July Book Pick

Thanks to all who braved the heat and came out to book club in July!! I think it's safe to say that Fifty Shades of Grey prompted our highest volume of readers ever! Also, Mandy was finally lured into the club for the first time... coincidence??

For July's book pick, we are reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. This book was an Oprah book club pick a few years back and also the center of controversy as to whether it is truly a memoir or not. Frey was accused of fabricating his narrative, thus making it more fictional than originally advertised.

Regardless, Im hoping it's a good read for all.

At the age of 23, James Frey woke up on a plane to find his front teeth knocked out and his nose broken. He had no idea where the plane was headed nor any recollection of the past two weeks. An alcoholic for ten years and a crack addict for three, he checked into a treatment facility shortly after landing. There he was told he could either stop using or die before he reached age 24. This is Frey’s acclaimed account of his six weeks in rehab.

Happy One Year Birthday, Booky Boo!!

Although a small turnout, we still had great conversation and great food (shout-out to Trader Joe's for becoming the default hors d'oeuvres provider) at this month's book club. Jacque's new deck out back is looking fantastic and we opted to enjoy it even though it's still not quite complete. Thanks so much for hosting us with your hectic schedule, Jacque!! Jaden is so fun to be around as he gets older!

So, on to business. Our book of the month will be...waitttt forrrr ittt...Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Just call us bandwagon Booky Boo. But aren't you just dying to see what all the hype is about? There's talk that it's a guaranteed recipe to amp up your sex life, so that's a plus, right??!! It's a three part series, so if we like it we might have the next couple months books already picked out!  What's even more fitting is that exactly a year ago when we had our inaugural book club meeting, we chose The Hunger Games as the first book (you see the bandwagon/trilogy theme I'm referring to here?).

Our July book club will be at Halley's house (we've come full circle, folks!) on Wednesday, July 18th at 6pm. We are hoping for a large turnout, so if that date does not work for you, please shoot her an email and we can make adjustments. The food theme of the night will be Indian and there will of course be as much 2 Buck Chuck as your little heart desires. Hope to see everyone there--mark your calendars!!

Halley's Address:
631 E. 62 St. (62nd and Holmes)
Kansas City, MO 64110

Synopsis: When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

March 2012 Book Club

Thanks to Jessica for hosting last month's book club. The overall consensus was great food and a great read for the month of February! We also welcomed Jenny to her first Booky Boo!! Moving forward with the next pick, we have selected Heft, by Liz Moore. A synopsis of the book is below. We have decided to push the next book club out to May to give everyone ample time to pick up the book and read (am I kidding myself here?). Jacque has graciously offered to host on Thursday, May 3rd at 7:00pm. Her house is located at:

15221 Hardy
Overland Park, KS 66223




On another note, a Booky Boo field trip might be in the works! Remember how The Hunger Games was our inaugural book club pick last summer? The movie came out last weekend. Look for field trip details forthcoming!!

In the meantime....happy reading!!!

Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career—if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel’s mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur’s. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene’s unexpected phone call to Arthur—a plea for help—that jostles them into action. Through Arthur and Kel’s own quirky and lovable voices, Heft tells the winning story of two improbable heroes whose sudden connection transforms both their lives. Like Elizabeth McCracken’s The Giant’s House, Heft is a novel about love and family found in the most unexpected places.

February 2012 Book Pick!

Thanks to Carly for hosting another successful book club session! We were able to congratulate Miranda on her upcoming nuptials as well as catch-up after the long book club break!! Our pick for this month is the memoir, Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman. Kerman chronicles her time in a minimum security women's prison for fifteen months, while writing with an air of comic relief that makes this book hard to put down!

March book club will be hosted by Jessica at her house at 1028 W. 41 St. Kansas City, MO 64111 on Thursday, March 15th at 6pm. Hope to see everyone there!!

February Book Club 2012

Welcome back, everyone, from the long holiday time off!!! We will kick off our 2012 book club meetings at Carly's house on Tuesday, February 7th at 6:30pm. Her address is:

12100 W. 136^th St. #415, OP, KS 66221


It's the first building behind the clubhouse on the right.


Carly will be in charge of selecting February's pick, so if you have suggestions, pass them her way!!


Hope to see everyone there!!!

November and December Read-Only Book Club

We have decided to take a short hiatus from book club meetings for the holidays, but didn't want to leave you high-and-dry with nothing to indulge in! One of our members suggested the recently published biography of Steve Jobs (written by Walter Isaacson) for the holiday break. The book is long (656 pages to be exact; hence the two month time frame) but has raving reviews about the iconic intellectual who changed the world of what we now know as the iGeneration. Sounds to me like the perfect book to crack open after Thanksgiving dinner next to the fireplace!! Hope you all get a chance to read and we will resume club meetings in the new year at Jacque's house!! Happy Reading!!

November Book Club

Although several of our members were not able to make our October meeting, the show went on with the help of a homemade pot of chili and cornbread at Jessica's house. In lieu of a conversation about the book (which I, for one, really enjoyed!!), we watched both the Kardashian wedding and Jaden Vaughn walking, talking, and looking more like a toddler each day. He is so much fun!

The book pick for this month is Intern, by Sandeep Jauhar. This is a nonfiction memoir about a doctor's journey through residency.

Next month's book club will be at Jacque's house in Overland Park. I will update with time and date once November is upon us.

Happy Reading!