Book Club This Week!

Jamie wanted me to remind everyone about book club this week.

7:00 p.m., Jamie's house, 1142 Wild Hay Lane.

Jamie is a great cook so I'm sure our brains will be as happy as our bellies :).

Any Austenland fans out there?

While snooping around on IMDB (internet movie database).com tonight, I came across some interesting news...I don't know how many of you are Shannon Hale fans, I've read several books and enjoyed them, but she wrote a little book entitled Austenland a few years ago about a young lady who is obsessed with Colin Firth in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice (and who, praytell, is not?) and ends up spending her holiday at a Jane Austen-theme park. Its cute, romantic, and super-fluff (albeit its CLEAN super-fluff, which is hard to find anymore!). Anyway, as I was looking around on IMDB, I see something about the FILM Austenland...what??? So I did a little more digging, and lo and behold, Shannon Hale has written the screenplay along with Jerusha Hess, (she co-wrote and directed Napoleon Dynamite with her husband, Jaren Hess. Both LDS, too.) Now, it gets funny. The PRODUCER of the film??? None other than our darling little Stephenie Meyer! I am laughing out loud! However, they have a few serious actors on the project, like Keri Russell, JJ Field, Jane Seymore...anyway, I'm laughing because I think it could be a cute film, but there's part of me that cringes, too...could it be an embarrassing flop? FYI: if you would like to read Austenland, I own it. It'll probably take you smartie-pants like 15 minutes to read. Its not that long. Anyway, check out this HI-larious blog I found when I googled Austenland! Can't wait to see everyone on Wednesday!
www.austenblog.com/2011/07/08/austenland-to-be-a-film/

Book Club for August

To avoid confusion, I will clarify our meeting for August:

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
at Jamie Brough's home on Wednesday, August 31st at 7 PM

Be there or be square!

Book For October, too!

So, for all of you overachievers out there, you can now read ahead 2 full months for Book Club! October will be hosted by Ana Fraga, and the book choice is The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. I have not read it, but just picked up a paperback copy of it at CostCo for $9.49 (not including tax). It looks to be a very interesting read. Also, they have paperback copies of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for the same price. Happy Reading!!!

September book club book

So, for the September book club we will be reading a fascinating book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. I have a copy, as does Tara. I don't know if Tara has read it yet. It is a 300+ page book, so it doesn't seem daunting. However, the first time I read it, I had to continually take breaks to sort of process the tragedy of the story, as well as really think about the scientific terminology and the underlying issues of ethics and race. This is not an easy read, and I found myself uncomfortable at times as I thought about the questions the author poses about the price many unnamed people have paid for the advancement of modern medicine, a price from which we have all undoubtedly benefitted...but I was very moved by the family's story, and the author's passion for telling it.

Children's Literature

I am currently compiling a list of wonderful children's literature for another page here on our blog.  I know many of you have great ideas for all ages of kids, so just e-mail me your suggestions!   -Clara

St. George

Thanks for a fabulous trip girls!  I had such a great time.  I really appreciate Rachel arranging everything and letting us stay in her house.  Thanks again!

Book for August: Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Book club for this month will be at Jamie Brough's.  She has chosen the Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I'm not sure if she has any copies but if I find out I will let you know.