Host: Lisa Leggett
Book: The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
Meeting Date: Sunday, August 29th
Time: 1:00pm
Location: The Dancing Fox, 203 South School Street,Lodi, CA 95240-3511
Synopsis:
Set in 1950s London, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets centers around Penelope, the wide- eyed daughter of a legendary beauty, Talitha, who lost her husband to the war. Penelope, with her mother and brother, struggles to maintain their vast and crumbling ancestral home—while postwar London spins toward the next decade's cultural revolution.
Penelope wants nothing more than to fall in love, and when her new best friend, Charlotte, a free spirit in the young society set, drags Penelope into London with all of its grand parties, she sets in motion great change for them all. Charlotte's mysterious and attractive brother Harry uses Penelope to make his American ex-girlfriend jealous, with unforeseen consequences, and a dashing, wealthy American movie producer arrives with what might be the key to Penelope's— and her family's—future happiness.
Vibrant, witty, and filled with vivid historical detail, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is an utterly unique debut novel about a time and place just slipping into history.
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets
Twenties Girl
Host: Christa Williams
Book: Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Meeting Date: Sunday, May 23, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Mel & Chris' (Elk Grove)
Synopsis:Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?
When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.
Sadie, however, could care less.
Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.
3 Cups of Tea
Book: 3 Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David O. Relin
Meeting Date: April 24, 2010
Location: Mary's (San Ramon)
Synopsis:
The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia
In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.
Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson's incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.
3 out of 11 members voted.
75% gave this book 3 Stars
22% gave this book 2 Stars
In the Woods
Book: In the Woods by Tana French
Meeting Date: February 5-7, 2010
RETREAT WEEKEND
Location: Noma's -Tortuga (Pioneer)
Synopsis:
As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children, gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled shoes, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.
Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox – his partner and closest friend – find themselves investigating a case with chilling links to that long-ago disappearance. Now, with only snippets of buried memories to guide him, Rob has the chance to unravel both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.
5 out of 11 members voted.
80% gave this book 3 Stars
20% gave this book 2 Stars
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Host: Lisa Noma
Book: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Meeting Date: September 12, 2009
Meeting Time: 10:30 AM
Location: The Noma's (Lodi)
Synopsis:
A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history – the Salem witch trials.
Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she can’t refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest—to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.
5 out of 11 members voted.
20% gave this book 5 Stars
20% gave this book 4 Stars
60% gave this book 3 Stars
Promise Not to Tell
Host:Janelle Chapdelaine
Book: Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
Location: Olive Garden, Stockton
Meeting Date: Wednesday, July 1st
Meeting Time: 6:30 PM
Synopsis:
Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered—a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del—shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"—was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems . . . and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.
RATINGS:
6 out of 11 members voted.
66% gave this book 3 stars
33% gave this book 2 stars
Remember Me
Host: Kris Harrington
Book: Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella
Meeting Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008
Metting Time: 10:30AM
Meeting Location: Janet's (Lodi)
Synopsis
When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.
Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.
Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?
RATINGS:
6 out of 11 members voted.
16% gave this book 4 stars
83% gave this book 3 stars
The Last Lecture
Host: Mary Kennard
Book: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Meeting Date: Saturday, Nov 1, 2008
Metting Time: 10:30 AM
Meeting Location: Mary's (San Ramon)
Synopsis
"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
—Randy Pausch
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
RATINGS:
7 out of 11 members voted.
14% gave this book 5 stars
14% gave this book 4 stars
42% gave this book 3 stars
28% gave this book 2 stars
The Glass Castle
Host: Vanessa Kesterson
Book: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Meeting Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008
Metting Time: 10:30 AM
Meeting Location: Vanessa's (Oakdale)
Synopsis
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
RATINGS:
5 out of 11 members voted.
40% gave this book 4 stars
60% gave this book 3 stars
Saving Fish from Drowning
Host: Kris Navarra
Book: Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Meeting Date: October 26, 2007
Location: Dave Wong's Restaurant - Stockton,CA
Synopsis
Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leader, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers as they come to discover that the Burma Road is paved with less-than-honorable intentions, questionable food, and tribal curses.
And then, on Christmas morning, eleven of the travelers boat across a misty lake for a sunrise cruise - and disappear.
RATINGS:
6 out of 11 members voted.
16% gave this book 4 stars
33% gave this book 3 stars
16% gave this book 2 stars
33% gave this book 1 star
Eye Contact
Host: Darla Sorensen
Book: Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern
Meeting Date: July 28, 2007
Location: Darla's (Elk Grove)
Synopsis
In Eye Contact, two children vanish in the woods behind their elementary school. Hours later, nine-year-old Adam is found alive, the sole witness to his playmate's murder. But because Adam has autism, he is a silent witness. Only his mother, Cara, can help decode his behavior for the police. As the suspense ratchets, Eye Contact becomes a heart-stopping exploration of the bond between a mother and a very special child.
RATINGS:
5 out of 11 members voted.
20% gave this book 5 stars
20% gave this book 4 stars
60% gave this book 3 stars
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Host: Jenny Penner
Book: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Meeting Date: November 25, 2006
Location: Jenny's (Lodi)
Synopsis
On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret.
But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night.
A brilliantly crafted, stunning debut, The Memory Keeper's Daughter explores the way life takes unexpected turns, and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that occurs when long-buried secrets burst into the open.
RATINGS:
6 out of 11 members voted.
66% gave this book 3 stars
16% gave this book 2 stars
16% gave this book 1 star
Bloodsucking Fiends
Host: Lisa Leggett
Book: Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Meeting Date: October 28, 2006
Location: Lisa's (Lodi)
Synopsis
Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her.
Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that's where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy's life — and afterlife — in ways he never thought possible.
RATINGS:
7 out of 11 members voted.
14% gave this book 5 stars
23% gave this book 4 stars
42% gave this book 3 stars
14% gave this book 2 stars
The Nanny Diaries & The Pilot's Wife
Host: Mary Kennard
Book: The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
Meeting Date: July 29, 2006
Location: Mary's (Manteca)
The Nanny Diaries Synopsis
Based on the real-life experiences, the inside story on the real lives of the rich and privileged from the women who know all the secrets - the nannies. The Nanny Diaries deftly skewers the manner in which America's over-privileged raises les petites - as if grooming them for a Best of Show competition. A poignant satire, it punctures the glamor of Manhattan's upper class to tackle head-on the truer state of backstairs Park Avenue.
RATINGS
7 of 11 members voted.
14% gave this book 5 stars
28% gave this book 4 stars
57% gave this book 3 stars
The Pilot's Wife Synopsis
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve—an engrossing thriller woven between the pages of a stirring meditation on love and betrayal. With one late-night knock on her door, Kathryn Lyons's worst fears as a pilot's wife come true: Her husband, Jack, has died in a mid-air explosion off the coast of Ireland. Later, a phone number found among Jack's papers leads Kathryn to London and the unfathomable truth about her husband's secret other life. A second wife and two young children are just the beginning of what Jack was hiding in England. With each staggering revelation, Kathryn must reconcile her memories of the man she loved with the disturbing portrait unfolding before her.
RATINGS
4 of 11 members voted.
75% gave this book 2 stars
25% gave this book 1 stars
The Alchemist
Host: Lisa Noma
Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Meeting Date: February 25, 2006
Location: Jenny's (Lodi)
Synopsis
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its simplicity and wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an Alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a meditation on the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is art eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
RATINGS
7 of 11 members voted.
42% gave this book 3 stars
28% gave this book 2 stars
28% gave this book 1 stars
