Take Me With You - Discussion

Book: Take Me With You by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Kathy winning some campfire treats!

Meeting Place: Tracy's House
Ratings:

Michaelene - 3.75
Melissa - 4
Barb - 3.75
Kathy - 2.25
Joyce - 5
Sherry - 2.25
Kim - 3.5
Tracy - 3.75
Average Rating:  3.53

For the first time ever, ACsBC headed out in the wilderness on a camping trip.  Well, not really!  But we pretend well!  Our campfire feast consisted of grilled burgers, pasta salad, kale salad, and s'more brownies.  

After reading this book, many enjoyed the plot because of the characters.  Most felt that some of the main characters possessed many admirable traits that gave us hope for the human race.  Even though some of the main topics were alcoholism and neglect, there was a "feel good" sensation, especially toward the conclusion.  Some members claimed to have a great feel for the outdoors and camping.

Recommendation:  Although many members enjoyed this book, a couple were disappointed.  They claimed the book was boring and hard to pick up.  Also, unrealistic at times.  Who would leave their kids with a complete stranger?  Overall, the book had a decent average rating.  Decide for yourself if it's worth a try!   

BCDP:  Tracy gave everyone a post-it note to submit a rating.  She felt in the past people may have been influenced by other's ratings.  Everyone submitted a post-it note with their name and rating.  First we went through the ratings individually, then Tracy drew a name out of a hat for the BCDP.  Kathy won a package of Bass-Pro shop s'more brownie mix, campfire hazlenut coffee, and bulls eyes.  

March Book Club Selection - Tracy

Take Me With You by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Below is a description of the book (taken from Amazon) we will be reading in March.  We will discuss this book on Wednesday, March 25.

August Shroeder, a burned-out teacher, has been sober since his nineteen-year-old son died.  Every year he's spent the summer on the road, but making it to Yellowstone this year means everything.  The plan had been to travel there with his son, but now August is making the trip with Philip's ashes instead.  An unexpected twist of fate land August with two extra passengers for his journey, two half-orphans with nowhere else to go.

What none of them could have known was how transformative both the trip -- and the bonds that develop between them -- would prove, driving each to create a new destiny together.

Still Alice - Discussion

Book: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Meeting Place: Kim's House
Ratings:

Tracy - 3.5

Michaelene - 2.75
Melissa - 3.5
Barb - 4
Kathy - 2.5
Joyce - 4
Sherry - 3
Kim - 3.75
Average Rating:  3.38

We're in the midwest freezing our tails off so Kim decided to whip up a dish to take an edge off the chill.  We started our evening warming up with homemade chili and all the fixings.  Next, Kim read all the early signs of Alzheimer's Disease.  We discussed each of them in great depth, always leading us on a tangent.  Haha!  After reading this book, we were all more educated on Alzheimer's Disease and we got the chance to get the "real" feel of what it's like to be diagnosed and live through all the stages.  Most of us felt great sympathy for Alice, and can't imagine receiving this diagnosis.  Everyone agreed that they are now a little more aware of their own forgetfulness.  Sigh...  Some members plan on venturing out to the movies to see Julianne Moore's role as Alice.  She recently won the "best actress" award at the Oscar's.

Alice's diagnosis seemed to have rubbed off on the group.  Ironically, everyone "forgot" to take photos of our evening!!!  So the blog will be photoless this month.  And we finally had perfect attendance for a full member group shot!!! 

BCDP:  Kim's daughter picked a name out of a hat to find the lucky winner.  Michaelene again!  That's 2 weeks in a row!  She won a cute butterfly necklace.  There was a butterfly theme throughout the book.   

     

Pierogi - Barb

Barb's homemade pierogi

Thanks to Barb, we got the pleasure of devouring her buttery, potato-filled pierogies!  This delicious recipe was handed down from her late mother, Ann Jarecki.  You will have to go the extra mile for this awesome polish dish, but it will be well worth it!  ENJOY!

Combine the following and mix:

3 Cups Flour
1/2 Pint Sour Cream
1/2 Stick Margarine
1 tsp. Salt
2 Eggs
1 Egg Yolk

*Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
*Flour surface and roll out dough.
*Use a glass or cookie cutter to cut out circle shaped dough.
*Put about a tsp. of filling (below) in center of dough and fold over, pinching the ends to seal.  You can use the tines of a fork to seal if you prefer.
*Place formed dumpling (pierogi) into boiling water.
*When pierogies float to the top, take out with slotted spoon and place on waxed paper or oil sprayed cookie sheet.
*Fry pierogi in butter turning once.
*Serve with Sour Cream!

Filling:  I used potato for my filling for Book Club.  Chop and saute onions.  Mash boiled potatoes; add butter and sauteed onions.  Instead of using milk, I added sour cream.

February Book Club Selection - Kim

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Below is a description of the book (taken from Amazon) we will be reading in February.  We will discuss this book on Wednesday,February 25.

In Lisa Genova's extraordinary New York Times bestselling novel, an accomplished professor diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease learns that her worth is comprised of more than her ability to remember.  Now a major motion picture from Sony Pictures starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, and Kristen Stewart!

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build.  At fifty years old, she's a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children.  When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice  is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer's disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Ordinary People.  

Frozen German Sweet Chocolate Pie - Tracy

Tracy decided to "theme" our dessert with a German pie.  Not only was it delicious, but super easy to whip up!  She found the recipe on Kraft's website.

1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet chocolate
1/3 cup milk, divided
4 oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
1 ready-to-use graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)

Microwave chocolate and 2 Tbsp. of milk in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted.  Add cream cheese, sugar and remaining milk; beat with wire whisk until well blended.  Refrigerate 10 min. to cool.

ADD whipped topping; stir gently until well blended.  Spoon into crust.

FREEZE 4 hours or until firm.  Let stand at room temperature or in refrigerator about 15 min. or until pie can be cut easily.  Store leftover pie in freezer.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

All the Light We Cannot See -- Discussion

Homemade German Cuisine

Book:  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Meeting Place:  Tracy's basement
Ratings:
Kim - 4.75

Tracy - 3.75

Michaelene - 2.75
Melissa - 4.5
Barb - 4
Kathy - 2.5
Sherry - 3.75
Average Rating:  3.71

Our night began with a delicious German cuisine which consisted of brauts/sauerkraut, potato pierogies, salad, pasta salad, and pears.  Melissa popped the cork to some French Champagne and we toasted the new year!  We traveled back in the 1940's to France and Germany and explored the damage and destruction of World War II.  All the Light We Cannot See presented many interesting, unique topics which made for a great discussion!  We explored all the story lines throughout the book and shared which/whom we liked the best.  Marie-Laure was highly admired because of her strength living a life blind.  We really felt the struggles and challenges a blind person experiences.  Another favorite character was her father.  We admired how he built city models for Marie-Laure so she could experience some freedom around town.  He was definitely a candidate for "father of the year".  Werner, an orphan, highly knowledgable of radio transmissions, did not go unnoticed.  Other favorites discussed were Uncle Etienne and Madame Manec.

Michaelene's the winner!

BCDP:  In the story, there were 4 diamonds floating around and being searched.  One was real and rare, the other 3 fake.  Marie-Laure's father escaped France with the real diamond, "Sea of Flames", which put him and his family in danger.     Sherry themed the BCDP with 6 "gems".  The red gem was the "Sea of Flames", where the blue were fakes.  She taped them under our chairs and the winner, Michaelene, had the real deal!  She won a gift card to Panera Bread.  

Recommendation:  There were some mixed reviews, but most members enjoyed the book and would recommend it!  We really liked the characters and the World War II setting.  Some members did not like the jumping around in time.  Sherry felt the book could've been 100 pages shorter and complained there were too many unnecessary details.  Overall, a great read with some high ratings from our members.

Extra:  Sherry bought reader wraps for the entire group!