The Road

Host: Kristin
Book: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Meeting Date: August 24, 2014
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Mary's (San Ramon)

Synopsis: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Red Velvet Revenge

Host: Darla Sorensen
Book: Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay
Meeting Date: Saturday, September 29, 2012
Time: 11:00
Location: Darla's (Placerville)
Synopsis: It may be summertime, but sales at Fairy Tale Cupcakes are below zero--and owners Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are willing to try anything to heat things up. So when local legend Slim Hazard offers them the chance to sell cupcakes at the annual Juniper Pass rodeo, they're determined to rope in a pretty payday!
But not everyone at the Juniper Pass is as sweet for Fairy Tale Cupcakes as Slim--including star bull-rider Ty Stokes. Mel and Angie try to steer clear of the cowboy's short fuse, but when his dead body is found face down in the hay, it's a whole different rodeo. With a vengeful murderer on the loose, the ladies are quickly realizing that while they came to save their business, they may have to save themselves--and that's no bull.

High Tea

Host: Lisa Leggett
Book: High Tea by Sandra Harper
Location: Lisa's (Lodi)
Meeting Date: Saturday, March 7
Meeting Time: 1:00 pm

Synopsis
Magpie's Tearoom is a cozy haven in bustling L.A. -- a place for luncheons, baby showers, or simply hanging out. Its owner, British expat Margaret Moore, relishes tradition...but between a frustrated chef preoccupied with her neglectful producer girlfriend and the tearoom's waitstaff -- a talented but desperate TV star who hasn't acted since Detective Buck Love went off the air, and a twenty-something ingénue who'll do anything to get the part -- her grandmother's scones begin to feel irrelevant.

When the critic from Tea Talk announces she is crossing the pond to visit, Margaret attempts to marshal her staff. But, being of the thespian variety, they all want to be doing something else. Yet despite the high personal drama at hand, the customers still demand their perfectly steeped tea and cucumber sandwiches....

As Margaret battles pilot season and produce-coordinator malfunctions, she begins to lose her will to live...in L.A.

But can her L.A. neighborhood do without her tearoom'In this delightful debut novel with delicious recipes thrown in, Sandra Harper creates a hilarious world where Earl Grey and watercress make a meal, buttering the scones may get you scolded, and nobody does eggs anymore.

RATINGS:
4 out of 11 members voted.
25% gave this book 3 stars
75% gave this book 1 star

Love in the Time of Cholera

Host: Christa Williams
Book: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Meeting Date: November 24,2007
Location: Jenny's (Lodi)
Time: 10:30 am

Synopsis
Set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it tells the poignant story of the power of unrequited love, and how lovesickness (much like cholera) can plague human existence. The novel involves a love triangle between Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza and Juvenal Urbino which endures for fifty years, revealed through a flashback from childhood to old age.

RATINGS:
6 out of 11 members voted.
16% gave this book 3 stars
83% gave this book 1 star

A Hand to Guide Me

Host: Janet Noma
Book: A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington
Meeting Date: February 18, 2007
Location: Jenny's (Lodi)

Synopsis
In his debut as an author, Denzel Washington shares his personal story of the mentors who helped guide his life.

Washington pens the introduction for the stories of more than 70 of America's leading personalities in theatre, sports, business, and politics as they tell their life-changing stories of mentorship.

Contributors include Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Antwone Fisher, Bonnie Raitt, Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez, Dick Vitale, Whoopie Goldberg and more.

A portion of the book's proceeds benefit 4.5 million children currently involved in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

RATINGS:
6 out of 11 members voted.
14% gave this book 3 stars
28% gave this book 2 stars
57% gave this book 1 star