Last Saturday, our book club met at Jennifer's home to enjoy a meal together, and to discuss,
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. This book has been on bestsellers' lists this past year, and many of us were eager to read it. Since it is set in the South and there were many references to food in the book, we decided that our meal should reflect a Southern meal.
We enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, collard greens, salad, potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon, homemade corn salsa, chocolate pie, peach pie, and black bottom cupcakes. After some time to catch up on events of the summer, we sat down to a wonderful discussion. Some of our discussion revolved around our favorite parts, how relevant the story is to "today," oppression, relationships between different groups of women, how we treat others, the impact of how things are perceived, and even whether or not men would enjoy the book (since it is about women and their relationships), etc... Everyone in our group agreed that this was a fantastic read- we all highly recommend it! The next book we will be reading is
The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. For many of us, reading non-fiction will be a challenge, but it will be good to go outside our comfort zone. I am sure that this book will bring up many points of discussion when we gather together next month!
A highly talked about title that many people are reading nowadays is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. Choosing this book was risky- we've read a lot about how graphic and violent this book is. Many club members chose not to read the book for this very reason. Several of us decided to take a risk and see for ourselves what this book is all about! We met at Tracy's home to enjoy a Swedish-inspired meal, since the book is set in Sweden and written by a Swedish author. We had Swedish meatballs, roasted root vegetables, salad, fruit salad, bread, and a Swedish dessert called "Kladdkaka" (accompanied by a scoop of ice cream and a huge dollop of whipped cream, which Tracy taught me how to make that same night- I know, it's pathetic I didn't know how to previously). We all tried some lingonberry jam (courtesy of Emily from IKEA, though she sadly couldn't join us), and Tracy was the only one who was brave enough to try some canned herring (the rest of us couldn't get past the smell when it was opened!). 
Other than the pungent fish smell, the meal was fantastic! 
Tracy even had parts of the movie version playing in the background throughout the evening. I guess the U.S. version is coming out some time soon, though we're told the Swedish version is pretty accurate to the book. Surprisingly, all of us who came agreed that we liked the book, despite the graphic violence. In fact, most of us have already begun reading the second and third title in the Milennium Trilogy! The first portion of the book was very slow, but once you get past the slow beginning, the author did a great job of "hooking" the reader. There was a lot of discussion about the issues raised in the book- for example, the violence against women in Sweden, how "sexually charged" the book is, as well as how disturbing it is that someone "created" the scenarios in the book. We all agree that it was a good, suspenseful page-turner. I have already read the second one, The Girl who Played with Fire (which in my opinion, is even better than the first), and look forward to reading the third one!
Over dinner, we shared about our holiday memories and traditions. Later in the evening, we chatted about the book- we all agree that it was definitely unconventional- full of short stories, somewhat sarcastic/cynical, and definitely not cheesy! In the end, it was just nice to gather with a wonderful group of women during this festive season.
We met to discuss, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. This book gives insight into the food industry, raising questions about where our food comes from. For many of us, it was quite a challenge to read this non-fiction piece. So, to go with this book, many of us watched the documentary, Food Inc. Emily hosted our evening, and each of us were charged with the challenge of bringing a dish with knowledge of where all the ingredients came from. This activity in itself was eye-opening for me! I spent a considerable amount of time learning about Fresno State's Farm Store, Whole Foods, and the Vineyard Farmer's Market. Interestingly enough, with the exception of a fish dish, the rest of our dishes were vegetarian! The book and film certainly heightened our awareness- for some of us, it has caused us to completely reevaluate our eating and the way we prepare our meals. For others, we'll be taking things one step at a time- for example, my family is committing to making one vegetarian meal every week, a move that is significant to us since we (I) are self-proclaimed carnivores!
Since the book is a mystery, we decided to do a "mystery dinner" (thanks to Lotti for the great suggestion). The book is based on the poem, Ten Little Indians, and so people were given a line from the book and had to bring a dish based on that particular line. We really had no idea what people were going to bring! Fifteen of us met at Karen R.'s house for dinner and discussion. She came up with wonderful centerpieces for the tables involving different items from the book. 
She also created a "mystery punch" and several wines' labels were hidden for people to try. It was so fun to see what people came up with- the dinner was wonderful! Here are the lines of the poem: 
Of our group, only one person correctly matched all of the lines with the corresponding dish- Shawna!
After dinner and the chance to chat with friends, we headed inside to discuss the book. Some people really enjoyed the book, and others didn't care for it. Some loved the "gotcha" and some were disappointed by the lack of character development, and lack of clues for the reader to uncover the mystery. We even delved into topics of guilt, manipulation, justice, and societal influences. For more information about And Then There Were None, click 
Our Book Club met together for the second time last night. The book we've been reading is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
The book refers a great deal to the Mennonite culture, so it was only fitting that we started off with a Mennonite meal. Emily brought some fancy cheeses (like if it was for vaspa), Tracy and Jill made borscht (chicken and beef), Jamie made zwiebach, Karen made verenika casserole and brought German sausage, and Lotti baked rhubarb plautz. It was delicious- thank you to those who brought things to share with the rest of us!
Since we all attend a Mennonite church and many of us are either culturally Mennonite or married to one, I knew our discussion was going to be very interesting! Another dynamic that added to our discussion was the fact that many of the women know or know of either the author and/or her family. I think it's safe to say that there were mixed reviews- some women were offended and felt like the book was very disrespectful, and others thought that it was funny and a just a snapshot of a woman's journey to understanding herself. Overall, if there's anyone out there who is interested in reading this book, I know where to find 16 copies! I don't think any of us loved the book enough to highly recommend it, nor do I think that any of us will be holding onto our copy! Overall, the gathering was exactly what I have been hoping to be a part of- a group of people getting together to hang out and talk about what we read, discussing different perspectives, and reflecting on new insights. It was a great evening! For more information about the book, click 