Julie finally finished

Obviously it took me quite a while to finish Julie and Julia. I think that was mainly because the book involved cooking, which I rarely do anymore. A long time ago I used to love to cook. I had fun making tasty and attractive dishes for my family and special occasions with the relatives. Then, it seemed as if I was cooking all the time with no one seeming to appreciate my efforts. Food preparation became a chore. Now, having agreed to read Julie and Julia, I was forced to trudge past my "distaste" for the culinary arts. It was actually worth the effort because hidden in the idiocy of things like bone marrow sauce are introspective comments about family, friends, work, and life in general. I found myself agreeing, or disagreeing, with the attitudes put forth in the tales or tidbits. When I finally finished the book, I realized I had spent quite a bit of time comparing my opinions with those of the author, and as trite as it may sound, I learned a lot about myself. There is more to Julie and Julia than a superficial story. A pleasant surprise.

Karen Abbott

Another Karen Abbott book will debut next week, the story of Gypsy Rose Lee, so thought we better read her first novel, Sin in the Second City : Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America's Soul...the story of Brothel owners in Chicago in the early 1900's. I'm hoping we will all find an interest in this one - might be some porn for Phyl, history for me, probably some infectious disease for Chris, etc. Ms. Abbott also has an interesting website for her books. Check out the site for the one we are about to read at http://www.sininthesecondcity.com/home.html I found these books in the 'NYTimes Books' gadget in the sidebar.

Some Difficult Books via Mental Floss

There is a very interesting blog found on the Mental Floss site, the author describing it as follows:

Instead of judging works of literature based on their artistic merit, we’ve decided to rank them by degree of difficulty. These 10 authors may not be Shakespeare, but they sure had vaulting ambitions.

10 Works of Literature That Were Really Hard to Write can be found at http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/76496

My personal favorite being #7 - a book called Futility. Check it out. Thank Phyl for suggesting this tidbit and if you have never been on mentalfloss.com, I would suggest it..."Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix."

NPR Book Club Suggestions

Making suggestions for your book club can be gratifying — or terrifying. If everyone loves the book, you're a hero. On the other hand, if your pick is a turkey, it takes a while to live it down.

First lines from an article my Lynn Neary on NPR.org that I thought a few of us could identify with. The list that follows this article is interesting and could give us more ideas.

Link to article: http://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131734769/book-club-picks-give-em-something-to-talk-about&sc=fb&cc=fp

2011 E-book Reader Product Comparisons

I have been considering buying an E-Reader for a year now. Last Christmas, the prices weren't quite in my range and I knew that more/better technology was coming out. I have B&N free e-reader on both my phone and laptop so can download and read anything at any time BUT I have been waiting for 'text to speech' feature to come out on a reader that is in my price range. If you are like me and haven't yet made a purchase, this site compares a ton of readers:

http://ebook-reader-review.toptenreviews.com/

NYT Notables - 2010

Link to NYTimes 100 Notable Books for 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/books/review/100-notable-books-2010.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope each of you has had a great Thanksgiving. We had a few missteps here, but everything is okay now. It is amazing to me how many ways I can screw up a holiday dinner, even after all the years I've been doing it. Eventually the food turned out fine today, and I am very thankful for that. I am also thankful for my friends in the Book Club Divas. Wow, feels good to say that. Good people, good books - an excellent combination.

Response from author

Read the response from Lisa Shannon, author, when I posted on FB that after watching Parker/Spitzer on CNN, I went and bought her book:

A Thousand Sisters Wow, Kathy- that's so cool! Wonderful to connect with you here. There were some interesting layers to that exchange, for sure. I plan to reference it from now on when I meet with Republicans to urge more action for Congo. Party lines just don't apply. Just who's empathy switch is off or on.

New West

newwest.net is an online newpaper. Check it out. I have family in Boise, Missoula, Denver and Colorado Springs so I go to it from time to time to see what's going on in the Rocky Mountains. It has a nice "books" section. There is a book fest out there each fall. We could rent a van and go some year!!

how about this one?

I have been hearing a lot of buzz about Panopticon by David Bajo. It was even mentioned on CNN Parker Spitzer on a segment in which the guests were asked about their favorite book. There is a long review on New West in the book section. It apparently considers the fact: there are cameras everywhere!!!

New West review at http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/cameras_are_everywhere_in_david_bajos_panopticon/C39/L39/