picked Little Bee, by Chris Cleave. I'm not going to put a description of the book up because it might ruin the plot. So happy reading!

SarahR

October Pick

Hi again!

Can you believe our next party will be in October? Summer really does fly by!

Our next read promises to be another great one - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Here's a brief description of the novel:

Vida Winter, the most famous novelist in England and quite possibly the world, has never been forthcoming when it comes to her past. Her entire life is a secret, and for fifty years reporters and biographers have attempted to discover the truth.

With her health quickly fading, Ms. Winter enlists a bookish amateur biographer named Margaret Lea to bear witness to the tragic story of the Angelfield family, their eccentric beginnings as well as their demise.

Margaret, who has family secrets of her own, must unravel the mysteries of the past in order to reconcile not only Miss Winter with her ghosts, but also Margaret with her own.

Happy Reading! SarahR

Long-Overdue Update

Hey ladies!
So summer is winding down (I just can't bring myself to say over...) and I think it's about time the blog got a little more attention!

Two of our reading picks weren't posted here, due to our laissez-faire, summer-esque attitudes (aka my laziness) so here's a brief overview:

Our book for July/August was Rachel P's pick, 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen. It was a deeply moving collection of personal stories that touched all of us. Good pick Rachel P!

The September book was Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris, chosen by Alexis. I think we all related to the crazy characters and trials of office life. Thanks Alexis!

Thankfully, the summer weather is lasting (starting, some might argue) in September, so let's all take advantage of it!

Happy reading,
SarahR

June's Book Selection

Hey there ladies!

Well, last night we had a fabulous time at Rachel M's house... I think we can all agree that Absurdistan lived up to its name, and was crazy but thoroughly enjoyable! Thanks again to Rachel for the incredible spread and great discussion.

And now, on to June!

This month it's Alison's turn to pick, and she's chosen Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle.

Paula Spencer begins on the eve of Paula’s forty-eighth birthday. She hasn’t had a drink for four months and five days. Having outlived an abusive husband and father, Paula and her four children are now struggling to live their adult lives, with two of the kids balancing their own addictions.

Knowing how close she always is to the edge, Paula rebuilds her life slowly, taking pride in the things she accomplishes, helped sometimes by the lists she makes to plan for the future. As she goes about her daily routine working as a cleaning woman, and cooking for her two children at home, she re-establishes connections with her two sisters, her mother and grandchildren, expanding her world.

She discovers the latest music, the Internet and text-messaging, treats herself to Italian coffees, and gradually ventures beyond her house, where she’s always felt most comfortable. As Paula thinks of herself, “She’s a new-old woman, learning how to live.”

Sounds great!

Happy reading everyone.

S

May Update - date change!

Hey ladies,
As most of you already know, the date for our May party has been changed to Thursday, May 14. We'll still meet at 7:30 p.m. at Rachel M's place.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming emails re: directions and location!

Happy reading,
S

May's Selection

Hello Paperback Princesses!

Well Clara Callan was a big hit - thanks to Sarah D for hosting a great soiree and discussion.

And now, on to May!

Our May hostess is Rachel M, and her book selection is Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart.

Meet Misha Vainberg, aka Snack Daddy, a 325-pound disaster of a human being, son of the 1,238th-richest man in Russia, proud holder of a degree in multicultural studies from Accidental College, USA (don’t even ask), and patriot of no country save the great City of New York.

Poor Misha just wants to live in the South Bronx with his hot Latina girlfriend, but after his gangster father murders an Oklahoma businessman in Russia, all hopes of a U.S. visa are lost.

Salvation lies in the tiny, oil-rich nation of Absurdistan, where a crooked consular officer will sell Misha a Belgian passport. But after a civil war breaks out between two competing ethnic groups and a local warlord installs hapless Misha as minister of multicultural affairs, our hero soon finds himself covered in oil, fighting for his life, falling in love, and trying to figure out if a normal life is still possible in the twenty-first century.

Sounds great, Rachel!

Schedule Updates

Hi ladies,

As discussed at our last party, there will be some scheduling changes in the upcoming months, due to holidays etc.

Make sure to check your calendars and mark these important dates:

April 20 - This is the new date for our April meeting to avoid Easter/Passover conflicts.

May 11 - Rachel M. will graciously be hosting the May party on this Monday evening, so that we don't have any conflicts with Mother's Day festivities.

I hope that works with everyone!
S

April's Book Selection!

Hi everyone, and thanks again for a lovely March meeting!

I think we can all agree that A Thousand Splendid Suns was a beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyable read.

And now... on to April! Next month our host is Sarah Dobranowski, who has chosen the novel Clara Callan by author Richard Wright. Here is a description of the book - it sounds great!

Clara Callan is set in the middle of the Great Depression, chronicling the lives of two sisters.Clara is a spinsterish school teacher whose quiet life in a small Ontario town masks a passion for love and adventure. Nora, her flighty and very pretty sister, travels to New York where she lands a starring role in a radio soap opera. Written in diary and letter form, the novel brilliantly reveals the sisters' stories, as their lives become increasingly complex.

With Wright's extraordinary eye for small but telling details, the world of the thirties comes vividly to life, an era when show business was in its infancy, and the Dionnes grabbed the headlines, when Automats were a futuristic way of buying fast food and the Women's Auxiliary still ruled the social roost in small towns everywhere. Above all, Wright's portrait draws a world of young women -- pre-divorce, pre-Pill, pre-liberation, where judgment weighed heavily upon anyone who defied convention.

Clara Callan is so elegantly and seamlessly constructed that the reader enters it effortlessly and does not depart willingly.

It sounds like a great pick!

Happy reading ladies!

S

Our Third Pick!

Hi ladies,

Can you believe that March is just around the corner? I can't!!!!

Well anyways, it's coming soon like it or lump it, so here is the March book selection:

A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini

Here is a brief description of the book:

After more than two years on the bestseller lists and over four million copies in print, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel of enormous contemporary relevance.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years--from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding--that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives--the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness--are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love--a stunning accomplishment.

I hope you all enjoy it. See you on March 8!

Clara

Our Schedule for 2009

Hey there ladies! As promised, here is the schedule for the 2009 reading season:

• January 11, Sarah R
• February 8, Kathleen
• March 8, Clara
• April 12, Sarah D (this may change b/c of Easter and Passover)
• May 10, Dana
• June 14, Alison
• July 12, Karin
• August 9, Rachel M
• September 13, Alexis
• October 11, Andrea
• November 8, Christa
• December 13, Rachel P

Hi again Paperback Princesses!

So the time has come for our second book club selection, and this time the choice was up to our lovely hostess, Kathleen.

Kathleen has chosen Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Here is a brief description of the book:

In this wide-ranging third installment of Malcolm Gladwell's exploration of how people and social phenomena work, the New Yorker journalist takes a close look at what constitutes high levels of success. That is, what makes people at the top of their respective fields get there? As we've come to expect from Gladwell's previous books, the answer to the question is a bit complicated.

He says that upbringing, culture and even random luck have something to with success, but there is another important quality that anyone can control. Two chapters are dedicated to the "revelation" that IQ is only a baseline quality and success has little to nothing to do with having a high IQ or a low IQ. Rather, success is substantially a product of cultivating a high degree of what Robert Sternberg calls "practical intelligence" or what most refer to as "emotional intelligence."

This book sounds like a great read! Thaks Kathleen for making a great pick for our second book.

Check your inboxes soon for the book club schedule and information on the next party. See you in February!

S

Party Number One - A Success!

Hey ladies,

Just a quick note to say thanks to all of you for coming out last night - I had a great time! I know there were a few of us who couldn't make it, but we're really looking forward to meeting/seeing you again next month.

I think it's safe to say that we all really enjoyed the Time Traveler's Wife and we had some great discussions on all sorts of topics - from the theme of "waiting" to Henry (and Henry) and Clare's various sexual exploits :)

Thanks again for coming out and see you in a month!

Sarah