November/December book suggestions

I know I said I would get out of my normal element... And so we started to read Canterbury Tales and I chickened out, going back to my normal reading element and reading another girly book... So guess what, folks? THE FIRST BOOK SUGGESTION IS THE BOOK WE ARE GOING TO READ FOR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER... That's right! YOU are choosing the next book. But here is the thing. If you suggest the next book you have to read it as well... I feel like I was the only one who read this one, which is fine, but it's nice to compare with people. So lets here what our next book will be!

Discussion: Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia
My Year of Cooking Dangerously
by Julie Powell

Ok.... Too many "F" words to say the least, but I am liking the book. I am not finished reading it but I thought I would start the discussion.. I had some issues with the book. I didn't need to hear all the sexual things going on with Julie's friends, what did that have to do with cooking or her marriage? Nothing. I didn't like the language or inuendos. What I really enjoyed was the cooking.

I loved hearing about the different dishes she was making and the challenges she faced. She made some of the food sound so good that I put Mastering the Art of French Cooking on my library list. I'm not going to aim for making all recipes in 365 days but I want to try a few. Baked cucumbers sounded yummy!

Cutting my review short since I have to get off. But tell me what you thought of the book! Will the movie be better? I hope so. Its only PG13 so it can't have all those F words. I'm hoping it doesn't dissapoint.

Change of plans folks...

Ok.. I know I want to be more open about the books I read... But I really struggled with The Canterbury Tales.. So since this is my book club I have the right to change it.. ehehehe.. Ok, so the movie Julie & Julia is coming out soon and I have seen some great previews for it. I actually have the book the movie is based on in my to-read list.. So here is the September book:

Julie & Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen
by Julie Powell

description:

Julie & Julia is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalize her marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I, in a period of 365 days. The result is a masterful medley of Bridget Jones' Diary meets Like Water for Chocolate, mixed with a healthy dose of original wit, warmth, and inspiration that sets this memoir apart from most tales of personal redemption.

When we first meet Julie, she's a frustrated temp-to-perm secretary who slaves away at a thankless job, only to return to an equally demoralizing apartment in the outer boroughs of Manhattan each evening. At the urging of Eric, her devoted and slightly geeky husband, she decides to start a blog that will chronicle what she dubs the "Julie/Julia Project." What follows is a year of butter-drenched meals that will both necessitate the wearing of an unbearably uncomfortable girdle on the hottest night of the year, as well as the realization that life is what you make of it and joy is not as impossible a quest as it may seem, even when it's -10 degrees out and your pipes are frozen. Powell is a natural when it comes to connecting with her readers, which is probably why her blog generated so much buzz, both from readers and media alike. And while her self-deprecating sense of humor can sometimes dissolve into whininess, she never really loses her edge, or her sense of purpose. Even on day 365, she's working her way through Mayonnaise Collee and ending the evening "back exactly where we started--just Eric and me, three cats and Buffy...sitting on a couch in the outer boroughs, eating, with Julia chortling alongside us...." Inspired and encouraging, Julie and Julia is a unique opportunity to join one woman's attempt to change her life, and have a laugh, or ten, along the way. --Gisele Toueg

The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffery Chaucer

Description:
With their astonishing diversity of tone and subject matter, The Canterbury Tales have become one of the touchstones of medieval literature.

Translated here into modern English, these tales of a motley crowd of pilgrims drawn from all walks of life-from knight to nun, miller to monk-reveal a picture of English life in the fourteenth century that is as robust as it is representative.

The August/September book... I have heard mixed things about this book. Having already checked the book out of the library I thought what the heck.. Lets see how it goes. Good luck! And good reading!

Our August/September Book

Thanks ladies for the book suggestions. I have added them to the to-read list on my GoodReads book list. What does everyone think of the following book for August/September:

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Lets hear what y'all think!

Ideas for our next book..

I know some of us are still working on the book and that's great. I just want to get your ideas on what our next book should be... What do you guys think?

Discussion: The Nazi Officer's Wife

The Nazi Officer's Wife

How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
by Edith Hahn Beer with Susan Dworkin







I was very touched by this book. What an amazingly inspiring woman! Edith Hahn had so much courage, so much strength. I know in that same situation I wouldn't even have the strength to get though working on that asparagus farm. This story has made me evaluate my own life. I take so much for granted. I know we live in a different time than that of the Holocaust, but it made me realize I could be doing so much more; with my life as well as others. I get so caught up in my own live that I don't even think of what others might need. I want to contribute more. In the book Edith talks about doing her part in healing the world. I've got to get off my lazy bum and do my part as well.

What did you think of the book? What parts did you like? Anything really strike out at you? The whole book for me! Post your thoughts in the comment section. Lets get this discussion started!

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
by Edith Hahn Beer and Susan Dworkin

Description:
Edith Hahn was an outspoken young woman in Vienna when the Gestapo forced her into a ghetto and then into a labor camp. When she returned home months later, she knew she would become a hunted woman and went underground. With the help of a Christian friend, she emerged in Munich as Grete Denner. There she met Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member who fell in love with her. Despite Edith's protests and even her eventual confession that she was Jewish, he married her and kept her identity a secret.

In wrenching detail, Edith recalls a life of constant, almost paralyzing fear. She tells of German officials who casually questioned the lineage of her parents; of how, when giving birth to her daughter, she refused all painkillers, afraid that in an altered state of mind she might reveal something of her past; and of how, after her husband was captured by the Soviet army, she was bombed out of her house and had to hide while drunken Russian soldiers raped women on the street.

Yet despite the risk it posed to her life, Edith created a remarkable record of survival. She saved every document and set of papers issued to her, as well as photographs she managed to take inside labor camps. Now part of the permanent collection at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., these hundreds of documents, several of which are included in this volume, form the fabric of a gripping new chapter in the history of the Holocaust -- complex, troubling, and ultimately triumphant.

So this is the book for June.. Maybe July too, depending on how long it takes everybody.. Get excited!! I hear its a good one. I'm going to pick my copy up from the library tomorrow.

WELCOME!!

Hey all! I love to read books and it is nice to discuss them with other people.. I also want to get out of what I normally read and broaden my reading horizons. So here we are folks. If you are a part of this blog, congratulations! You rock! Haha.. So here is how it will work.. When we are reading a book I will post a little bit about it.. And in the comments we can discuss it. I look forward to all the wonderful discussions that we are bound to have!