Thursday, April 28, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
The Lake House - Discussion
Book: The Lake House by Kate Morton
Meeting Place: Rockwood Tap House
Ratings:
Kim - 2.75 |
| Drawing names and JW's dessert! |
Michaelene - 2.5
Joyce - Made it to chapter 9!
Melissa - 3.5
Average Rating: 3.21
We all met at Rockwood Tap House in Downer's Grove. We had a great
night....well, except for the service. Obviously, Rockwood Tap House was the last place this waiter wanted to be on this particular Wednesday evening. Especially serving 6 women who were going to sit for awhile discussing a book. But we did have a great meal along with Joyce's cherry-cream cheese dessert! Yum! Thanks Joyce!
We began our evening with Sherry's discussion questions. Most of us had some concerns about the eminent author Kate Morton. We all praised her for The Secret Keeper. Then we read The Forgotten Garden and ratings fell slightly. This month we read her latest The Lake House and ratings dropped again. Her books are all pretty similar in format and we feel she needs to change things in future books. Although we still enjoyed various parts of The Lake House, we all had similar complaints. First, some felt the book could've been 100 pages shorter. There were some events in the book that were irrelevant. She adds a great amount of imagery to her books. Some view this as too much "fluff" while others feel it paints a clear picture of the setting. Last, some of the events were a little too far-fetched. Way too unbelievable or coincidental to say the least!
Recommendation: Although we did somewhat enjoy the book, I'm not sure many of us would highly recommend it for the reasons above.
BCDP: Sherry had us draw out of a hat and the winner was Barb! She picked the paper with baby Theo, one of the characters from the book. Barb won a beautiful flowering pot!
night....well, except for the service. Obviously, Rockwood Tap House was the last place this waiter wanted to be on this particular Wednesday evening. Especially serving 6 women who were going to sit for awhile discussing a book. But we did have a great meal along with Joyce's cherry-cream cheese dessert! Yum! Thanks Joyce!
We began our evening with Sherry's discussion questions. Most of us had some concerns about the eminent author Kate Morton. We all praised her for The Secret Keeper. Then we read The Forgotten Garden and ratings fell slightly. This month we read her latest The Lake House and ratings dropped again. Her books are all pretty similar in format and we feel she needs to change things in future books. Although we still enjoyed various parts of The Lake House, we all had similar complaints. First, some felt the book could've been 100 pages shorter. There were some events in the book that were irrelevant. She adds a great amount of imagery to her books. Some view this as too much "fluff" while others feel it paints a clear picture of the setting. Last, some of the events were a little too far-fetched. Way too unbelievable or coincidental to say the least!
 |
| Baby Theo |
Recommendation: Although we did somewhat enjoy the book, I'm not sure many of us would highly recommend it for the reasons above.
 |
| Barb's win |
BCDP: Sherry had us draw out of a hat and the winner was Barb! She picked the paper with baby Theo, one of the characters from the book. Barb won a beautiful flowering pot!
Friday, April 1, 2016
The Hypnotist's Love Story - Discussion
Book: The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty
Meeting Place: Barb's House
Ratings:
Sher -
Kim - 3.5
Tracy - 4
Michaelene - 3.25
Joyce - 3.75
Melissa - 4
Kim - 3.5
Tracy - 4
Michaelene - 3.25
Joyce - 3.75
Melissa - 4
Average Rating: 3.67
Barb ran out to Jimmy John's and picked up sandwiches for the book club. She also served beef barley soup and one of her famous, homemade Easter lamb cakes. Delicious!
We couldn't find discussion questions so we just attacked different scenes, characters, and themes in the book. We were intrigued by the stalking and hypnotherapy themes. Most of us agreed that Saskia, the pathetic stalker, was our favorite character. We also admired Kate, Lance's wife, who appears at the end of the book.
One creepy scene discussed was when Saskia shows up at Ellen and Patrick's house in the middle of the night. There were also many side discussions that can't be discussed on this blog! Haha!
One creepy scene discussed was when Saskia shows up at Ellen and Patrick's house in the middle of the night. There were also many side discussions that can't be discussed on this blog! Haha!
Recommendation: Overall, most enjoyed the book and rated it quite well. Many talked about recommending this book to some select friends.
BCDP: Barb had us pick a number between 50 and 100 to determine the bcdp winner. Joyce wins! Unfortunately, we will not be able to enjoy one of her awesome desserts next month since she will be out of town. Darn!
Other events: The movie, Me Before You, makes it's grand entrance on June 3rd. We are thinking of possibly seeing the movie together since it was a very popular, well-liked book we've read!
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