Good Carma.

Ahh, Carma always spoils us. I know that she will downplay the whole situation, but in the two hostess experiences, I have felt wonderfully spoiled. Carma had the ever-so-evil, but oh-so-delectable artichoke dip from Costco with various crackers and bread, mmmm. Then the small but irresistible bowls of candy and a wonderfully executed pound cake with fresh whipped cream and strawberries. And don't forget the fizzy, special soda drinks. It was perfect. Thank you Carma.

Our next book is The Host. Originally to be hosted by Kathy (but she's going to be out of town or otherwise unavailable), so Jenn generously offered to host. We know it's going to be grand. (And now that Breaking Dawn is out, it may be a crazy rehash of the Twilight series too! No spoilers please!) September will be Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer and I will be hosting that night...in my cardboard box on the corner of Poinsettia and Aviara. Just kidding. I'll update you to the locale soon.

I hope that you are all doing well and having a beautiful summer. LA has been a wonderful 75 degrees and we are living happily, loving our ward, meeting new friends and missing old ones! Happy reading to all!

The Thirteenth Tale

Please come to book club, Wednesday, July 9th, dear sweet Carma's casa. 745 pm. Don't be late!

A Little Break

The last few months we have taken a small break from "book club" with other activities taking precedence. I want to say that while I love intelligent, stimulating discussion, it has been wonderful to simply see everyone and to hear that some people are still reading the books. I think, after a full year of meeting for book club, it is natural for things to veer off course and then correct themselves. I feel like that is what has happened.

I want to thank Susan for, first, coming with me so I have someone to chat with at 1 a.m. when I am driving back from Carlsbad and, second, for spraying everyone beautiful bronze on Wednesday night. It actually turned out to be a really fun night filled with skimpy sarongs, shower caps and pie. What more could you ask for!



We lightly discussed the wonderful book, "These is my words." The next book is "The Thirteenth Tale" and will be hosted at Carma's house on Wednesday, July 2nd (or maybe the 9th depending on everyone's schedule). Cathy selected "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer for August meeting and I will host in September for the new Twilight book "Breaking Dawn." I hope to see more of you at these upcoming meetings. It is a always a wonderful night of frivolity and friendship...something that is vital to our busy lives as women and mothers and wives.

Book Club Plus Dinner Anyone?

Hello there! Book club is this Wednesday, May 7th. We will be discussing The Invisible Wall. We will be having a little dinner at 6 pm at Bistro West off Canon for any and all who would like to join us. Thanks so much for your devotion to book club and other endeavors. See you there.

Success is Sweet

April meeting marked our one year anniversary of Carlsbad book club! Yeah! I have to tell you that April's meeting was so wonderful at Jenn's. It was the Cook Book challenge and we had delicious sweets and unbelievably good savory dishes. Thank you so much to all who participated and thanks so much to Jenn for making the night so great with all the fine details from lit candles to hand-stamped recipe cards (with ribbon delicately tied, of course). Here is a list of goodies that were made:






Jenn- Turkey meatballs with marinara
Karalea- Gorgonzola stuffed cherry tomatoes and glazed lemon loaf
Heidi- Peanut glazed chicken and vegetable kabobs
Emily- Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting
Susan- Apricot windows cookies
Mindy- Souffle (Poor deflated souffle, snif. I can't believe she attempted this...it is very tricky to make a souffle, kudos to Mindy for trying...)
Carma- Asparagus and Gruyere tart

Those of you who didn't/couldn't make it, you missed a very fun night and we will hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, May 7th.

We have decided that we will be CHANGING OUR MEETING NIGHT to the FIRST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH. (Due to the YW switching their mutual night to Tuesday's -some of you need sitters! Now you have no excuse!)

Our May bookclub meeting will be Heidi's home and we will be discussing the book The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein. We also decided on a June book (to be happily hosted by Mindy Batt! Yeah!) The book will be These is my Words by Nancy Turner. Have a great April and we will see you at the May meeting.

Cook Book

This month's book club has a little twist (of lime? or lemon?) Jenn Clark is hosting a book club/supper club at her home on Tuesday, April 1st (watch out, it is April Fool's Day!) at 7:45 pm. What do you need to do? You need to find a cookbook (new one or old fave), find a recipe, make it on Tuesday, and bring it to share. Jenn will provide pencils and recipe cards for jotting down the ones you LOVE....Oh, and don't forget to bring your cookbook to share too! We have missed some of you the last couple of months and would love to see you again. Please come.

The Other Boelyn Girl

We went to the movie. The Hollywood version of this great book. I'd say it was a disappointment. Most of us seemed entertained enough, but the movie just didn't do the book justice. I think that they used about 100 pages of the book per scene and took much artistic license in most of those scenes. The movie failed to capture the strong bond and relationship between Henry and Katherine of Aragon, it lacked the trust and friendship found between Henry and Mary and it brutalized the relationship between Henry and Anne. If only the filmmaker would have followed the book more closely, if only Miss Gregory would have played a larger role (and insisted on better detailing)...if only....

Red Tenting and Such

Book club was delightful. We had a small group of seven, poised on pillows on top of Susan's red rug. We had an amazing spread of treats to pick from and cold water to wash it down (the chocolate caramels were especially good). We even received a parting gift of bangles and a maxi...funny. Conversation ranged from waxing to historical fiction, from hand made birds to our mission in life. It was so nice to be around women, friends, sisters.

Food, food and more food. Thank you Susan, for attention to detail and thoughtfulness to the theme of the book! So nice.

Bangles and a maxi...what more do you need?

Start reading The Other Boelyn Girl...it's a long one and you need to begin ASAP if you want to finish it before the March meeting, which will be hosted by Emily. More details to come on that and Jenn's Cookbook Challenge very soon!

The Red Tent

Our next Book Club meeting will be Tuesday, February 5th. Regular time 745 pm. Susan is hostess and would like for each of you to bring a pillow for sitting (Red Tent Style). We will be discussing The Red Tent and Susan has some great plans for decor and food. Don't miss it!