Unmeasured Strength and Next Month

Hello All! At our gathering last Monday, we talked about Unmeasured Strength, by Lauren Manning. If you haven't read this one yet, I highly recommend it. Lauren's story is one of strength, encouragement and inspiration. She was badly burned in the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks; burned as in, charred beyond recognition. Her book is the story of her pain and recovery, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and of the role the community played in helping her along. Thanks to all who came out to Biggby for our last meeting there. We had a great time!

January's meeting will be January 11, 2012 at Cuppa (Art 634), 6:30-8:00pm. All meetings going forward will be at Cuppa on the 2nd Wednesday of every month.

January's meeting will be a special, fun event: local author L. D. Jacobson (Larry) will join us to discuss his book, Hague Park Flyers, which is our current read. If you haven't purchased the book, I can get it for you from Larry for $15, or you can order it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It's also available as an ebook for Nook.

The book we chose for February is An Invisible Thread, by Valerie Salembier.

Please note, my phone number has changed. My new number is 517-416-4176. Please make the change in your phones if you have my number saved.

I wish all of you a very blessed, happy, Merry Christmas and a safe and fun New Year celebration.

Meeting Reminder

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night, Monday, 12/12, Bigby Jackson, 7pm. We will be discussing Unmeasured Strength and catching up on good times.

I will bring Hague Park Flyers, next month's book, for Deb, Melissa, Lisa, Crissie, and Afton. (Crissie, I can't find your last email to me, but I think I remember that you wanted one.) If your name isn't listed here, it means I don't know you want the book. I will see Larry (the author) tomorrow during the day, so there's still time if you'd like me to bring you a copy. The cost is $15, and I'll get it from you when I deliver the book to you. If you're on the list above and can't make it to the meeting, give me a call or send me an email and I can meet you somewhere to get it to you.

Remember, January's meeting will be the one we're changing nights and venue for. January's meeting will be at Cuppa, Art 634, the 2nd Wednesday in January. We'll talk more about this tomorrow night.

Peace...

Hague Park Flyers (reminder for January)

Hello All! Just a reminder: for January's book, we are reading a novel written by a local author, who I happen to know personally. You can purchase his book online at Amazon, but I can get them cheaper from Larry, himself. The cost is $15, and I've copied the portion of my last email below, to describe the book. I would like to get the books from Larry by this Friday. If you want one and can make it to next week's meeting, you can get the book and pay me then. If you want a book and will not be at the meeting, I will still get it for you and make arrangements to get it to you.

***If you haven't already, please let me know by mid-day Thursday if you want me to get a copy of the book from Larry.

• For January's book, we have an exciting event to look forward to. One of my co-workers is an author. His name is Larry Jacobson (L. D. Jacobson). Larry's 2nd novel is Hague Park Flyers and now for sale on Amazon, indiebound.org, or directly from Larry. The cost is quite a bit cheaper if we buy directly from Larry, which is $15. The story is fiction and set in Jackson. Larry has agreed to come and speak at our January meeting. This is something you don't want to miss! He is an awesome speaker and has a great sense of humor. I can purchase all copies at once from Larry for anyone who wants one, at $15 a piece, and bring them to the December meeting for you. Please reply to this email and let me know if you want a copy or not. Larry will sign all of them, personalized to you, at the meeting. Below is a summary of the story:
• On the day his daughter was abducted and killed, police officer Joel Chase was having an affair. He blamed God. Now estranged from his family and existing in a cloud of misery, self-loathing and rage, Joel runs down a suspect in a desolate lakeside park on a rainy night. As he takes out his grief and shame and guilt on the suspect, four words drift down from a willow tree above hiim. Four impossible words dancing on the night air in a voice long buried..."Daddy, don't hurt him." Everything that Joel knows about life, about death, about faith and about God is all going to change with those four words. He has asked God to show him why his daughter had to die - he has demanded it. God has had enough. He has had enough of taking the heat for Joel's bad decisions and demands. He has had enough of being second guessed. Joel Chase is about to have his prayers and his questions answered. Let the nightmare begin.

December's meeting is about Unmeasured Strength, by Lauren Manning. We'll be at Biggby Jackson, 7-9 pm, next Monday, 12/12.

I'll still send another reminder email for December's meeting in a few days. Hope you're having a great week! See you soon...

New in 2012

Hello everyone! I have a couple of announcements to make:

• Starting in January, we are going to make a slight adjustment to our meeting place and time. Our January meeting will be on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 (man, it feels weird typing that year already!), 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Cuppa, located in Art 634 on Mechanic St in Jackson. Please let me know if you need driving directions to get there. You will LOVE this place! If you haven't visited Art 634 lately, you should check it out between now and then.
• December's meeting is still at Biggby Jackson on Monday, December 12, 2011, 7-9 p.m. The book we're reading for December is Unmeasured Strength, by Lauren Manning.
• For January's book, we have an exciting event to look forward to. One of my co-workers is an author. His name is Larry Jacobson (L. D. Jacobson). Larry's 2nd novel is Hague Park Flyers and now for sale on Amazon, indiebound.org, or directly from Larry. The cost is quite a bit cheaper if we buy directly from Larry, which is $15. The story is fiction and set in Jackson. Larry has agreed to come and speak at our January meeting. This is something you don't want to miss! He is an awesome speaker and has a great sense of humor. I can purchase all copies at once from Larry for anyone who wants one, at $15 a piece, and bring them to the December meeting for you. Please reply to this email and let me know if you want a copy or not. Larry will sign all of them, personalized to you, at the meeting. Below is a summary of the story:
• On the day his daughter was abducted and killed, police officer Joel Chase was having an affair. He blamed God. Now estranged from his family and existing in a cloud of misery, self-loathing and rage, Joel runs down a suspect in a desolate lakeside park on a rainy night. As he takes out his grief and shame and guilt on the suspect, four words drift down from a willow tree above hiim. Four impossible words dancing on the night air in a voice long buried..."Daddy, don't hurt him." Everything that Joel knows about life, about death, about faith and about God is all going to change with those four words. He has asked God to show him why his daughter had to die - he has demanded it. God has had enough. He has had enough of taking the heat for Joel's bad decisions and demands. He has had enough of being second guessed. Joel Chase is about to have his prayers and his questions answered. Let the nightmare begin.

So, in a nutshell, we are changing the night and venue for our meetings: starting January, meet at Cuppa on 2nd Wednesday of every month, 6:30-8:00 pm. December's meeting is still on the 2nd Monday of December at Biggby at 7pm, as usual. Please share your thoughts or concerns about this with me. I believe the new night will accommodate more of us, and holding the meetings at Cuppa will allow us more space and freshen up our night. :)

I hope you are all preparing for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I look forward to seeing you in December.

***Please don't forget to let me know if you want me to get a book from Larry for you. I will bring them to the meeting in December, or I can meet you with it somewhere, and collect your $15 then.

Meeting Reminder

Hello fellow book-lovers! Don't forget about tomorrow night. We'll be meeting at Biggby Jackson, Monday, 11/14, 7-9pm. I look forward to discussing Huck and catching up on things going on in our lives.

See you tomorrow!

Called Out of Darkness

Deb and I had a great discussion last Monday about Anne Rice's Called Out of Darkness. I admit it was a dry read at first, but she made some points that were hard to disagree with and lent themselves to good debate. Deb did some extra research on Anne's life since the end of the book, as we've heard she's left the church again. I think she's a brilliantly intelligent person. We also learned she has a son who is gay and an author of 5 novels to date. The story of Anne's life makes me want to read more of her. I picked up Interview With a Vampire from the library this week. :)

Our current read is Huck, by Janet Elder. We will meet at Biggby Jackson on Monday, Nov. 14, 7-9 pm. (Can you believe we're almost to November already?!)

After Huck, for our next book, we've chosen Unmeasured Strength, by Lauren Manning.

Have a wonderful remaining October!

Meeting Reminder and Anouncements

Hello All! Just a quick reminder that our next meeting is this Monday, the 12th, 7-9 pm at Biggby Jackson. We'll be discussing Night Road by Kristin Hannah.

A couple of things to let you know about... Tomorrow at Westwinds, we'll be doing a tailgating party after each Cue. What that means is there will be a tent set up out on the lawn and each satellite will have a table under it. The church is providing the food (breakfast after the first service, and lunch after the second service). All you have to do is show up and socialize. :) One of the purposes of the tailgating is so that people can visit each satellite, get information, sign up if they want, etc. It'll be a lot of fun, so be sure to plan on attending and bring a friend!

I also have a request to make - I am scheduled for another volunteer commitment right after the 2nd Cue, so I won't be able to man The Novelties' table at that time. If any of you could be available to be around our table and answer questions after the 11:00 Cue for anyone who stops by with interest, that would be helpful.

Have a great weekend! See you tomorrow or Monday...

The Borrower

Last Monday, Deb and I were the only ones who came to our August meeting. I did get emails from several of you before hand. Lots of stuff going on with the summer wrapping up. I hope all is well for everyone, and you're enjoying this cooler weather.

Deb and I had many of the same thoughts about The Borrower. At first, I thought it was going to be a bit shallow, but the last few pages made up for any slowness of the story. The author described how books very often save us. I feel that way quite a bit. I'd love to hear what the rest of you thought about the book. We're currently reading Night Road, by Kristin Hannah. We'll meet next on Monday, Sept 12, 7-9 pm at Biggby, Jackson.

Several times, Dave McDonald has mentioned Ann Rice in his sermons. She is an author who is best known for her vampire and other dark stories. Then she became a Christian (Catholic) and turned a corner with her writing. Most recently, she's decided not to call herself Christian anymore because she doesn't agree with what she views as hypocrytical ceremonial rules.There's much more to her story, and I've been curious to learn more about her transformations. She wrote a memoir, Called Out of Darkness. That will be our next read.

Enjoy the rest of your summer! I'll see you in September. :-)

August Meeting Reminder

Hello All! Tomorrow, 8/8, is our August meeting date: 7-9 pm at Biggby, Jackson. I look forward to seeing you! We'll be talking about The Borrower and enjoying some much-needed down-time with the girls. I hope you enjoyed the book and look forward to sharing thoughts and stories of how books have 'saved' you and/or your friends. ;-)

July's 'Reliable' Group

What a wonderful group we had last Monday at our gathering! It was great seeing all of you, some who haven't made it in a while, and some new ladies joining us as well. We had a passionate discussion about A Reliable Wife. Most of us really enjoyed the story. One specific point made is that it seems surprising that a story like this one was written by a man. I had to sorrowfully admit that, with the kind of June I had, I hadn't had time to read the book before our meeting - a first for me. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing all of you talk about the things you loved, didn't like, found weird, etc. I've now started reading the book, and I have to say, it's fun getting into it after hearing your thoughts about it first. We discussed the negative description of the scenery, why the author chose to stress these things and what effect it had on the feel of the story. I've been keeping these things in mind, and it's adding a lot to the read for me. Personally, I can see the man's perspective in the writing. There is less descriptive drama and more to-the-point storytelling (so far, anyway). Overall, this was a great summer-time read.

Our current book is The Borrower, by Rebecca Makkai. Next up will be Night Road, by Kristin Hannah.

The Help, a novel by Kathryn Stockett, has been made into a movie and is opening in theaters August 10. That sounds like a great idea for a field trip. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. Our next meeting will be Monday, Aug 8, Biggby Jackson, 7-9pm. During the meeting, we'll decide on a date and time to go see The Help as a group.

Enjoy The Borrower, stay cool, and I'll see you soon...

July Meeting Reminder

Hello All! I hope you're staying cool on these hot summer days!! (I love saying that.)

Last month, Lineene and I were the only ones who came. It's normal for attendance at book group meetings to be low in the summer, so no surprise or disappointment. Lineene and I caught up and talked about lots of stuff. Awesome conversation. I enjoyed you, girl!

Our next meeting is tomorrow night, 7/11, 7-9pm, Biggby Jackson. We'll be talking about Reliable Wife. The next book we'll be reading is The Borrower, by Rebecca Makkai. I look forward to seeing you then!

Heaven Is For Real

Great discussion at our meeting last night! Heaven Is For Real spoke personally to some of us; prompted tears as the story helped in dealing with the sadness of losing a loved one. Seems like that is the purpose of God bringing an experience like this to certain people - so they can share the story and help others. Another such story is Don Piper's 90 Minutes In Heaven. These are stories of people who have been to heaven and then sent back to us. Some people may choose to not believe these experiences really happened, that the stories are fabricated or there must be some other explanation of the events. But I think all of us in our gathering last night do believe, and great comfort can be taken from knowing where people who have Jesus in their hearts will go when they leave us.

Another thing we reflected on is the part of the book where the child tells of a war that happens in the future, that the men fight in it, the women and children are safe, and that his daddy survives. Wow! Talk about sending chills down your spine! That led to discussion of the well-known Left Behind series of books. I personally have never read those books, but I am definitely going to put them on my list to get to this year.

Other books that received mention are: The Last Block in Harlem; Sunflower; The Gospel of Ruth; The Red Tent; Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series; and a few others. Our current read is Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin. Next up is A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick (beware, this one may be a bit provocative, but we decided provocative is good for a summer read ;-) ).

I am thrilled that our little group keeps growing! We added two new friends last night. Welcome Amie and Shayna. Shayna came with Nancy (a new friend from last month), and Amie found us in the satellite brochure at Westwinds. Woohoo!

Our 'girl time' is a treasured break from a sometimes-hectic life. Love and peace to you all!

May Meeting Reminder

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope you're all enjoying this beautiful day with your children (if you're a mom) and your mothers. Jake and Shelby are treating me to dinner tonight. Nothing is better on Mother's Day than having your busy teenagers take time to spend a few hours with their mom. :-)

Tomorrow is our next book group get-together. We'll be discussing Heaven Is For Real and enjoying great friends and treats at Biggby. Monday, 5/9, 7-9pm. Hope to see you there!

Sarah's Key

Hello All! I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend and enjoyed the sunshine while it was out. I am excited about the growth of The Novelties. We have seen one or two new ladies at each of the last 3 meetings, and I look forward to cultivating lasting friendships. Welcome!

At our last meeting we talked about Sarah's Key. Told from two different points of view, this is the story of a young girl taken prisoner along with her family in Paris during the Holocaust. The chapters in the book alternate between the time of the horrible crimes, telling details of the little girl's captivity, and today, where a journalist is researching the story for a piece she is writing for her employer. We had a great discussion, covering many angles. And, as always, we enjoyed some wonderful, relaxing girl-time.

We are currently reading Heaven Is For Real, by Todd Burpo. This book is on the bestseller's list at most book stores and has attracted quite a bit of media attention, so it may be difficult to get at the library. However, it is a quick read (only about 160) pages, and fairly inexpensive to pick up at most stores. We've chosen our next book as well: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin. This has been on our radar for several months, so I'm looking forward to getting into it.

Have a great week! I look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting. Monday, May 9, 2011, 7-9pm, Biggby Jackson.

April Meeting Reminder

Hello All! What a beautiful day today! Looks like Spring is finally here, along with the storms that seem to be moving in tonight. Hope you enjoyed this warm Sunday. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night, Monday, April 11, 7-9pm, Biggby Jackson. We'll be discussing Sarah's Key.

Thank you, Deb, for taking over last month while I was away. The next book chosen is Heaven Is For Real, by Todd Burpo. I've heard many reviews and a lot of talk about this book. The powerful story seems to be taking the book world by storm. I'm looking forward to getting into it.

After this meeting, I will update our blog and send out an email to everyone to make sure we're all up to date. We have a few new people joining us last month and tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you all!!!! :-)

Catching Up

I'm a little late getting this out this month, so I'm just going to get everyone caught up. We met on Wed, Feb 16, an altered schedule due to our regularly scheduled meeting falling on Valentine's Day. The book for discussion was Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. Wow! just about covers it. Emotional responses to the story ranged from amazed, to sad, to angry. Great read!

Currently we're reading Room, by Emma Donoghue. This is another book that will stir some deep emotions. I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks about this one. The book we chose for our April meeting is Sarah's Key, by Tatiana De Rosnay.

So those are your current and next books. I hope you all had a great February. Spring is right around the corner - woohoo!!! Our next meeting will be Monday, March 14, Biggby Jackson, 7-9pm.

***I have a request to make. Please pick up a copy of The Elements at Westwinds and bring it with you to our March meeting. I'd like for us to each pick one selection from each area (soul, relationships, church, world) that you can work on throughout the remainder of the month. Of course, this is optional, but I think it's a great way to help each other grow and connect in your spiritual journey. I will bring a couple of extra copies with me.

Happy reading!!! See you next month!

Happy Valentine's Day! (meeting date change)

Hello everyone! I hope all is well and that you're staying warm. Speaking of staying warm, spend Valentine's Day night snuggled up with your fav sunggy (hubby, bf, blankie, fido, etc.). We're moving the date of our meeting to Wednesday, Feb 16, Biggby, 7-9pm. I will send out a reminder the day before.

I look forward to seeing you all next week. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Saving Max, and Other Fun Stuff

Monday night's get-together at Biggby was a refreshing evening of friendship and girl-time, as usual. A much-needed break on this merry-go-round called life ;-). The thoughts on our book ranged from an extremely good read to a predictable 'Lifetime Movie' type of story. Of course, a predictable 'Lifetime Movie' type of story many times makes for an extremely good read. Saving Max is, in fact, an entertaining page-turner, even with the occasional not-so-believable parts and the predictable turn of events throughout. The book is a first novel for the author. I have to say, "well done." And.... as Lisa directed us to the last paragraph in the book, it seems like there may be a sequel on the horizon. We will stay tuned...

Our current read is Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. I'm very much looking forward to diving in. Based on Deb's (our advance-reader) review, it is one that will be impossible to put down. We will meet to discuss Glass Castle on Monday, February 14. Our next book will be Room, by Emma Donoghue, which will be discussed in March. ***Our Feb 14 meeting date is subject to change since that is Valentine's Day. Please send me an email if you would like to move our meeting to a different date.

Schuler Books, one of my favorite book stores in Lansing, hosts 'Girls Night Out' events occasionally. Tonight, a local author will be there for a book-signing. I happen to be working in Lansing this afternoon, so I'm going to stay in town and attend. If any of you can make it, I think it will be a lot of fun for us to go together. Tonight will be at the Eastwood Town Center location. Feel free to call me, 517-206-6502, if you want to come up and meet me there. Also, let's take a look at other nights and decide on a fun field trip soon.

Until we meet again...... Happy Reading!