Summer Reading

Thank you Julie for hosting last night's book discussion!

Kelby's selection for our summer reading is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. This book is the Goodread

s Book Club selection for the months of June and July. It has won several accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle

Award and it will become an HBO series.

From Goodreads:

Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.

In addition, we discussed some books that are on our summer reading wish lists. Click on each book title for more info.

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

Caleb's Crossing or People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Swim Back to Me or The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Feel free to comment with other book suggestions.

Happy summer...happy reading!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Since you are out of town,

we send you happy wishes across the miles!

Have a great day!

The NTSBC gals

June NTSBC Meeting

We will meet at Julie's house this Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. for a fireside chat (outside that is) to discuss Skinny Dip. If you have not responded to Julie yet, please email her to let her know if you'll be there. See you soon!

June Book Selection

We are lightening things up as we head into summer! Julie has selected Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen. In an excerpt from a 2004 New York Times review, Janet Maslin praises Hiassen's work...

At this point in his career as a comic novelist, Carl Hiaasen did not need to get any better. He has long been writing smart, fizzy Floridian escapades that amount to pure reading pleasure. But "Skinny Dip", his latest, is something more: a screwball delight so full of bright, deft, beautifully honed humor that it places Mr. Hiaasen in the company of Preston Sturges, Woody Allen and S.J. Perelman. This book is dedicated to the late, priceless Warren Zevon, who provided a theme song for Mr. Hiaasen's previous "Basket Case" and whose quick, diabolical wit put him on that same list.

Almost every living organism in this book fares well as the story ends. Not even the story's snakes or tasty little dogs are made to suffer. But nobody winds up happier than the reader, unless it's Mr. Hiaasen for having hit his stride so unmistakably. "Skinny Dip" is a madcap trip through southern Florida, but Mr. Hiaasen's geography no longer matters. You'd follow him anywhere.

I for one, can't wait to dive into this book! Mark your calendar for our next book discussion on June 15.

April NTSBC Meeting - Change of Location

We are scheduled to meet tomorrow on Wednesday, May 18 from 9:00 to 11:00 am to discuss The 5 Love Languages.

As you know we were scheduled to meet at Cari's house but there's been a change in location. Cari's mom is in town and has extended her visit, thus, speaking in the language of Quality Time. Julie has spoken in the Acts of Service language, by graciously offering her home for our discussion. I know we all join Cari in offering our Words of Affirmation to Julie for hosting us at such a short notice. I guess the love languages are at work!!

Hope to see you at Julie's tomorrow morning at 9:00!

Remember to take the Quiz to see what love language you speak. We can all compare!

The Help Movie

Mark your calendar for August 12 for the release of The Help movie. Until then...take a look at the trailer. Can't wait!

Here is a fun behind the scenes clip of how they gave Jackson, Mississippi a makeover for the movie:

http://youtu.be/lsfuhjtxQ3Y

A Well Deserved Honor

Lt Michael Murphy, Navy Seal, honored with warship bearing his name

AP – This undated file photo released by the U.S. Navy shows Navy Seal Lt. Michael P. Murphy, from Patchogue,

By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press – Thu May 5, 11:59 am ET

BATH, Maine – Engaged in a frenzied firefight and outnumbered by the Taliban, Navy Lt. Michael Murphy made a desperate decision as he and three fellow SEALs fought for their lives on a rocky mountainside in Afghanistan's Kunar Province in 2005.

In a last-ditch effort to save his team, Murphy pulled out his satellite phone, walked into a clearing to get reception and called for reinforcements as a fusillade of bullets ricocheted around him. One of the bullets hit him, but he finished the call and even signed off, "Thank you."

Then he continued the battle.

Dan Murphy, the sailor's father, said it didn't surprise him that his slain son nicknamed "The Protector" put himself in harm's way. Nor was he surprised that in the heat of combat his son was courteous.

"That was Michael. He was cool under fire. He had the ability to process information, even under the most difficult of circumstances. That's what made him such a good SEAL officer," Murphy said.

A warship bearing the name of the Medal of Honor recipient will be christened Saturday — on what would have been Murphy's 35th birthday — at Bath Iron Works, where the destroyer is being built.

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Have a great day Michelle!

The NTSBC Gals

No Reading Required!

Did your invitation to the Royal Wedding get lost in the mail like mine? If so, please join me for breakfast to watch the celebration (via recording). Come for a few minutes or stay for the whole morning. Pajamas, casual or formal attire ~ hats optional!

May Book Selection

Sorry for the delay in announcing this...Cari has chosen, The 5 Languages of Love by Gary Chapman as our May book selection. We will meet on May 18...details to come on time and place.

An excerpt from Amazon.com:

Unhappiness in marriage often has a simple root cause: we speak different love languages, believes Dr. Gary Chapman. While working as a marriage counselor for more than 30 years, he identified five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. In a friendly, often humorous style, he unpacks each one. Some husbands or wives may crave focused attention; another needs regular praise. Gifts are highly important to one spouse, while another sees fixing a leaky faucet, ironing a shirt, or cooking a meal as filling their "love tank." Some partners might find physical touch makes them feel valued: holding hands, giving back rubs, and sexual contact. Chapman illustrates each love language with real-life examples from his counseling practice.

You can actually take a test to assess what kind of love language you speak. Take the test here.

The days are long, but the years are short

Since reading The Happiness Project, the phrase "the days are long, but the years are short", has become my personal daily mantra. This morning's Zits comic strip struck a chord with me. My parents are visiting and my dad asked me why I was hiding eggs and doing baskets for my kids who clearly are beyond believing in the Easter Bunny. I told him it's one of our family traditions. I felt a little defensive about it and thought maybe I was just doing it for myself because I wasn't ready to give it up. However, once I saw my big boys and little girl practically taking each other down in the big hunt, while laughing hysterically, I was convinced that they too like our traditions. May you have a blessed Easter holiday with your loved ones and enjoy celebrating your traditions...be it with children, parents or friends.

You or Somone Like You -- a "not too serious" review

Sitting in Brigid's handsomely appointed living room, sheltered from the cacophony of the world outside, the intrepid ladies of the NTSBC delved into You or Someone Like You by world renowned scent critic and self-styled auteur extraordinaire, Chandler Burr. Wine and conversation flowed freely as these loquacious literary ladies dissected and divined the larger portent of M. Burr's controversial contention that Judaism's fixation on separateness is a myopic world vision and every bit as racist as any other "ism" in which one group ascribes superiority to its members simply as a matter of birthright. While some thought the work provocative, daring, and original, Brigid and Margaret cogently observed that the tome read more like a term paper than a novel and passionately objected to the scribe's incessant and contrived references to esoteric literary works. Kelby and Peggy tacitly agreed with their erudite assessment. Not having finished the book, Teresa diplomatically recused herself from the discussion, but commented that she would toss the book out straight away. Her sudden vehemence took us all by surprise, but privately we all envied her, for unlike us, she would never have to carry with her the memory of You or Someone Like You.

Happy Birthday

Julie!

Wishing you a happy day!

The NTSBC gals

All Things Books

Here are a few things we thought you Bookies might be interested in...

www.bookbrowse.com and www.bookmovement.com are both good resources, similar to goodreads.com, but with more emphasis on book clubs. Book Browse has a section on book club advice as well a list of weekly recommendations. Both websites allow you to peruse the site but to gain complete access, they require membership. Book Movement is free but Book Browse charges a fee after a one month free membership.

Peggy found a site that offers FREE audio books at www.bookshouldbefree.com. Are you saying to yourself that there must be a catch? It appears there really isn't a catch and the books are really free. While you won't find any books from the current best seller list, you will find many classics and older books. This would be a great way to catch up on all those books you feel you should read. The audio books might be be helpful to some of the high school students who are struggling with the books on their required reading list.

Lastly, Peggy discovered we are not the only Not Too Serious Book Club in existence! Our sister NTSBC is a program offered through the Midland, Michigan Library. In case you are curious, they have read such books as The Eyre Affair, The Time Traveler's Wife, Look Again, Cover Her Face and Mysterious Affair at Styles. Perhaps they'd like to check out our blog!

12 Tips for Reading More

Thought you might be interested in these tips from our friend Gretchen...

gretchenrubin

12 tips for getting more reading done. Never enough time to READ! In fact, I'm going to go read right now. http://bit.ly/cMsWje

April NTSBC Meeting

We will gather at Brigid's home on Wednesday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m to discuss YOSLY. Light appetizers and desserts will be served. Since this blog is public and probably has a huge audience on the world wide web (ha!), I don't want to post Brigid's address. Please let me know if you need it and I will send it to you privately.

Hope you can make it for a lively discussion. Looking forward to hearing what Cari has selected for May!

Click here to look over some discussion questions: YOSLY Reading guide

"A book is like a person, and one's reaction to a person invariably has more to do with one's own personality and life experience than with the actual person herself."
— Chandler Burr (You or Someone Like You)

Happy Birthday Kelby!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Best wishes from

the NTSBC gals

YOSLY

Those in the know, refer to our book, You or Someone Like You, as YOSLY (just wanted to make sure you were among those "in the know")! Have you started reading it yet? I am still waiting for mine to land on my door step...I'm hopeful it will arrive in time for spring break.

Here are a couple of sites you may want to check out prior to our next meeting.

Author Chandler Burr's website is: http://www.chandlerburr.com/newsite/index.htm

Did you know he was the New York Times perfume critic? Who knew there was such a position!

The discussion site for YOSLY is: http://www.annerosenbaum.com/

Lastly, I wanted to pass along this quote regarding YOSLY...I think we can be serious enough, don't you?

“A must-read for any book group serious enough to spend more time discussing the book at hand, rather than discussing what wine to serve during the meeting…”— NPR'S FRESH AIR

To those traveling over spring break...

may you have safe travels,

beautiful weather

and lots of time to read!

April Book Selection

By looking at the above book covers, it would appear we are reading 3 very different books. However they are all covers for our next book selection which is You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr. Question...in a bookstore, does a book's cover influence if you will take a look at it? If so, which cover would peak your interest?

This looks like a fun and interesting read, especially for those traveling over spring break. Thanks Brigid!

To read the book's synopsis on goodreads.com, click here.

Mark your calendars for April 20th for our next book discussion!

Thank you Clare!

Thank you Clare for hosting a great book club discussion! Although we didn't stay on topic the whole time (do we ever?), it was a great conversation.

For those of you who missed it, you might be interested to know that The Lone Survivor is supposedly being made into a movie (filming early this year) and a book is coming out on May 15 about the life of fellow Operation Redwing member, Lt. Michael Murphy, titled Seal of Honor. Who would you cast as Marcus Luttrell in the movie?

We also watched Marcus Luttrell's Today Show interview. If you haven't seen it, links for the video and other related info can be found in earlier posts below.