Where's my Book?

Don't get me wrong, I love a deal. I have often ordered and happily received a book from Amazon that's in good, even great condition. Granted it does take a whole lot longer to hold the book in my hands than downloading it on my Kindle, or running down to my local book store. Buying a book on Amazon is usually a whole lot cheaper, and because I procrastinate, my book club buddy has surely run down to the local library to get the only copy on hand of the next book we are reading.


So I was feeling great that I got our new book club selection for $2.00 (plus shipping, of course). I was also feeling kindly in that I pick a vendor that was new and felt good helping someone out towards making their first book sale. But I'm still waiting for my book :/ Amazon had to contact me to tell me - Hey, where's your book? Do you think you might want to e-mail the seller and ask them? Well, not really- I just want to order my book on my phone while I'm waiting in the truck for my husband to pick up some more paint for the house, and several or more days later open my mail box and get all happy that I have a new book to read!


Well, I did e-mail the seller and no response to date. Yes, I'll get my money back and be a little more careful about picking a seller, even if I have to pay a few bucks more. Our book club meets on April 21st, so I'm pretty sure I'm adding a new selection to my Kindle very soon.


By the way, the book club selection is "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai. Here's a  2006 New York Times review of the book by Pankaj Mishra http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/books/review/12mishra.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Book club eats from IKEA

Book club met - great meeting - good food

IKEA is the place to go for food that fits with a Swedish theme - love those meatballs!

Not sure if there was a consensus about the book we read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage). Some loved it and are now reading the second novel The Girl Who Played with Fire (Vintage). I have to admit I am now only just finishing the book myself :(  but would recommend it. Some thought it was too violent, but hey we can't close our eyes to something that women experience all over the world. It was a great who done it.

So you want to know about the Book Club

So Nilki, you want to know how our book club works...well not like other book clubs I have heard or read about (they appear to be a lot more organized , but maybe not as much fun). A friend of mine who lives 300 miles away and has attended a few meeting over the years has told me she wishes she was close enough to attend regularly. So that says something about our little club! We do meet every 6 weeks or so, we focus on fiction, and food is mandatory. Beyond that, there isn't too much structure try as we may. But I do think the the following applies ( to date):

1. We have known each other for many years, some as far back as kindergarten.

2. We only have Latina women members with brown eyes, though we have never formally indicated it should be limited as such (regarding eye color, sex, or ethnic origin).

3. Members take turns hosting the meeting at their home, though not everyone does (and that's O.K.  they have their reasons).

4. The eats are potluck and the food is often connected to the book being discussed, though this isn't mandatory....any and all food is appreciated.

5. The host usually supplies the beverages and an appetizer - cleaning up is work enough!

6. Each year around Christmas time we meet at a location where we can have tea ( Huntington Library, The Biltmore Hotel, Trump International, Chado tea, Vintage leaf and others) and exchange small gifts.

7. One member selects a book we will read and discuss. We have been working on how to best do this for years, but I think (hope) we have it down now.  Alphabetically, each member chooses a book we will read at the next meeting. The books we read are fiction, and though we do often read popular or best selling novels, each person can select the book they wish to read. We have had our discussion/arguments about length, and content, etc. but if you pick it, we should read it is my motto. For the last selection a member offered up three books she would like to read, and the rest of us voted on which of the three we would ultimately  read - The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

8. How we discuss our books is another area of contention - as we come hungry - we meet around the dinner hour and chowing down takes precedence above all else. The problem is that we talk and eat, and eat and talk and laugh, talk and eat ..... you get the picture ( it can be loud and not usually an evening you will find my husband at home when it's my turn to host). Before you know it were full of food as well as drink (usually wine) and several hours have passed.

When we finally get to talking about the book, it may not be as involved and as detailed as it should. At the last meeting, I made sure to say that dessert would be served after the discussion, so we started a little sooner and had a lengthier and more interesting discussion.

Most discussion leaders use questions from the authors website if available, and we go from there. The friend that I mentioned previously, told me that she had tried to join several book clubs in her area that were more on the formal side and super cerebral, and not exactly to her liking. Well, not to say that we don't have our moments of literary enlightenment, but no one would feel intimidated by our book discussions or with our company...or at least I don't think they would.

So there you go, The Brown Eyed Girl's Book Club established in December 2002 and still  reading and meeting!

 I myself would be interested in hearing about how other Book Clubs came to be and if they have just as much trouble balancing the social and literary portions of their meetings as we do.

Saturday's Meeting

All went well at our book club meeeting this week. No drama....I guess there was enough at the last meeting. Everyone was on their best behavior and seemed to have come ready to enjoy and participate. There was plenty to eat, and the girls seemed pleased with the wine selections. I was glad that everyone seemed pleased with the reading selection (The Help), and  had something to contribute to the discussion.


Everyone agreed that they would recommend the book to others, as it was well written with character's and a story line one could connect with on an emotional, sociological and historical level. For us, all being Latina, the book did bring to mind  Latina women who even now housekeep and care for the children of other women and  continue to experience degrading and unfair working conditions.


One member recalled how her boss had been outraged that the housekeeper who she had let go ( she didn't like her ungrateful attitude) called the house to speak with the children to see how they were. This same women  had decided to reduce the wages of her current housekeeper as the housekeeper would no longer have to drive the children to school but yet,  asked the housekeeper to do additional chores around the house with the extra time. Another member suggested that someone give her a copy of The Help. I reminded them there would be no guarantee she would connect her behavior with anything she would read in the book. Miss Leefolt sure didn't when she read what had been written about her. The girls agreed.


We all had a good laugh though when the chocolate cream cupcakes were distributed. I can only hope the person who brought them didn't have any hard feeling against anyone there! You would have to read the book to understand.

Hard liquor at the book Club?

Celia, a character in The Help didn't fair too well when she drank one too many 'Alabama Slammer's', so serving a similar drink at this week's book club doesn't sound like such a good idea.  A member texted me with the serving suggestion. I'll think about it, but with the one or two glasses of wine that we normally drink, we're already pretty lively!

The Start

Our first book club meeting was held on December 7, 2002 with four members present. I can't remember how we selected the book, but we choose to read Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor, and it was discussed on January 18, 2003, with all 7 members ( at that time) present. I do remember having a fairly lively discussion about the book, with some members comparing the characters experiences with that of their own families, and how they relocated from Mexico to live in California. We seemed to agree that the experiences written about before the family came to reside in California grasped our attention much more and slowed for us after that.

Since reading this book, we decided to stick to fiction when ever possible. Don't most book clubs?

Book Club

It's been 7 years now and the Brown Eyed Girl's Book Club. I plan to document over at least the next year the goings on with the club. The meetings can be entertaining or at least very loud and long and often involve the consumption of several bottles of wine. I will note the books we read or attempt to read, and try to figure out how we can be a better group of readers as well as friends.

We meet again on April 3rd and will be discussing "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.