September Meeting- War by Sebastian Junger

It's been 7 long weeks since our last meeting!  Tonight we got together to discuss War by Sebastion Junger which was Breana's pick.  I think we all came to the meeting not "liking" the book but after discussing it we left appreciating it more.  We all agreed we didn't care for his style of writing, we craved to know more of each characters life since it was non-fiction.  I think we all wanted to find a connection with one or more of them but with his style of writing it made it fairly difficult to do that.
It was an interesting read and even though we didn't "love" it, at least it gaves us lots to discuss.  It sparked discussion on war in general and the lifestyle of a soldier.  The book made us appreciate what is going on in our country and what our soldiers are fighting for.  For many of us war is a topic we don't want to talk about, because it gets a little uncomfortable I think.  It was good for us to talk about it though, and even though the book isn't on any of our Top 10 lists I think it's one we can all appreciate the writers journey and telling of the story.

We also have a new LBBC member!!!  Our sorority sister Jodi from college joined us tonight!  Hopefully we didn't scare her off & she'll join us again next month:)   

Oprah's New Pick!

Oprah picked her next Book Club pick this week!

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen 

"In his latest novel, Jonathan Franzen returns to fiction with a comic and tragic epic of contemporary love and marriage. Freedom captures the temptations and burdens of liberty: the thrills of teenage lust, the shaken compromises of middle age, the wages of suburban sprawl, the responsibility of privilege. Charting the characters' mistakes and joys as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever-changing and confusing world, Freedom is an indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time."

I think it sounds pretty good!  Has anyone read this?   

WAR...

Over fifteen months, Sebastian Junger followed a single platoon based at a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan. His objective was both simple and ambitious: to convey what soldiers experience - what war actually feels like.

In these pages, he fives insight into the truths of combat: the fear, the honor, and the trust among men. He describes things that few civilians will ever witness or go through: the endless, body-numbing anticipations of battle; the unquestioned and automatic risks soldiers take in combat situations to protect their brothers; the adrenaline-fueled confusion of being ambushed. Junger shows what it means to fight, to serve, and to face down mortal danger on a constant basis.

This hits home for me, so I am extremely interested in what is written. I think I will have a better appreciation for everything after this. Enjoy!

The Passage & Our Growing Club...

Last night we met in Lawrence at The Oread Hotel to discuss The Passage by Justin Cronin.  We ate at Slice of History, a cute little pizza place in The Oread Hotel.  If you haven't been to The Oread yet, you must!  It's such a beautiful hotel!

We all agreed the book was LONG.  Too long for us to be honest.  After discussing it more we all {I think} started liking it a little more once we got some questions cleared up and talked about.  This book is part of a trilogy, thank goodness because there is a lot to clear up!  Breana {thankfully} noticed a lot of little things that some of us didn't {me & Erin} so she brought to light a few things that we didn't catch about the book that put a little extra twist on the storyline!  I'm so glad Breana is a thorough reader... I was bored with the book at times so I started skimming {which Amy said she did too:)} so when I do that then I obviously miss out on parts of it that end up being kinda important!

Even though the book wasn't our favorite it did give us a lot to discuss.  I guess that's what a Book Club is about; we may not always like the pick but at least it gives us something to talk about!

Our Book Club is GROWING!

Our Book Club now has TWO Mommys to Be!!  Breana is 10 weeks pregnant and is due March 14th.  Breana's baby will be joining Big Brother Logan who is 2.  Erin is 26 weeks pregnant and due on November 23rd!  How exciting that in just a few months our Book Club will grow by two precious babies...we can't wait girls!

We are SO excited to pass on our love of books to the babies, so last night we threw Erin a SUPRISE Book Shower!  Since our last Book Club meeting she found out that she is having a baby BOY so we wanted to celebrate her news & "shower" her with books she can start reading to him.

She was so surprised!

We each brought her books and signed inside the covers so Baby L will know who gave him the books {& so Mama Erin will remember forever too!}  We had such a fun time finding the books & enjoyed reading them ourselves. 

Thanks for a fun night girls!  Can't wait for next month!!

Cute Amy... always brings a smile to your face:)

New Pick! The Passage by Justin Cronin

I was SO excited to pick our next book!  There is so much pressure to pick the "right" book and one that the entire group can enjoy.  After a lot of research I decided to pick The Passage by Justin Cronin. 

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.
As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.
With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

The Passage Website

The Passage FREE iPhone App

The Carrie Diaries Meeting

Last night was our June meeting reviewing The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell.  We met at Free State Brewery in Lawrence.  Emily got to join us this month also, we are hoping she can be a "full-time" member of LBBC:)

We had LOTS of laughs last night, I had such a good time... and as always I really look forward to our meetings cause it's our excuse to get together with the girls!  We all felt the same way about the book... about 3 stars, nothing too exciting but was a quick and easy summer read.  Everyone is a Sex & the City fan so many of us were wanting more of a connection from Carrie's high school days to what we saw on the TV show and there was no connection until the last sentence of the book!  Erin thought the author could have made Carrie more into fashion because she rarely mentions it.  Also, her family is never mentioned or included in the TV show so it was a little strange to hear so much about them in the book.  We all agreed that her friend Lali (we all pronounced this name differently by the way!) was a total "B"!  I think many of us can recall friends like that from high school! 

Breana thought the author did a great job telling the High School story, we all agreed.  We remember feeling like that "one guy" was going to be THE ONE... & then he breaks your heart as he moves on to the next girl.  It feels like your world is ending... yada, yada yada.  It was sad that at the end she felt like she didn't really have any friends, but I think a lot of girls feel like their real friendships don't develop until after high school.

Overall we thought the book was OK, if you are looking for a quick & easy read then this is it.  Don't set your expectations too high {like many of us} because the TV show is still MUCH better!

Summer Reading Challenge on Amy's Blog

I posted a Summer Reading Challenge on my blog, if you are interested in it you can visit my blog here.  It's from the awesome blog Booking Mama!