"These Is My Words"

Sorry for the lateness of this post. I have been super-busy.
Book club will be held on May 14th (THIS THURSDAY) at Shanna's house at 6:30 PM.
Our book is These Is My Words by Nancy Turner. Again I am sorry for the lateness of this all but if you can READ THIS BOOK! It is so, so, SO good. I think it is one of the best we have ever done.
I know there are several copies floating around. Give me a call if you need help tracking one down.
Love to all and see you on Thursday.
PS- I have a super cool gift for all of you from Jess Riley. (See comments on previous post). Also I have the newsletter for this month but it is late enough I will just give it to you at the meeting. I know, kind of lame, but again, I have been busy. If you want these treats, you have to come to our meeting on Thursday. . . did I convince you to come? :)

Another Fantastic Weekend

I hope everyone had as great of a time as I did at retreat this weekend. Thank you Johanna for letting us use the cabin (again), it the perfect place to go!
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Till next time... keep reading.

Get Crackin on the Read for May!

Hey girls! I just wanted to say please start reading "These is My Words" so we have something to discuss in May! And I can't wait to see you all at retreat. I hope you have all been looking forward to it as much as I have. I was beaming all day at work and when anyone would ask why I told them I was so excited to go to my Book Club Retreat, yeah. Here are some pictures from the past to get you excited as well.

WHO'S EXCITED???

Things you should bring:
1) Yourself! COME, COME, COME!!!!!
Meet at Mindy's house at 4:30 or meet us at Mandarin Garden at 5:15 ish. I will make the
dinner reservation for 5:30. Yes you all know it will take us that long to get into town.
2) A blanket and a pillow if you want to. There are beds to sleep 12.
3) A treat to share. There should be nothing small about it, Becca!
4) $10 for breakfast and craft. This might be more than I need but I don't know for sure yet, so if it is I will reimburse you the extra. There were issues with the pendants (I made some and they were fugly) so we will be making picture frames this time. I will also bring my hair bow stuff so bring some extra cash if you want to do those.

If you are reading this and it is anytime before we leave, go take a nap because you know we will be up all night. I will only have happy girls, so go sleep now! Becca, that was for you.

Much love to all. I am so excited to hang out with you. Please call me if you have any questions!

Trying to Decide...

I'm trying to decide which book I should have everyone read when it is my turn. It's not until September, but I thought since most of you have yours listed here that I should try to make a decision too. Here are a couple I have been contemplating:

Follow the River

I loved this book. It was one of the first ones that I borrowed from Mindy. Read it in a few days. I don't want to pick it if most everyone has already read it though. It is a pretty intense book. Who all has read it already?

The Glass Castle

I've been wanting to read this one because I love memoir's. This has really great reviews. Again, I don't want to choose it if most have read it. So let me know.

Our Book for Review in April

Twenty-eight-year-old Leigh Fielding has a new chance at life thanks to Larry Resnick, a man she's never met - or more precisely, thanks to Larry's kidney. After five years on dialysis, Leigh is given the gift of a new kidney and a renewed sense of optimism; after all, for a long time she thought she wouldn't see her thirtieth birthday. Inspired by Larry and his gift, Leigh does what anyone who has been hooked up to a machine three days a week would want to do - she gets out of her hometown of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

A road trip seems like the perfect way to start her new life. Planning out stops along the way (visiting friends Meg and Jillian, dropping in unannounced on Larry's grandmother to thank her for his gift and find out more about him), her ultimate destination is California. There her mother disappeared to when she left Leigh, her brother, James, and their father, who killed himself about a year later. However, along the way, something unexpected happens - Leigh picks up a hitchhiker. Seventeen-year-old Denise is a runaway from her foster home, hiding from a bad boyfriend. She asks Leigh to take her along to California and Leigh, feeling daring with her new lease on life, agrees to the companionship, though she doesn't entirely trust Denise. Together they embark on a hilarious and unforgettable journey across the country and find parts of themselves scattered along the way.

This book was chosen by Missy. We will review Driving Sideways at our retreat on April 24-25.

the color purple

Has anyone read this book? I just did the other day, and ... well... it was... interesting. I'm pretty sure I loved it, but I hated lots of it. It's really well written and cleverly so {each chapter is a letter... sort of. The first page starts out, "Dear God"}. It is beautiful, sad, hopeful and true. The best word for the book {that I could come up with} is RAW. Its honest, this-is-life kind of telling speaks a kind of truth, touches you, but also makes you really sad and sometimes nauseated {ie. the incestual rape scene on page one}. Yeah. I don't know if I can recommend it... or at least don't know if I can recommend it to YOU. But I loved it... I think.