April 2013

We met at ZTejas at the Gateway and had a great time, but we missed Holly.  :(  Karen's book pick was "The Whistling Season" and it was a 4.5 star hit.

Karen said, "The story of a housekeeper and her brother coming to a small homesteading community in Montana, and changing the lives of one family. "

Alison said, "Such beautiful writing!"

Sue said, "Loved, loved, loved this book! The writing was great and made you feel in the moment, living the emotions with the characters. It's historical fiction set in Montana at the turn of the 20th century where a family is trying to make it dryland homesteading. Because of the mother's death, the father answers a newspaper ad from back East for a housekeeper who "can't cook but doesn't bite". She arrives with her brother who is well-educated and eventually becomes the teacher at the one-room schoolhouse where the boys attend and the father is on the school board. The story is told as a walk down memory lane as the oldest boy, Paul Milliron, returns to Marias Coulee as State Superintendent of Public Instruction with some important decisions to make on the future of schooling in Montana. He remembers his youth in the schoolhouse, learning to love Rose, the housekeeper, the various ups and downs of childhood, his own education, and his relationship with his two brothers. It's brilliantly told and compelling with wonderful characters and interesting dialogue. I have read the author's "Dancing at the Rascal Fair" which I really liked, but I liked this one even better. A great read."

Leslie's review is found here.

May 2012

A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel

Our chosen restaurant ended up being closed so we had to make a quick switch and ended up eating at The Wild Grape and having a lovely, though unexpected, lunch.  Our rating of this book was all over the place, so it gets 3 stars overall.

Sue said, "This book is devised as a set of sketches, although the overriding theme is that despite the group of eccentric characters surrounding her, Zippy had a happy childhood. Some of the chapters reminded me of my own growing up years, especially the interior design chapter where the different craft crazes hit her town. It's a fast read and very enjoyable, with some laugh-out-loud sections."

Alison said, "More a collection of personal essays than a cohesive memoir, A Girl Named Zippy provided me with a week's worth of pleasurable commuting time. Laugh-out-loud funny at times, it also has some tender moments. I especially enjoyed Zippy talking about her relationship with her father and about her mother's faith."


Linda said, "I thought she was a good writer and it was funny at times, but there were other times I was just disgusted - like the description of the state of her house, her describing her vomit, etc.  Some of the things she did to deliberately humiliate the other kids, I thought were very unfunny.  It kind of bothered me that the author could be making money off  the story of her bad behavior as a child."

October 2011

This month we had lunch at Plates & Palates in Bountiful and although those of us there had a great time and a good discussion, we were missing three of our friends.  :(

The book got 3 stars from us and here's some of our comments:

Alison said: "Amusing "research" on the gondoliers of Venice by "S. Morgenstern" - but it lacks what I'll call the "depth" (for lack of a better word) of The Princess Bride."

Linda said: "I loved this writing style. The fictional narrator and asides bring this story to life."

Sue said: "This story has clever asides and explanations and, in the end, is a heartwarming story about the power of dreams and the resiliency of the human spirit."