First Meeting Success

Novel Tea 'n Pages Book Club members met for the first time and quickly became acquainted with each other; for most, they were meeting for the first time. We dedicated some of our time to discover a little about each other. A lovely relaxed feeling floated through the room and I am sure some new long life friendships will blossom from our book club. Six ladies attended our first meeting which ensured interesting and mixed discussion based around our current book, 'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen. Everyone had many opportunities to speak and share their thoughts. Our long distance member, Bobbie sent along her discussion responses so they could be shared with the rest of the group. Thank you, Bobbie.

Attendees:

1. Deb

2. Elizabeth

3. Julie

4. Liesle

5. Bobbie (from WA via email/with notes)

6. Jocelyn

Apologies:

1. Monique

2. Andrea

3. Cheryl

4. Sue

5. Kimmy

Meet and Greet:

* Refreshments were offered and we settled on sofas ready...

* At the beginning of the meeting, an opportunity was made available for each member to share a little about themselves with the group, including their favourite books and connections.

Discussion:

* The group discussed 'Water for Elephants', selecting randomly from a number of discussion questions.

* Some of the main points discussed included: the voice of the character, ageing and how important memories become, the rawness, naivety, and innocence of the young Jacob and the situation he found himself in.

* Surprise at who 'actually' killed August and the devices used by the author to lead the reader on unsuspecting paths' how Gruen 'set' it all up.

* No one in the group could 'pick up' on the intended layering from Genesis by the author, for Jacob. Sara Gruen discussed this layering in an interview and spoke of her admiration for literary layering, and how she had used the technique in her yarn. Unfortunately, even those familiar with Genesis could not find the subtle thread.

Selected books for upcoming months:

April, 2010

'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen

May, 2010

'The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society' by Mary Ann Schaffer

June, 2010

'The Story of a Marriage' by Andrew Sean Greer

July, 2010

'The China Garden' by Kristina Olsson

August, 2010

'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger

Nominated Books for future reading/recommended reading:

Elizabeth Q suggests:

'Like Water for Chocolate' by Laura Esteville

Bobbie D suggests:

'Belly Dancing for Beginners' by Liz Bryski

Elizabeth Q suggests:

'Cloudstreet' by Tim Winton

Elizabeth Q suggests:

'Sacred Hearts' by Sarah Dunant

Bobbie D suggests:

'Miss Bobbie' by Ethel Turner

Bobbie D suggests:

'The House at Pooh Corner' by A. A. Milne

Bobbie D suggests:

'The Loop' by Nicholas Evans

Liesle suggests:

Any of the Classics

Wrap Up:

As you can, many books have been nominated and unfortunately not all will get selected for book club, however, that does not stop you from delving into them yourselves.

Club members, please keep bringing along your suggestions. I will post them on this site as Recommended Reading. At the first meeting the members voted from the nominated books and so we now have our reading program till the month of August.

Afterwards, we settled with coffee, tea, and cake. Discussions continued and the evening was spent in a very pleasant and positive way.

Thank you to the ladies who have decided to make Novel Tea 'n Pages their book club. I sincerely hope you get everything you desire out of it. Since our last meeting, another two ladies have made contact with me and have decided to join our next meeting, the first Wednesday of June.

So, until then...

happy reading ~