My Book Club

I LOVE TO READ!

I started my very first book club at Venice Golf & Country Club in Venice, FL twelve years ago this month. It was called the "Lansbrook Ladies Book Club" and was open to all the women in our development.

This wonderful group of intelligent, well-read, gracious women have continued to gather monthly (except for summer) ever since that first meeting at my house.

Our first book was Personal History by Katharine Graham. It is not a book that I would have read by my own choice, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and isn't that the point of being in a book club?

I found, that by starting that book club, I became surrounded by a group of women who loved to read as much as I did.

Every month, we would gather to have a glass of wine or iced tea along with some good food to nibble upon. We'd share our thoughts & opinions on the book, the author, the subject and usually several other current topics of conversation as well.

We've stayed together and in touch via email for many, many years now. We enjoyed monthly meetings discussing everything from fiction to nuclear fission, poetry to politics and more personal topics, as well. There were grandbabies born, houses built, illnesses and celebrations of recovery.
There was also the occasional member who moved away.

After nine years, that member was ME...returning to Ohio to be nearer to family. I still keep in touch monthly with the book club and I, as historian, try to maintain a complete list of what books we've read as well as the location where they were discussed. Every member has been great about taking their turn to host the group.

It is such a special treat just to go and sit and talk at someone's home with dear friends and good food around you. Whatever is offered is appreciated and we always felt warmly welcomed in each others homes. We often rode to & from the event in our golf carts if the night was cool or rainy. What a parade that was!

In Feb., while back in FL for vacation, I was able to participate again in the book club discussions.
I loved being a part of this delightful group and I got to meet several of the new members who have moved into the neighborhood since I left. It is a very diverse group of women, all ages and backgrounds, nationalities, religions and temperaments. Most are very talkative but some...not so much.

My friend, Marge, in whose home we met, graciously allowed me to photograph her beautiful surroundings while we were there. She has oodles of lovely French pieces and the most gorgeously soft turquoise blue wall color that makes it an extraordinary escape for them to get away from the bitterly cold Canadian winters.

In keeping with the theme of the book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, she made a dessert mentioned ...Clafoutis.

Originating in the Limousin region, this country-French dessert is made by topping a layer of fresh fruit with batter. After baking, it is served hot, sometimes with cream. Some clafoutis have a cake-like topping while others are more like a pudding.
Though cherries are traditional, any fruit, (such as the plums she used) or peaches or pears can be used.

I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the list of all the books we’ve read so far.

LANSBROOK LADIES BOOK CLUB

Established 1999

Personal History -- Katharine Graham

Midwives--Chris Bohjalian

Poisonwood Bible--Barbara Kingsolver

Shipping News--Annie Proulx

Love in the Time of Cholera--Garbriel Garcia Marquez

The Pilots Wife--Anita Shreve

Vengeance--Stuart Kaminsky

The Voyage--Philip Caputo

2000

Tuesdays With Morrie--Mitch Albom

Map of the World--Jane Hamilton

Stones from the River--Ursula Hegi

Kaaterskill Falls--Allegra Goodman

The Brethren--John Grisham

A Widow for One Year--John Irving

Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made--Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant

2001

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down--Anne Fadiman

Prodigal Summer--Barbara Kingsolver

32 Cadilacs--Joe Gores

The Bonesetter’s Daughter --Any Tan

Galileo’s Daughter--Dava Sobel

House of Sand & Fog--Andre’ Dubus, III

Jekyll Island Club --Brent Monahan

The Lion’s Game-- Nelson DeMille

Paris in the Moon--Adam Gopnick

Skipping Christmas--John Grisham

2002

Blind Assassin--Margaret Atwood

Companions in Courage~Pat LaFontaine

John Adams ~ David McCullough

Plain Truth~Jodi Picoult

Sea Glass~Anita Shreve

Empire Falls~Richard Russo

Bel Canto~Ann Patchett

Ava’s Man~Rick Bragg

Falling Angels~Tracy Chevalier

2003

One Thousand White Women~Jim Fergus

The SecretLife of Bees~Sue Monk Kidd

The Dive from Clausen Pier~Anne Packer

Three Junes~Julia Glass

2004

Under the Banner of Heaven~ Jon Krakauer

Life of Pi~ Yann Martel

Middlesex ~ Jeffrey Eugenides

Midnight Pass ~ Steven Kaminski

A Land Remembered ~ Patrick Smith

The Known World ~ Edward Jones

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter ~ Carson McCullers

2005

The Good Earth ~ Pearl Bucks

The Kite Runners ~ Khaled Hosseini

Birth of Venus ~ Sarah Dunant

East of Eden ~ John Steinbeck

The curious incident of the dog in the night time ~ Mark Haddon

Tell No One ~ Harlen Coben

Mountains Beyond Mountains ~ Tracy Kidder

2006

Light on Snow ~ Anita Shreve

My Sister’s Keeper ~ Jodi Picoult

Widow of the South ~ Robert Hicks

Clara Callan ~ Richard B. Wright

Gilead ~ Marilyn Robinson

The Other Boleyn Girl ~ Phillippa Gregory

A Prayer for Owen Meany ~ John Irving

Cannery Row ~ John Steinbeck

Eleanor Roosevelt, A Life of Discovery. ~ Russell Freedman

2007

For Whom the Bell Tolls ~ E. Hemingway

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter ~ Kim Edwards

Madame Bovary ~ Gustav Flaubert

March ~ Geraldine Brooks

Snow Flower & the Secret Fan ~ Lisa See

The Glass Castle ~ Jeanette Walls

A girl named Zippy ~ Haven Kimmel

Water for Elephants ~ Sara Gruen

A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Kahlid Hosseni

2008

Hotel du Lac ~ Anita Brookner

Suite Francaise ~ Irene Nemirovsky

Seems I lost track of some of them this year!

2009

The Reader ~ Bernhard Schlink

The Book Thief ~ Karkus Zuzak

People of the Book ~ Geraldine Brooks

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon ~ Jorge Amado,

Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman ~Elizabeth Buchan

Crow Lake ~ Mary Lawson

October ~ Richard B. Wright

Beneath the Marble Sky ~ John Shors

2010

The Help ~Kathryn Stockett

The House at Riverton ~ Kate Morton (blogged about HERE)

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, (blogged about HERE)

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Vorghese

Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund (blogged about HERE)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jamie Ford (blogged about HERE)

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevelier

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald

2011

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The Faith Club by Priscilla Warner, Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Sklott

I really enjoyed discussing The Elegance of the Hedgehog with my group...
it is wonderfully written with a surprise ending.
I highly recommend it!

I miss doing the Food For Thought meme that Jain used to host. It pushed me to pay close attention to any mentions of food in my reading & to think about how I might incorporate them into a tablescape or simply a recipe blog post.

If you're interested in trying to make a clafoutis,
I found Ina Garten's Pear Clafoutis.
I trust anything Ina makes to be good!

Thanks for stopping by.
I'll be linking to:

Marty @ A Stroll Thru Life for
Table Top Tuesday,
Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for
Tablescape Thursday,
The Tablescaper for
Seasonal Sundays.

Oh & just for a laugh, here is a excerpt from a comedy club about Venice, FL.

"The 2010 census report was in the paper last week and I was not surprised by the median age of Sarasota County at about 55, which is my ages.

As we all know that is what makes this place the Fountain of Youth, youth is relative in this area. Anywhere else in America I am a senior citizen, but here, I’m a hot young stud! I’m a Longboat Key widow’s dream. Good posture, strong gait, all my teeth and I can still drive at night, which qualifies me for waterfront property. That’s how we roll in Sandtown USA.

Manatee County came in younger at about 48, which is no surprise because my peeps in Bradentucky still have jobs. Yea, they still work for a living there so they need a bit more energy. OK, OK, I know some people in Sarasota still work for a living, and for the most part they live in Bradenton or North Port if they have the gas money.

But the city that did kind of shocked me was Venice. The average age of a Florida Venetian is 68 years old. Wow, I knew it was older, but for an entire community that is freaky old. Who takes out the garbage, for God’s sake? That’s a life-threatening activity in Venice.

So here is the irony, last week I understand they opened the first traffic circle in Sarasota County on a main highway and they decide to put it in Venice. Really, a traffic circle on Jacaranda Blvd. in the city where Buick reigns champion and the city that natural hair color forgot and a place where the people are wonderful, down-home, sophisticated folk but can be challenged to drive in a straight line at any speed above an average jog. An active, fast moving, high-traffic circle in Venice, what are they trying to do, thin the herd?

If you are on a tight budget and in need of good cheap entertainment, just head down to the Venice traffic circle and pull up a lawn chair and a cooler and enjoy the show. It is much better than NASCAR.
NASCAR is predictable, but this is what I would call slow-motion creative NASCAR, times four."


I apologize for all the goofy text sizes in this post.
Blogger is acting weird again today!!
Bad Blogger! Bad!

fondly,