We are please to announce that our book is complete and that we are sending it out to publishers and agents.
Wish us luck!
Author: kim.harwanko
February 2014 – Happy Anniversary to Us!
It’s hard to believe we have been together for 10 years. So many books, so many enjoyable evenings.
Thank you all so much for coming on this adventure with me.
January 2014
Happy New Year and welcome 2014!
The Gang is almost all here – doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s fantastic. As with any new year, we are hoping we can make it through the challenges and bring some good fortune our way.
Speaking of good fortune, our book this month was John Grisham’s latest novel, “Sycamore Row.” Grisham takes us back to Clanton, Mississippi (fictional town) and Jake Brigance, the hero of his first book “A Time to Kill.” It was worth the wait. (See my review under Reviews on the right by author’s name.)
A good pick for book clubs – exciting trial drama and good flawed characters.
Enjoy!
December 2013 Holiday Party
Between Friends Book Club wrapped up the year with our annual holiday party on December 7.
I’m always amazed at the end of a year and in the speed of its passing. Some years are better than others, and some are more productive. This was a mixed-bag type of year for me and for some of the ladies, and I hope that next year will see less changes and more fun.
We said goodbye to some ladies and welcomed new ladies to the book club this year. We even tried our hand at writing – more to come on this in the new year!
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, and an incredible New Year!
November 2013 – “Reading in the Dark”
The last book of the year was amazing!!!
Seamus Deane’s “Reading in the Dark,” takes you to Northern Ireland in the 1940’s and 1950’s to an Irish Catholic family with secrets. The last book I read on Ireland was the sensational “Angela’s Ashes.” Both stories have the innocence and wonder of childhood, even while the worst of humanity is brought down on the families.
The protagonist in “Reading in the Dark,” is an unnamed boy we follow as he tries to figure out what is haunting his mother. See my review under Reviews on the right.
An excellent book for book clubs!
October 2013 – “Back to Blood”
Our October meeting was quite small, so I saved the book “Reading in the Dark,” by Seamus Deane for November’s meeting.
I read Tom Wolfe’s latest novel “Back to Blood.” I have a review under Reviews on the right for book clubs. I always enjoy reading a Wolfe novel because he is such a unique voice in the literary world. I remember reading “Bonfire of the Vanities,” back in the 1980’s, and my boss at the time said he couldn’t finish it, that all people are not that evil. I did finish the novel and read his subsequent works.
When I read a Wolfe novel, I don’t read for the characters, but for that moment in time that Wolfe deems relevant to our microcosm here in the US. His characters lack dimension and I rarely find myself rooting for one, but he has a way of developing the story and pushing us along with it. He shows us a few snapshots of the microcosm and interprets it as only Wolfe can do.
I’m not sure that this is a good pick for all book clubs. There are two very in-depth reviews that may help at 1) http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/10/15/121015crbo_books_wood – this is an excellent review by James Wood; and 2) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/books/review/back-to-blood-by-tom-wolfe.html?_r=0 from The New York Times.
If you’ve read “Back to Blood,” let me know what you thought.
September 2013
We had a lovely time at Fran’s house for book club. Our book was “We is Got Him,” by Carrie Hagen.
This was the true story of the first kidnapping for ransom in the United States. The ladies liked learning about the story, but it was not a favorite pick. Sometimes nonfiction reads a little slower, and it can be tedious (see review under Reviews to right). The kidnapping received a great deal of media coverage with both Philadelphia and New York papers at the time of the kidnapping. It produced a lot of outrage from the public. The public had become emotionally attached to this horrible crime. So, the media stayed with the story for a long time, and inadvertently told the world about this new kind of crime. The rest is history.
August Book Club, 2013
We had a small book club this month, most members were on vacation. Our book was “The Beginner’s Goodbye,” by Anne Tyler (see my review under Reviews on right-side of website under author).
I had read “The Beginner’s Goodbye,” and “A Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion within a few weeks of each other. Both books dealt with death. Didion’s book is nonfiction, and chronicles her life after her husband unexpectedly died, and her daughter was gravely ill. Tyler’s book is a work of fiction (although Tyler also lost her husband).
There’s a subtly to Tyler’s writing, and we as readers need to slow down and breathe when reading her work. There is no wave after wave of unbelievable tension in her stories, just normal lives under normal circumstances.
Didion’s book is raw and you see the love she had for her husband in every paragraph and every word. I don’t feel that Tyler’s protagonist had that kind of passion for his wife.
I do think that “The Beginner’s Goodbye,” is a good book for book clubs because it allows you to discuss death without the immense heaviness that some other books have. It will also lead to discussions on marriage.
Enjoy the rest of summer.
July’s Book Club
As always we had a great time at book club. This was an open month – meaning no book was assigned. Instead, we all shared books we had read that we thought were really good. I had just completed reading the classic “Rebecca,” by Daphne du Mauier (see my review to the right under du Mauier).
Everyone spoke about a recent book that had captured their attention. Two of those were picked for future book club books.
Good books, good friends, good food, and good drinks = a wonderful evening, what more could you ask for!
1920’s Paris – Ooh la la
Our June book club met for a lively dinner on June 7th. This month’s book was “The Paris Wife,” by Paula McLain.
We were introduced to Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife as the newlyweds made their way to Paris from their first home in Chicago. Paris was the cultural crossroads for new emerging artists, who were stripping away the old confines and creating their own art. Paris was almost a requirement for these artists.
McLain walks us around Paris and around the Hemingway marriage. Both are intriguing. We know Hemingway will become a renowned writer, but we see his insecurities and his bravado. We watch as Hadley makes a home on a shoe-string allowance, and offers Hemingway comfort and serenity when he needs it. Hadley respected Hemingway and believed in his abilities as a writer and as a person. Her love for him almost transfers to the readers and we tolerate some of Hemingway’s not so shinning moments, until, of course, he goes too far. Read my review under the author’s name on the right side of my website.
A must read for book clubs!
