I did not turn in a blog post yesterday since I have not yet figured out how to attach picture in blogger via my phone and I have never liked the way my blog posts and pictures turned out trying to do it using my email. Next week maybe I will have all my technological issues worked out but in the meantime, here is an unsuccessful picture I took of my cat, who is decidedly not thrilled about flash photography.
Now on to book related topics....
In the past year I have gone from not being involved in any personal book discussion groups to being involved with two. The first group is run by a close friend and his wife and makes some attempt to actually discuss the book before the socializing starts so from now on I will refer to it as my "serious" book club. The other is called the Martini Book Club and the group really does care more about what martini we will be serving than what book we are reading.
Last night I went to my "serious" book club and we discussed Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. I have to admit I procrastinated when reading this book so I only finished the first fourth of it but I have always enjoyed the British sense of humor and will finish this book in the near future. One of the other participants said she felt like the author nailed life in academia and I think she is probably right and this is a major strength of the novel.
In a couple of weeks I will be hosting the Martini Book Club and, since I hosted, I also get to pick the book. I decided to select one of the American Library Association Reading List Award winners for us to try. I selected the 2010 Women's Fiction award winner Very Valentine: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani. This is a pretty easy group to pick a book for because we don't actually spend much (if any) time discussing the book so I don't need to look for books with "issues" and could select based on the fun factor. Also since the last few books fell into the genre "messed up childhood memoirs" I thought something lighter might be nice as well. Now all I need is to find a fun new martini to introduce to the group. If you have a fabulous recipe please let me know!
The next book I need to read is Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson since it is the Kansas City Public Library BIG READ title for this year. I will keep you posted on this upcoming event so you can also participate.
3 comments:
I first read Amis when I was young, probably too young. At 10 or so I read one of his books were God had a speaking part, referring to one of His creations as having "halitosis of the soul." Wonderful line, never forgotten it.
His son Martin is equally brilliant, and as acerbic. Some say Martin's writing is sterile; I believe it merely reflects his age, just as his father's did before him.
Have fun. I used to attend said groups quite often but those days have slipped away. Tonight I read The Moose’s Tooth and (rare treat!) Chapter 17 of The Little Prince (the new deluxe pop-up version, which is gorgeous)…
Have you tried a lychee-tini yet? They are great. And, you can skewer the lychees like an olive for the drink.
Oooh Thank you! Printed off a recipe and going to go buy ingredients tonight.
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