Year 7 Fun First Book Club

On Sept 13, 2015, we had the Year 7 Launch Party!  It was intense. Year 7 got off to a raucous start, friends. It went down in three parts.

Part 1: Shelley+Wilbur= love

Part 2: tiny book discussion

Part 3: Year 7's line-up

Energy remained high all night. Which was necessary to keep Renee in check (she kept sidetracking us with too much talk about December and rowing, but she also fed us well on her cozy clubhouse/porch).  

Some other important notes: 

We have a new member- welcome Traci (Horton will determine in the upcoming months whether or not you are a fully-evolved human). We informally ruled against any fantasy football activity in book club, but talk of Fantasy Book Club remains (sorry Jodes). Beth is a catalyst, Katie is our franchise, my boobs are frighteningly large, but most importantly… Shelley is in love with a biker named Wilbur. And if you love love like I do, make sure you read the book we sort-of discussed last night-Eleanor and Park. 

Anything else I should've bookmarked? 

It took outbursts and heated discussions, but here is our Year 7 line-up. I'll also get it up on Facebook.

So excited! So much fun. FFBC just might be the love of my life. Or should I call it my Wilbur?

Much love,

Amy

October

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

Beth Stenglein

November

The Tightrope Walkers by David Almond

Amy Horton

December

Evergreen by Rebecca Rasmussen

Jenny Buckley

January

I'm Proud of You:  My Friendship with Fred Rogers by Tim Madigan

Traci Adams

February

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

Shelley Theisen

March 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Heather Clafton

April

Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banish

Amy Kujawski

May 

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

Katie Gohlke

June

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Jenny Miller

July 

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

Renee Corneille

August

Balls to the Wall Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman)

Sandra Mortensen

September

Light Between Oceans

Renee Corneille

Year 6!

Welcome to the sixth year of the Fun First Book Club.  Six is going to be great.  It's Renee's favorite number- #6.  If our book club was a kid, it would be going to kindergarten this year.  SIX.  It's a big deal.

Last night, a great many of us turned out for the last of the Season 5 and the beginnings of Season 6 at Renee's.  We started by discussing Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  Oh my little apples, it is a mighty book.  It's a complicated one to describe, but it is simply a story about a brilliant spy and a very brave pilot and their friendship.  It is about that terrible, terrible war and the many ways it ruined lives and took loved ones away.  Those of us who read it seemed to be awed by Ms. Wein's storytelling even if it took us a while to get into it.  We all agreed, I think, that it's a hard book to get into, but it is very worth the time it takes. There are few books who have a pay-off as heavy and hard-hitting as this one does.

It was a strong finish to a super year.  Yes, we all suffered through Sister(b)land back in February...but that was the month Jenny Buckley told us the tale of falling in love with Peter.  We stomached and rolled our eyes at the cheesy, over-the-top Sidney Sheldon novel (complete with an evil-twin) too.  But this was the year that brought us Harold Frye and his stupid boat shoes but a heart full of hope.  And Life After Life and Little Wolves.  Night Circus too.  Other highlights:

Katie G- FFBC's 2014-2015 MVP
Sandra Mortenson- Best Host
Shelley's break-up story
Annemarie's text
Heather's closure therapy quote
Jenny Buckley falling in love (I love love even more than I love hope)
Jennifer Malecha came to our Book Club!

...and I know there is more I'm forgetting.  What great fun this book club is.  What a great year!

And I have a feeling Year 6 is going to be even better!  Sending this out with so much gratitude for my book-club friends.  Sharing these books and all of your stories make me very, very happy.  I love you all.

Let's get to it!  Here is a link to a Google Doc with all the info you need and a screen shot from the page.  I'm sorry, Renee, The Hobbit didn't make the list this year.  Maybe next year.

Fun First Book Club Turns Five!

Oh, what fun it is to have a book club that turns five!  Horton hosted the big kick-off event.  New faces joined us- Welcome! Katie, Heather, and Sandra.  And the book Tell the Wolves I'm Home was discussed...for a good, long time too.  Shelley shared her sorta-autobiographical connections.  Horton served up some of her memories of the AIDS epidemic and the 80s.  Katie penetrated new depths of the book with insights about the negative space and how Finn was the ultimate "negative space" in the book (did I really just use the word "penetrated"?!).  Those with sisters pointed out to those of us without that June and Greta do, indeed, portray a familiar bond that sisters have- one that can be equal parts cruel and compassionate.  I know I'm missing large chunks of the discussion, and it was a solid one about a sweet and tender coming-of-age story.  Great pick, Horton!

Speaking of picks, we decided the upcoming year's books.  Again, never an easy task, but ended the night with a promising list.  People would send up their suggested titles, and the group would volley thoughts and opinions back and forth.  Often times, one title would be suggested, and you could tell right away it was going to stick.  Arms would point, "I've wanted to read that book" others would shout, and it was written down on the year's list.  Other times titles weren't so well-recevied, yet some how one about the Oxford English Dictionary got past Renee and her tactics (snoring, yawning, simply refusing...).  So, anyway, there is a Year 5 List.  Welcome to the FFBC, Year 5!

Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman                                        October l0 at Beth's house in St. Louis Park
Mission Flats by William Landay                                           November 7 at Renee's house in St. Anthony Village 
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern                                          December 12 at Jenny B's house in Rosemount 
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson                                           January 9 at Katie's house in Minneapolis 
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld                                              February 13 at Heather's house in Rosemount 
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye by Rachel Joyce        March 13 at Amy K's house in St. Paul 
One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper                  April 10 at Horton's house in Apple Valley 
The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell                                    May 8 at Erin's house in St. Paul 
Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon                                 June 12 at Sandra's house in ????
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley                   July 10 at Andi's house in Lakeville 
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester             August 14 at Shelley's house in Minneapolis
Code Name Verity by Elizabth Wein                                   September 11at Renee's or Katie's 

Year 4 Kick off...

1.  Erin hosted the event.
2. 12 people attended.
3.  Books were decided by the group- it took debating, arguing, bullying, and in the end compromise and collaboration.  Nice work, crew.
4. Awards handed out (but no prizes).  Apparently we still need to decide Most Improved and Best Book...

Andi 2011-2012 book club MVP
Amy 2011-2012 Amy
Most improved
Jodi 2011-2012 book club LVP
Worst book - silencing Sam
Best blogger - Amy
Shelley - talk and touch ribbon
Jenny - best sandwich
Renee - best self proclaimed leader
Best book -

Run by Ann Patchett was discussed.  I think my favorite part was when Shelley knew by heart her favorite quote. And I think the author is right, though I never would have thought of it myself; it's a book about politics (a nugget added by Renee from an interview with the author).

See you in October, everyone!  Don't forget to heck out the FFBC Facebook page.  Let me know if you are on Facebook and aren't a part of the books.

-amy

August 2012- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Just the basics here (blogging is proving to be more work than it' worth)...

Beth's house.  Only 4 or 5 people could make it.  But the book is brilliant and juicy and everyone needs to read it, so we will be revisiting it in January 2013!

June/July 2012

June:  The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  Lovely little story about love and losing it and finding it.

A good interview from the author can be found here.

July:  The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper.  Memoir from a Liberian who made her dreams come true.

Review from the NY Times can be found here. 

Both good books.  More complicated than fun but well-worth-the-read.

If you missed it, we've been meeting at Renee's and having lots of fun.  Hope to see you in August for Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell on August 23 at Beth's house.

The Author of May's book was on MPR last week...

Rebecca Skloot on "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" | Minnesota Public Radio News