Recap: Eat, Pray, Love

Yesterday we had our meeting for Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was also our annual pool party at Nancy’s house. Nancy always has such a gorgeous setup for us! We had two out-of-town guests, my Gram, Eileen, (from Florida) and Melissa’s mom, Marlene (from Tennessee).

Stephanie chose this book for us because she received it for Christmas and needed an excuse to read it. Unfortunately she still hasn’t read it because her new baby girl arrived last month and just about eliminated her reading time. Nicole was in the same boat, with her 2^nd son arriving last month as well. Both babies attended their first book club meeting yesterday.

As usual for us, opinions on this book were mixed. Bev wasn’t a big fan, mostly because the book came across as very self-centered to her. She shared the belief that if you’re only looking inside yourself for happiness, you’re not likely to find it; she was disappointed that the author did so little for anyone other than herself. Melissa wasn’t all that impressed with the book either, but (sorry!) I can’t remember what her reasons were. Annette tried to listen to the audio version but was bored practically to tears by the narrator’s monotone reading.

Personally I expected to hate it and I actually liked it quite a bit (I’ll be posting a complete review on my blog today or tomorrow). I was in the minority at the meeting though. Nancy did enjoy it for the most part. There were sections that she could relate to in some ways. And she and I agreed that the writing style was very engaging.

Two of the gals who couldn’t make it to the meeting loved the book (I know, because they told me!) and I’d love to hear their thoughts as there was NO ONE at the meeting who really loved this book. Carrie and Amy – please post your thoughts in the comments!

Our discussion mainly focused on two topics:

• Gilbert’s refusal to explain the reasons behind her divorce – none of us were happy with this at first, but some of us were able to get past it, appreciate her reasons and focus on the rest of the book while others were stuck on her refusal to divulge more info
  

• Did she or did she not change by the end of the book? If so, in what ways? And did that make her a “better person”?

I’m still compiling votes and will update this as more come in, but for now here’s where we stand:

3 members gave it a 7

1 member gave it a 3

(I’ll post the average once I get the rest of the votes in.)

Guest Blog Posts & Reminder

Remember me telling you that I'm now an official contributor to the blog at ReadingGroupGuides.com? Well my newest post is up!

Click here to read my recap of our meeting with DL Wilson, and then click here to read HIS thoughts on our meeting - how cool is that?!

(His post is dated Aug. 1 so if you click over after today you'll have to scroll down the page a bit.)

Please post a comment over there and let me know what you think about both posts!

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Nancy wanted me to remind you all to bring bug spray to the pool party at her house on Sunday. She says the mosquitoes are getting worse every day. :(

Meeting Recap: Unholy Grail

This past Sunday we met at Audrey's church to discuss Unholy Grail. Hmm, meeting at a church to discuss a book on religious conspiracies ... ~LOL~ Author DL (David) Wilson joined us; this was OUR first time meeting with an author and HIS first time meeting with a book group so no one knew what to expect.

The meeting went incredibly well! When he gave us our books last month, David asked that we each write down our three most favorite and three least favorite things as we read. This was the perfect way to handle an author meeting, in my opinion. It allowed us to encourage the author in the areas we thought he succeeded in while giving us the push we might need to share the things we thought could use improvement. I mean, no one wants to be insulting, right? But we do want to be honest and this plan made that easy to do.

Just about everyone came up with something that she enjoyed about the book, and just about everyone came up with something that she did not enjoy. For a while the conversation veered off into religious beliefs but thankfully that didn't last too long. And we all got a good laugh when David repeatedly stated (with a great sense of humor) that "THIS is why I'll never write a religious book again!"

At the end of the meeting David surprised the girls with unedited copies of his upcoming bioterrorism novel for any who were interested. Thanks!!!

We had three new members this time - welcome all! Eleven people attended the meeting and lots more read the book but couldn't make it to the meeting. This was our biggest group of readers ever ... 17! Here's how the rating went:

• 4 = 3 votes
• 5 = 2 votes
• 6 = 7 votes
• 8 = 5 votes

That give us an average rating of 6.1 for Unholy Grail.

Our next meeting will be at Nancy's house on Aug. 3 and it's our Annual Pool Party - yeah! We'll be discussing Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. This was Steph's book pick. Kelli gets to choose the next book.

At our next meeting we'll also discuss ways to improve our club. Please think of the things you like about SdelleS and also the things that need improvement; I want to hear from honest opinions from everyone. :)

(In case you forgot, here's the backstory of how David Wilson ended up at our book club.)

I have our books!

Hi ladies - David dropped off signed copies of his book Unholy Grail today! I'll have them for you at our meeting on Sunday. He was also kind enough to give me an extra signed copy that I can give away on my other blog - how cool!

As I mentioned in the emails, David is looking for constructive criticism on this book. He suggested that we each make of list of the three things we like most and the three things we like least about his book. I think this is an excellent idea that will lead to a great discussion.

FYI, David is very easy to talk to; I think our meeting with him will be very comfortable and informative. He brought the books to my office this afternoon and we had a few minutes to chat before he left again. He let me know that he asked our club to read his book for two main reasons. First, we read books from different genres (unlike some other clubs who stick with the same types of books each month). Second, we don't always agree about the books. He wants to hear from diverse readers who know how to verbalize their thoughts - good or bad - on a book. Like I said, he was very easy to talk to and I'm looking forward to our meeting more than ever.

For those of you who will not be at the meeting at Nicole's on Sunday, I'll work out a time/place to get your book to you. I hope you are enjoying The Kite Runner ... I'm sure we'll have LOTS to talk about at the meeting!

2006: Memoirs of a Geisha

Annette (my mom) picked Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, and it led to one of the best meetings we've ever had. This book lends itself to a themed dinner, and we went all out! Annette decorated the house with Japanese umbrellas and other treasures. Everyone came dressed in Japanese-inspired garb. We ate sushi, edamame, potstickers, and lots of other Asian food including some kind of strange, gooey dessert. After the meal and discussion, Annette's husband Hugh (my dad) brought out an authentic samurai sword. His father, Gorman, was stationed in Okinawa after WWII, and Hugh grew up there. The sword was a gift to Gorman from a Japanese friend, who said it had been in his family for generations. Needless to say, the clothing, food and artifacts made for an extra-special evening!

And now, about the book! We thought the book was well written and captivating. We also found it interesting to learn that the woman Golden based his book on ended up suing him after it was published. She provided him with information to write the book on the condition that she be left anonymous. However when he published the book it included a dedication thanking her by name.

Several of us got together to watch the movie a few weeks later. We agreed that it was an excellent adaptation and well worth watching.

There were 6 of us at this book club meeting, and everyone loved the book. Ratings included one 9 and five 10s! That made the official rating 9.8.