bookie book talk

I'm not sure why I get so much pleasure out of this, but look! My library books match what I claim I'm reading, visible to you on the left.

Guess which one is for my work book club. Nope. Wrong. Guess which one is for my best-ever book club. OK, you may have gotten that one right. Maybe.

Literacy!

In Real Book Club news, recent picks were: 

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• Machine of Death edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Lean In: Women Work & the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Of those, I recommend Gone Girl the most, although it did make several people totally crazy, which I also understand. It’s got a plot that won’t let you go, though. No denying that.

Next month we’ll discuss The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. I've already read it, which is good, because I've got a huge pile of other books to wade through.

For my Work Book Club we attempted The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt. Because everyone knows that discussing politics and religion at work is a good idea! But it worked out fine, in that I don’t think anyone finished it. It was very dry. I’ll try to finish it sometime, maybe. 

We also discussed Lean In, so that was a win for me, since I discussed it with both groups. 

Books books books

If you've wondered what business consultants do, here is an excellent summary: (from http://www.projectcartoon.com/cartoon/1. Follow link to view larger.)

Much though I sometimes complain about work, I do realize I'm part of a company on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Flexible hours, telecommuting, all the comforts of home while getting paid. Throw in some laundry while on a conference call. Only go downtown to the office a few times a year. It’s madness to complain. Plus they realize that they need to help bring a sense of belonging to the remote worker bees. Enter another book club. One I am paid to co-lead.

Yes, I’m cheating on Book Club. Yes, we gave Jean-Marie no ends of shit when she joined another one awhile back. This one is different, though! All via VOIP and no wine! That I know of! And I have a little blog on the internal company site as well, so, really, I’m cheating on all of you. I swear less on that one, though, how predictable of me. But all I say there is, this is our book. Come talk about it. Thanks, cheers, xoxoxoxo. So far we have discussed Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project.

Our take-aways from that book, which is sort of a self-help book, is to be sure to be born to rich parents, so you can take a year to write a book about how to increase your happiness quotient. And live in NYC, hire a nanny to watch your kids (but don’t mention her!), and generally obsess about happiness.

She has a blog with some nice quick ideas, like 13 Tips for Dealing with a Really Lousy Day. And this The Years are Short video is sweet.

In conclusion, splurge a little! Buy something to pamper yourself. And use your nice things. Don’t save them for a rainy day. There. That's probably all you need to know.

In January we will take a little time to ponder Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Wife of Charles. She wrote it awhile back, so she didn't know that she was supposed to call it The Pilot’s Wife. (See also The Senator’s Wife, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Shoemaker's Wife, The Tiger’s Wife, … I’m sensing a trend.)

And in Real Book Club news, recent picks were: 

• October: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• November: Machine of Death edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki
• December: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Book Club

So, the last few selections were: 

• May -  The Fault in our Stars by John Green (looove this book. Contains both a Venn diagram [but not that one] and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Win!)
• June - Sh*t my Dad Says by Justin Halpern (actually a better discussion than you may imagine)
• July - Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt (good fun)

We've been skipping August for awhile now, as vacation plans make it too difficult to read or show up. 

So, September is my pick: 

• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

You know me and my whole end-of-times books. I claimed at that time to be over this genre. But this one is different! Cuddlier! No cults! Just a mom and her kids, trying to survive a global weather-changing event and the breakdown of society. You know. The usual.

I'm expecting a good, if depressing, discussion. 

Carrot cake bake-off results

Note pictured: cake #6, which was a little late to the party.

There was a lot of smack talk leading up to the last book club. As you may recall, we had decided to get a definitive answer to the age-old question: what's the best carrot cake out there?

First, let's meet our contenders.

Are they not all gorgeous? The judges (2 non-participating book club members, one husband, two THRILLED elementary school kids) decided on two winners. The Best Looking and the Best Tasting. As it turns out, the same cake won both. I'll tell you which number in a minute. Go ahead and pick your favorite.

I've posted the recipe I used before. (Hi, Kate! Yes, your friend's!) That cake is a fairly substantial cake, with a lot of personality. I used the buttercream frosting recipe off the back of the powdered sugar box. Frankly, I was going for the looks category, as I think a good, moist carrot cake tastes much like the next. (And after tasting all 6, I'm sticking with that assessment. They were all very tasty.)

The winner looked like someone had just bought it from a fancy bakery. It's a lighter texture and flavor than my cake.

THE WINNING RECIPE

Jean-Marie reports that she found the carrot cake recipe on Allrecipes.com. It is:

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

To make frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

No word on how to make it so pretty, though. Apparently you'll have to figure that out yourself. She did mention having a set of those fancy icing tips, so you'll want to run out and purchase those. I used a ziplock bag with a corner cut off, as is traditional in my household.

THE BIG REVEAL

(Drumroll, etc.) The winner was NUMBER FIVE! Yes, congrats to NUMBER FIVE, made by our own dear Jean-Marie! I did get an honorable mention for my marzipan carrots, lovingly made by me, using bits of pistachio for the green stems. Several people were surprised they weren't real baby carrots. Apparently not everyone wants raw baby carrots on their cake. Who knew!

Bonus shot of my cake. Because, hey. It's my blog. 

So that was a fun evening. We didn't actually talk about the book much. It was Inés of my Soul by Isabel Allende. Next month's is The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

Book talk

Next pick for book club: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Back to Unwind (last month's pick) for a minute. As is typical for books we feel strongly about (especially negatively), we talked about it longer than usual. It didn't hurt that there was plenty of current events that fed into the discussion. With the GOP trying to take away women's rights to contraception, the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood kerfuffle, lots of material to discuss that related to the book. My final take on Unwind? Neal is pulling out all the stops to offend everyone. How juvenile. There's much better literature out there. Read something else.

And in this politically charged atmosphere, as so often happens, a carrot cake bake-off throwdown was launched. Yes, 7 of our 8 members are bringing a carrot cake to the April meeting. Judging will be on appearance and taste. We've been promised a prize by the one person not participating. She's more of a éclair baker. I can eat her éclairs for hours! Good thing that opportunity doesn't present itself monthly. Good lord.


Anyway. I assume I'll win the bake-off, har har, but in case I don't, I'll try to procure the winning recipe to share here. I definitely should win the appearance part. I have a Secret Weapon that I plan to use. My dad knows what it is. I bet he won't tell you what it is, either.


In non-book club reading, I just finished The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (interview and excerpt). Recommended. First book I've read in a long time that reminds me of what college was like during the 1980s.

For some reason this paragraph (page 49) struck me as particularly poignant. She's reading Roland Barthes A Lover's Discourse for homework:

It wasn't only that this writing seemed beautiful to Madeleine. It wasn't only that these opening sentences of Barthe' made immediate sense. It wasn't only the relief at recognizing that here, finally, was a book she might write her final paper on. What made Madeleine sit up in bed was something closer to the reason she read books in the first place and had always loved them. Here was a sign that she wasn't alone. Here was an articulation of what she had been so far mutely feeling. In bed on a Friday night, wearing sweatpants, her hair tied back, her glasses smudged, and eating peanut butter from the jar, Madeleine was in a state of extreme solitude.

Other books by Jeffrey Eugenides that you may have read: Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides. I liked the first but found the second unsatisfying. The movie, too. I'm pretty sure I saw the movie first. That probably ruined the book for me.

Ugh. Book club.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Lord, I hated this book. Not only does it remind me of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I hated, but I just finished The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, which also reminds me of Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk (aka Fight Club's author).


I'm over this genre. Which genre, you might ask? I don't even know what to call it. It's sci fi, with cold characters, religious cults, and general bullshit.

Edited to add: I just realized how nicely the recent controversy regarding denying transplants to children with developmental delays fits in with these books. Why make up this shit when the real shit is just as bad?

Book club!

Fear not, little blog. I will be posting again more soon. I feel inspired. Finally.

But first, our next book club pick is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I've already read it, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of science. I found an interesting interview with the author regarding the structure of the book and having herself in the book as a character.

Now if you'll excuse me, N finished building (mostly) my beautiful new bookshelves, and I have a couple thousand books to sort and organize.

Book book bookie!

I ended up selecting Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. A quick read for the holiday season. A nice blog to accompany it is Black and WTF. More old and odd photos for your enjoyment.

Rule one of book club

Rule 1: Do not post information about the new book until members of book club had a chance to get a copy.

We are reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I'm enjoying it, but the German is odd. Must be a dialect. Or something. He translated Zufriedenheit as happiness. That's just wrong. It's satisfaction.

I need to pick out my book for December. You'd think I'd have a bunch of ideas, but I dunno. I've been reading all these crazy books lately. I liked Little Bee by Chris Cleave so much, and then I read another one of his books, Incendiary. Loved that even more. Then I read Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. Apparently I've got a terrorism/end of the world theme going.

And they took away my Visual Bookshelf (It was free! It was online!) and didn't even warn me, so there went a giant list of books I loved. GRRRR.

Maybe I'll pick The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Or The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Or Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. Thoughts?

Book Club

Last month was Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, which lead to quite a discussion. As far as I'm concerned, as long as we discuss the book for more than 10 minutes, it's a hit. We all really enjoyed this one: always a plus.

Next month: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. I finally talked someone into picking this one! I think it's going to be a lively talk. Last time we did one of Lionel's books, I was shocked to learn it's a girl. Who names a girl Lionel? Bizarre. Oh, wait, it's not her given name. See? Learn something new every day.

Books, books, books

It's official. I'm only telling you the book club picks every other month. No reason. Don't really know why I still blog it anyway. Now that Amazon refuses to play nice and share 4% of the purchase price. Which I gave to charity. Whatever.

Anyway, I already mentioned that April was Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply, but I want to add that it reminded me of the movie Momento, both of which really need more than one reading/viewing. They are Complex and Make my Brain Ache. But in a good way.

May was Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Other people liked it.

July/August is Welcome to Utopia by Karen Valby which I have no opinion on yet, as I'm on page, um, 8 or something.

And as a bonus book recommendation, I'm halfway through In the Land of Invented Languages by Arika Okrent. Super fun for language geeks like me! Thumbs up. Geek quiz: How many invented languages can you name? There are at least 500.

Book club picks

Apparently I did it again, with the forgetting. April was Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. The evening ended very late, with my pregnant friend dropping me off around 2 am. Her water broke an hour later, and she had her bouncing baby boy at 8 am! Exciting! May's pick is Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. No babies are expected to arrive that evening. Although I am expecting a new niece in a few months. It's baby season!

Catching up on book club picks

Whoopsie. Apparently I've been negligent in my duties.

February was The Best American Short Stories 2010 (The Best American Series) which was a lot of fun. Quite a bit of discussion.

March is The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

My old buddy Tish wrote up her favorite books of 2010 for your viewing pleasure. Check it out.

I love a good white elephant gift exchange

As previously mentioned, book club had the annual white elephant gift exchange (WEGE) and a toy/book/clothing swap (very successful -- only 3 little items left over that no one wanted).

The WEGE requires some back story, as, sadly, so many good practical jokes do. I wrote a note on Facebook recently entitled "Books you hated. Really loathed." Here it is:

• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Book written by a total hack. Contains plot holes you could drive a truck through.
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Just hated the damn narrator. Repeatedly used all the words I hate, like "munch" and "toothsome." How I finished this piece of crap is beyond me.
• The Firm by John Grisham. GAH. Drivel.
• Bridges of Madison County by some damn fool who I'm not even going to look up. Worst grammar ever in a best seller. The clichés are thick on the ground.
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Of all the damn narcissistic, shallow, useless idiots, this one decides to write a book.

This lead to some very lively literary discussion, in which the word "crap" was, perhaps, over-used. In the comments, people added:

• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
• The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
• Twilight
• Loving Frank
• Vanity Fair
• Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead
• All the Berenstein Bears books
• The Catcher in the Rye
• The Life of Pi
• Everything ever written by Debbie Macomber, Virginia Wolf, and Emily Dickinson
• And ALL contemporary realist American fiction

So. Back to the WEGE. We gathered and drew numbers. When it was my turn, I picked a present and unwrapped it. It was a table-top fountain that I said I'd like to keep if possible. The next person stole it from me, as is allowed under the rules. I picked another present. The wrapped box contained 3 wrapped items. The first one turned out to be the same ugly stuffed scarecrow I got in this exchange last year. Groan! The other two looked like books, so I happily turned to them. First one? A Confederacy of Dunces! Ugh! The second one? The Da Vinci Code! Argh!

So hat's off to Margaret! Well played, friend. Well played.

The next book for book club will be The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty.

Book club! Wooooo! Book club!

Our selection for next month is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I've already read it, but I want to read it again. There's a lot going on in this book.

Plus we'll be having our third annual (or is it fourth?) White Elephant gift exchange. I love those. Plus we bring toys and books and clothing to swap with each other. It's tons of fun, and I can't wait. I've already been weeding out some kiddie books and toys.

Next selection

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich. I'm half through it and loving it!

Book group selection

Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya, which is not available at our local library. Whatever shall I do.

Next book

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard. I read part of this book while visiting our former book club member Kate last year. So really, Kate, I think your influence continues, despite your exile in Georgia.

And JM has missed three meetings in a row, so we should really just talk smack about her in the comments, don't you think?

Book club

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small. A very quick read, and our first graphic novel since Fun Home, a very long time ago.