Babes with Brains Book Club

2 Loved It
2 Liked It
2 Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I enjoyed parts of the book. About halfway through I could have been done, but continued to gather more insight into the passions of our future president. Had he not been recently elected, I probably would not have finished. – Carrie
• I am in the first section and I am enjoying it. Plan to continue and finish this one. – Tami
• Very engaging. I enjoyed the personal voice and self deprecation humor that sprinkled the dialogue. I can’t help but wonder if I might have read it differently pre-presidential campaign. – Marlo
• I have to admit, I cheated a bit… got the audio book read by Obama. Hearing it in his owm voice was AMAZING!! He actually changed accents and was so mesmerizing. – Brandi
• I enjoyed reading this book. I think it provides great insight into the life of a man who promises to be a significant figure in modern history. – Kerry
• I enjoyed parts of the book but was bored during most of the community service in Chicago part. I think I would have enjoyed Obama’s second book The Audacity of Hope more because it was written with a more political/ideological purpose. I want to know more about him in his own words but this felt neither completely an autobiography nor completely an ideological tome. Both became watered down because of the other. – Danica

Conclusion:
I am really proud of us, we had a really civilized conversation that lasted a nice portion of book club. Most of us had read all or a nice chunk of the book and were ready to talk about it. Because we are in this moment in history, I think we read this book at the perfect time and it lent itself really well to a wonderful discussion.

2 Loved It
1 Liked It
1 Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I loved it. Nothing like a classic! – Sarah
• I didn’t finish, so I can’t say I disliked it with qualification. I felt very uncomfortable reading about a pedophile protagonist and worried deeply about my daughters. – Steph
• I enjoyed this book a lot. I was surprised how the story portrays Lolita not as an aggressor but more of a flippant, flirty child and how the current pop culture reference to Lolita is more of aggressive jail bait. – Danica
• Although I am not done yet, I’m loving it. – Melissa
• Although there were many, many disturbing scenes, and flippantly dropped tidbits, I love Nabokov’s play with language. He manages to portray a cynical, despicable madman. Oh… and Lolita was a brat. – Marlo
• Very interesting. I’m glad I have a better knowledge of the Lolita reference. – Kerry

Conclusion: This was the first meeting where we had the person who brought the book in lead the discussion. I think it worked out really well. Those of us who had read it actually did get into quite a nice discussion about the content, writing style and pop culture references.

Reading Group Guide

Loved It
1 Liked It
1 Neutral
1 Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• Didn’t get into it. – Carrie
• This book is not for everyone. There are no characters to get emotionally attached to and it has to be read like a bunch of short stories. – Sarah
• I read the first of the three sections. There just wasn’t enough of an interest there to keep me wanting to read more. – Danica
• Although I started this with high hopes and good intentions, even trying alternate methods to read through it, I decided I could make better use of my time by reading an encyclopedia or dictionary. – Marlo
• Another one I didn’t read : ( Darn kids! – Steph

Conclusion: Only one member actually made it through the book – while we sometimes have pretty bad statistics, this is really really bad stats!

2 Loved It
3 Liked It
2 Neutral
2 Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I first read this in high school and loved it then. Re-reading it has been so much fun. I’m seeing everything with a new perspective. I love the story and creativity behind it. It will always be one of my favorites. – Carrie
• This book was a waste of time, paper and ink. – Sarah
• I couldn’t push through it. Too many unnecessary details. – Melissa
• Ditto. Couldn’t finish it. Got bogged down. – Brandi
• I went into reading this book with very low expectations and the content as a complete fantasy, I think that helped me enjoy it and get more involved with the characters rather than the details. – Danica
• I really, really like this book – only got 1/2 way through. If I finish it, I think I might “Love It”. – Steph
• I am enjoying it but as usual, not done : ( – Tami
• This has been one of my favorites since junior high. The characters are so well described that I feel like I actually know them. I even enjoy the extensive description of the local flora & fauna. Can’t say enough about this one. – Marlo
• I couldn’t get into it. – Kerry

Conclusion: All I can say is that the group was extremely polarized by this book. It seems like you either love it or hate it…

Loved It
Liked It
1 Neutral
3 Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• The main story line is OK, but there was a lot of stuff I just did not get. – Sarah
• I read about 100 pages and just couldn’t identify with the characters and get into the story. I didn’t like it and put it down. – Danica
• Not a fan of this one. There were some interesting ideas, and as always, beautiful language, but I felt the story was a bit disjointed. It just didn’t engage me. – Marlo
• Beautifully written, but slow going. The ideas were interesting, but I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. – Hillary

Conclusion: Most didn’t finish this one because no one could get into the story. For us, it was a dud. There was some mention that we should have read one of Morrison’s other works.

5 Loved It
4 Liked It
Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I cried practically through the entire book. It was deeply moving. I also enjoyed the attention to historical detail. – Melissa
• I totally enjoyed this book. It was fun, interesting, sad and everything all into one. – Sarah
• I liked this book so much! I didn’t finish it – but I will soon… – Steph
• I loved this book. I got so attached to the main character. The history was fascinating. Very moving! – Carrie
• I read this book a long time ago. Beautiful story! – Kerry
• I have not finished it, but I love it and will finish it soon! It is a great story! – Tami
• This was a really interesting book to me as I’ve never read anything about this subject. I felt like I really knew the characters and that they were real people rather than characters. So much was heartbreaking yet I also understood a society wanting to contain a contagious disease that wasn’t understood at the time. – Marlo
• I immediately was sucked into this story. I loved it all the way through! -Danica

Conclusion: This was very well liked by all the members. I definitely would recommend this to other book clubs.

Reading Group Guide

1 Loved It
3 Liked It
2 Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• Couldn’t get pat the 1st 3 chapters. I don’t have time to try to get into a book. Writing style was too journalistic for me. – Carrie
•The story could have been shorter. I just did not care. It also had too many details about hiking. – Sarah
• I thought the story was very inspiring although it was also very overt it its call for donations. It also felt very biased but it was nice to get some perspective on fundamentalism and poverty in that area. – danica
• I enjoyed this book and what it’s about – caring about what happen to people halfway around the world. – Kerry
• This was a very inspiring story. It was great to read about what a big difference one individual could make, without even starting with financial resources. It was also nice to get another perspective of the rise of extremist Islam. I was definitely ready to be finished at the end, but enjoyed the story immensely and recommended the book several times. – Marlo

Conclusion: Those of us who liked it had a lot to say. We didn’t have an immensely engaging conversation but some of us did carry it over after the club broke off into socializing. One thing that did come up was that this was the hot book of the moment – some of us couldn’t understand why it is spreading like wildfire.

Reading Group Guide

3 Loved It
5 Liked It
Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I really liked how the story is told through food. It is really different and a good story. – Sarah
• Watching the love story unfold was really great. Beautiful and sad. – Melissa
• I enjoyed (and actually finished) this easy read. I wish we would have learned more about Pedro, I didn’t feel his character was worthy of her love. – Brandi
• So far, so good – I hope it has a happy ending! (I’m in July). – Steph
• I found this one to be very thought provoking, despite being an easy read. There were several themes that tie together such as cold or temperature. This is the type of traditional style voices I enjoy, similar to the tone used by Sandra Cisneros in the House on Mango Street (but turn of the century.) There was a nice evolution of characters and depth of plot line. – Marlo
• I really enjoyed it. Did not finish it, but will tomorrow. It is a great love story. – Tami
• I really liked the unique writing style. The story was fun and very creative. I read it overnight. – Carrie
• I had read this when I was a teenager and fondly remembered it. Reading it again, I enjoyed it just as much. – Danica

Conclusion: Liked by all, we had a great conversation about it. A definite recommendation to other book clubs!

Reading Group Guide

Loved It
3 Liked It
1 Neutral
2 Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• Finally I read a book. I heard it was an easy read. It was. I enjoyed the book. Figuring out the mystery was fun. A great book to read when you have a new baby at home. – Tami
• It was pretty good. Nothing deep or totally amazing. – Sarah
• While I was very excited because it was of a different genre than what we usually read, it completely was a bust. I did make it through the whole story but the writing style made me crazy and for a fun romp, there were just too many stories going on at the same time. I much prefer a legal thriller by John Grisham. – danica
• I felt like I was reading a really good episode of CSI. – Melissa
• I didn’t like it at all – the story wasn’t that good – the writing was bad. The characters were 2D and unbelievable – I am so surprised that some (most) people liked it! – Steph
• It was a quick read. Didn’t need to really think about it while you’re reading. It was an interesting story. – Carrie

Conclusion: While some liked it, we didn’t really have much to talk about with this one.

2 Loved It
4 Liked It
1 Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I loved this book. You really identified with the characters quickly. – Sarah
• I wanted to finish, but ran out of time. I liked it so much for so many reasons. The brevity of the chapters – change of voice was great. The stories and perspective were really good – different than I’ve ever heard before… – Steph
• I found the book intriguing… especially with the surprise twists. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m looking forward to the ending. – Rachelle
• I enjoyed this book. I think the story of the author is so interesting. – Kerry
• This has been one of my most favorite books in a long time. I read it cover to cover, all the end notes, addendums etc. This is another look at WWII from a perspective often forgotten, the occupied. Sure, when WWII comes up, you think about the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, the atomic bombs in Japan, D-Day, but this is about reacting to, coping and living with an occupying force. I loved it and am still thinking about it a week and a half later. – danica
• I’m loving it so far. Will absolutely finish it! – Brandi
• Despite not wanting to keep picking this up, I did finish it. However, I do find myself thinking about certain situations – specifically the exodus from Paris. I didn’t care for the majority of the characters, but it was interesting to contemplate the reality of enemy occupation. – Marlo

Conclusion: Although we had a lot of other things to occupy us this book club, we did have a REALLY good discussion about this book. It brought up WWII family stories, what we would do today if something like that were to happen here. We even talked about fleeing natural disasters. It made for a great book club.

Loved It
2 Liked It
2 Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I liked the author’s voice, but I thought there were too many characters. I didn’t know enough about any one to relate to. – Kerry
• I had a difficult time connecting to this story. I felt that the symbolism (double meaning of the title) was weak. – Melissa
• I enjoyed this book, although I was really ready to be done by the end. The different character voices were interesting but I felt that Valuable was rather annoying rather than someone who inspired any sympathy. – Marlo
• The main storyline is pretty good, but the author takes too long to get to the point. – Sarah
• I started, got 50 pages in and just was not feeling it. – Danica

Conclusion: Most of our members didn’t finish the book because most had problems getting attached to the characters.

Reading Group Guide

All the four new babies made it to book club this month. They were oh so cute!

3 Loved It
4 Liked It
Neutral
Disliked It
Hated It

Comments:
• I really liked 2/3 of the book. I thought the last part could have been condensed much more as a “Where are they Now” type of thing. I found the part where they were in the village the most interesting and I really didn’t need much else past the escape. – danica
• It was a good story that I really liked. – Sarah
• At first it was difficult to get into the many different chapters/characters, but overall I enjoyed it. – Melissa
• I really enjoyed the concept and story. I thought it dragged in the end and jumped around too much in time periods. Overall, I did like the book. – Carrie
• Although I’m a slacker and haven’t finished, I am truly enjoying this book. Each character is so interesting, evoking a differrent emotion or reaction. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. – Marlo
• This is one of my favorite books. I read it years ago and was glad to have the opportunity to read it again. I love the characters and themes of this story. – Kerry
• One of my very favorite books! – Steph

Conclusion: This one was well-liked overall and the discussion, once we actually got to it, was really interesting in a very good way. Everyone was engaged in the conversation which doesn’t always happen!

Reading Group Guide

Loved It
Liked It
1 Neutral
2 Disliked It
1 Hated It

Comments:
• Wasn’t able to finish it… didn’t feel it gave any insight and the descriptions were too flowery with regards to the other artists. It felt like she was kissing the artist’s rears as a thank you for doing the interview. – Brandi
• This book was OK. I liked the overall theme of Dylan’s contribution to music, but the chapters and interviews were inconsistent in their contributions. – Kerry
• The book was fun to read. I didn’t especially care for the style of writing, but the memories of childhood it conjured was pleasant – of course, I just dated myself. – Stacey
• Didn’t finish this one – my time is too valuable. The writing seemed completely unfocused with an occasional tidbit of Dylan. – Marlo
• I was really excited about this book because I am a big Dylan fan. Boy, was I disappointed. I kept thinking I should just stop reading but once I made it halfway, I just kept going. She made Dylan’s autobiography sound really interesting when she quoted it, I wish I had read that instead. – danica

Conclusion: This one landed with quite a thud! If we hadn’t won our copies, I think the group would be rallying for a refund.