Hi Ladies!

Hey Hey Hey!
Just wanted to let you know I have posted the next book entitled "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom. I actually read this book about 8 years ago in preparation to visiting the Holocaust museum in Baltimore. It is a little heavy, but is educational and displays the harshness and reality of what the Jewish people went through. The Preston Library does have a copy, and I will be purchasing one myself that I could lend out to all that are interested.

For those of you that were at this last book club, it is not the one I was reading at the time. That one has been set aside, and will probably be given away. Way too graphic for my naive eyes. :) (Yes, there was more!)

We're also going to move forward with the "Girls OVER-Night Out" on April 23rd-24th. I realize not all will be able to attend, but we'll just have to do it another time in hopes to get us all there in the future.

Also, we are still planning on a Book Club night-out on May 26th. We're thinking we'll meet at the new Main Street Grill (hoping it will be open) at 6:30 pm.

The Hiding Place

As the nazi madness swept across Europe, a quiet watchmaker's family in Holland risked everything for the sake of others, and for the love of Christ. Despite the danger and threat of discovery, they courageously offered shelter to persecuted Jews. Then a trap brought about the family's arrest. Could God's love shine through, even in Ravensbruck?

Once Upon a Marigold

Once Upon a Marigold

Jean Ferris

Christian is gaga for Princess Marigold. He's just a commoner, though, and no match for royalty. Heck, he lives in a cave with a troll! And now he's discovered another reason to put his love-soggy heart on ice: Queen Olympia is scheming to take over the kingdom - and she'll bump off Marigold to do it!

Hunger Games

Starred Review. SignatureReviewed by Megan Whalen TurnerIf there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is always mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the good guy never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, The House of the Scorpion—and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984 and rather more Death Race 2000, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch.Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high

NOVEMBER BOOK

Night World No. 1
L.J. Smith


Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.

In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now Poppy's only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first they both must risk everything to go against the laws of Night World.

Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.

Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It's a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder.

OCTOBER BOOK

Angels and Demons
Dan Brown



It takes guts to write a novel that combines an ancient secret brotherhood, the Swiss Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, a papal conclave, mysterious ambigrams, a plot against the Vatican, a mad scientist in a wheelchair, particles of antimatter, jets that can travel 15,000 miles per hour, crafty assassins, a beautiful Italian physicist, and a Harvard professor of religious iconology. It takes talent to make that novel anything but ridiculous. Kudos to Dan Brown (Digital Fortress) for achieving the nearly impossible. Angels & Demons is a no-holds-barred, pull-out-all-the-stops, breathless tangle of a thriller--think Katherine Neville's The Eight (but cleverer) or Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum (but more accessible).
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is shocked to find proof that the legendary secret society, the Illuminati--dedicated since the time of Galileo to promoting the interests of science and condemning the blind faith of Catholicism--is alive, well, and murderously active. Brilliant physicist Leonardo Vetra has been murdered, his eyes plucked out, and the society's ancient symbol branded upon his chest. His final discovery, antimatter, the most powerful and dangerous energy source known to man, has disappeared--only to be hidden somewhere beneath Vatican City on the eve of the election of a new pope. Langdon and Vittoria, Vetra's daughter and colleague, embark on a frantic hunt through the streets, churches, and catacombs of Rome, following a 400-year-old trail to the lair of the Illuminati, to prevent the incineration of civilization.

Brown seems as much juggler as author--there are lots and lots of balls in the air in this novel, yet Brown manages to hurl the reader headlong into an almost surreal suspension of disbelief. While the reader might wish for a little more sardonic humor from Langdon, and a little less bombastic philosophizing on the eternal conflict between religion and science, these are less fatal flaws than niggling annoyances--readers should have no trouble skimming past them and immersing themselves in a heck of a good read. "Brain candy" it may be, but my! It's tasty. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

SEPTEMBER BOOK

Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson



One day in 1993, high up in the world's most inhospitable mountains, Greg Mortenson wandered lost and alone, broken in body and spirit, after a failed attempt to climb K2, the world's deadliest peak. When the people of an impoverished village in Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya took him in and nursed him back to health, Mortenson made an impulsive promise: He would return one day and build them a school. Although he was a homeless "climbing bum" living out of his aging Buick in Berkeley, California, Mortenson sold what few possessions he had to launch one of the most remarkable humanitarian campaigns of our time." "Three Cups of Tea traces Mortenson's decade-long odyssey to build schools, especially for girls, throughout the region that gave birth to the Taliban and sanctuary to Al Qaeda. While he wages war with the root causes of terrorism - poverty and ignorance - by providing both girls and boys with a balanced, nonextremist education. Mortenson must survive a kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, death threats from Americans who consider him a traitor, and wrenching separations from his family." Today, as the director of the Central Asia Institute, Mortenson has built fifty-five schools serving Pakistan and Afghanistan's poorest communities. And as this real-life Indiana Jones from Montana crisscrosses the Himalaya and the Hindu Kush fighting to keep these schools functioning, he provides not only hope to tens of thousands of children, but living proof that one passionately dedicated person truly can change the world.

It has been added....

Ok, you have no idea how good that feels! Finally, "My Book" has been added to the SEIdaho bookclub blogspot. YES. Sorry if I stepped on any toes, but I just HAD to do it. :)

MAY BOOK

Tending Roses
Lisa Wingate



The lessons that most enrich our lives often come at unexpected moments and from unlikely places. That's what Katie Benson learns when she moves temporarily—with her husband Ben and baby son—to her grandmother's Missouri farm. She arrives at a time of crisis and indecision—struggling with the demands of being a new mother, a not-so-new wife, and a well-meaning but often impatient granddaughter. The family has assigned her and Ben the job of convincing Grandma Rose, who's become increasingly stubborn and forgetful, to move off the land that means so much to her and into a nursing home. Katie knows such a change would break her grandmother's heart. But what is right for her grandmother? And what is right for herself and her family?

Just when Katie despairs of finding answers, she discovers her grandmother's journal. A beautiful handmade notebook, it is full of heartwarming stories that celebrate the virtue of patience, the power of love, and the importance of family, friendship, and faith. Stories that make Katie see her life—and her grandmother—in a completely new way... and lead her toward a new, more meaningful future...

Welcome Jamie...

I hope we didn't scare you away! I think I speak for everybody, when I say... this is an awesome group of girls (I would say Ladies, but that makes us sound too old)!

Don't forget about your 4 fav recipes! I'm looking forward to them!

APRIL BOOK

Uglies
Scott Westerfeld
Uglies is the first book of the trilogy. The second book is Pretties and the third is Specials. It's about a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. This seems like a good thing, but it's not. Especially if you're one of the uglies, a bunch of radical teens who've decided they want to keep their own faces. (How anti-social of them.)

MARCH BOOK

Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game is a science fiction novel that tells
the story of Andrew Wiggin (nicknamed Ender by
his sister, Valentine.) The story takes place on
Earth in the future. Earth has been attacked
twice by an alien species called Buggers, nearly
destroying the human race. Mankind begins training
young geniuses to become soldiers and commanders
to fight in Earth's defence if the Buggers should
ever attack again. Ender is extremely intelligent,
and at the age of six years old, he goes to Battle
School to be trained. Ender quickly rises to the
top in Battle School and begins training in order
to command Earth's fleet.

FEBRUARY BOOK

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. Born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

JANUARY BOOK

The Glass Castle: A Memoir
by Jeannette Walls

“I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster. It was just after dark. A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party where I was heading. Mom stood fifteen feet away. She had tied rags around her shoulders to keep out the spring chill and was picking through the trash. It had been months since I laid eyes on Mom, and when she looked up, I was overcome with panic that she’d see me and call out my name. I slid down in the seat and asked the driver to turn around and take me home to Park Avenue.”

From here on, the story is one dysfunctional family rollercoaster ride. Jeanette tells her courageous tale of growing up with an alcoholic father who had grandiose, Ralph Kramdenesque schemes to find gold (and building her a glass castle, thus the title of the book) and her mother’s backwards methodology on almost every aspect of their lives. Everything - and I mean everything - could be twisted and contorted into something positive if seen through the distorted prism of Jeanette’s parents' eyes. Some parts of this will push you to the breaking point, making you want to shake some common sense into them. In other places, you can see that even though they were in desperate need of a psychiatric evaluation, they loved their kids

Katie,
Too bad our movie plans fell through. I hate this weather! Anyway, the next book is The Glass Castle: a Memior. Can't remember the author right now. Heather and my sister read it and loved it, so I'm kind of excited about it. I'm not sure when we'll get together, yet. I'll let you know soon! Hope your holidays are going well!

The Beginning

Hey Girls,

I hope you are all doing well. I decided to set up a blog for us to communicate. Let me know what you think.

What is seidaho? South-East-Idaho... creative huh? If you have any other ideas - let me know...