May Book Selection

Our next book club meeting will be Thursday, May 13th. We will discuss A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White.

Pick a Book for May

Here are the contenders for our May book selection. Please vote in the poll above, but hurry! The poll will only be open through noon on Saturday!

A Soft Place to Land

For more than ten years, Naomi and Phil Harrison enjoyed a marriage of heady romance, tempered only by the needs of their children. But on a vacation alone, the couple perishes in a flight over the Grand Canyon. After the funeral, their daughters, Ruthie and Julia, are shocked by the provisions in their will.

Spanning nearly two decades, the sisters journeys take them from their familiar home in Atlanta to sophisticated bohemian San Francisco, a mountain town in Virginia, the campus of Berkeley, and lofts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As they heal from loss, search for love, and begin careers, their sisterhood, once an oasis, becomes complicated by resentment, anger, and jealousy. It seems as though the echoes of their parents deaths will never stop reverberating until another shocking accident changes everything once again.

Icing on the Cupcake

In Ansley Waller’s world of Southern belles and gentlemen, getting a diamond ring isn’t just important—it’s the ultimate goal. So when her fiancé, Parish, unceremoniously kicks her to the curb and cancels their upcoming wedding, Ansley is so ashamed that she decides to leave Dallas and make a fresh start. In a surprise move, she heads to New York City to live with her recently widowed grandmother, Vivian, whom she’s never met. In turn, Vivian gives Ansley a no-nonsense ultimatum: Rather than wallow in misery, either get a job or go home.

The Waller women have a tradition of baking their way out of sorrow. So Ansley mixes batch after batch of creative cupcakes—Black Bottom Heartache, Moving Blues Banana Caramel, Tres Leches Made Small. Before long, she’s opening up her own cupcake shop and even trying her hand at dating. But the ways of Manhattan’s eligible bachelors are altogether different from their Southern counterparts, and Ansley’s nearly fail-safe tactics fall flat. And worse, someone’s got a half-baked scheme to sabotage Ansley’s new life. It’ll take a cup of courage and a dash of Southern charm, plus a few secret ingredients, if Ansley hopes to pull off her recipe for success.

Leaving Unknown

Maeve Connolly is tired of being labelled as irresponsible. Yes, she may spend unhealthy amounts of time on Facebook and watch marathon sessions of America's Next Top Model, but Maeve isn't a typical post-college slacker. Determined to change her life and make her own luck, Maeve impulsively decides on a grand adventure - driving cross country to LA. But en route, Maeve's car breaks down and she is stranded in Unknown, Arizona. It is here, alone and in the middle of nowhere, that Maeve finally faces up to the reality of her past. What Maeve has denied acknowledging, even to herself, is that she isn't running from bad luck, but from something much more complicated - something that made her feel as though the world would never turn again, and her heart would always remain closed. What begins as a hilarious and quirky coming-of-age tale soon deepens into a complex portrayal of survivorship and one woman's journey to a new beginning. Funny, irreverent, and moving in equal measure, The Good Luck Girl will leave you smiling through tears.

Sarah's Key

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

Thanks for the Memories

How can you know someone you’ve never met? Joyce Conway remembers things she shouldn’t. She knows about tiny cobbled streets in Paris, which she has never visited. And every night she dreams about an unknown little girl with blonde hair. Justin Hitchcock is divorced, lonely and restless. He arrives in Dublin to give a lecture on art and meets an attractive doctor, who persuades him to donate blood. It’s the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time. When Joyce leaves hospital after a terrible accident, with her life and her marriage in pieces, she moves back in with her elderly father. All the while, a strong sense of déjà vu is overwhelming her and she can’t figure out why …

Quizball 57

Quizball 57

Who was the first prime minister of Israel?

Who was the first man to appear on the cover of the American Vogue?

A gooney bird is another name for which bird?

Who directed the 2005 Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home?

What is the US state capital of Washington?

Salpingitis is the medical term for the inflammation of which part of the body?

Who (at 2008) plays Doctor Gregory House in the TV series House?

The Butut is the monetary unit of which country?

Chrometophobia is an irrational fear of what?

Who won the 1987 British Formula One Grand Prix?

What type of creature is a bonnethead?

The first chamber of commerce in Britain was founded in which city in 1783?

Which country hosts the world screaming championships?

In astronomy what is the outermost region of a planet's atmosphere called?

A bibliophile is a lover of what?

In which year did Captain Scott reach the South Pole?

Which British sportsman's autobiography is entitled Walking Tall?

George Williams founded what in London in 1844?

Which novelist wrote under the pseudonym Ellis Bell?

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn played an architect and waitress in which 1992 film?

A costard is what type of fruit?

What is a corrida?

Which British rock band leased a six-acre section of Shepperton Studios in 1977 under the name of Ramport Enterprises?

Who painted The Monarch of the Glen?

In which year was Britain's first adhesive postage stamp the Penny Black issued?

In US politics who replaced Spiro Agnew as Richard Nixon's vice-president in 1973?

What does TGV most commonly stand for?

Who was crowned King of the Scots in 1306?

The term 'green-eyed monster' originated from which of Shakepseare's plays?

The Royal Mint is in which country of the UK?

answers in the comments section

April Meeting

Don't forget! Our April book club meeting is Thursday, April 15th at 6:45 at Andrea's house. Come celebrate giving the government your hard-earned money! We will be discussing Look Again by Lisa Scottoline. Bring your book and an appetizer to share. See you Thursday!