Third Thursday Book Club Schedule
September 2010 Selection -Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
Book Club Meeting - Barnes & Noble Superstore in Clackamas Town Center

Synopsis

The women of Freesia Court are convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delectable desserts, and a strong shoulder can’t fix. Laughter is the glue that holds them together—the foundation of a book group they call AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons), an unofficial “club” that becomes much more. It becomes a lifeline. Holding on through forty eventful years, this stalwart group of friends depicts a special slice of American life, of stay-at-home days and new careers, of children and grandchildren, of bold beginnings and second chances, in which the power of forgiveness, understanding, and the perfectly timed giggle fit is the CPR that mends broken hearts and shattered dreams.
October 2010 Selection - The Help by Kathryn Stocket
Book Club Meeting - Barnes & Noble Superstore in Clackamas Town Center

Synopsis

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
November 2010 Selection - Making Toast: A Family Story by Roger Rosenblatt
Book Club Meeting - Barnes & Noble Superstore in Clackamas Town Center

Synopsis

When his daughter, Amy—a gifted doctor, mother, and wife—collapses and dies from an asymptomatic heart condition, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife, Ginny, leave their home on the South Shore of Long Island to move in with their son-in-law, Harris, and their three young grandchildren: six-year-old Jessica, four-year-old Sammy, and one-year-old James, known as Bubbies. Long past the years of diapers, homework, and recitals, Roger and Ginny—Boppo and Mimi to the kids—quickly reaccustom themselves to the world of small children: bedtime stories, talking toys, playdates, nonstop questions, and nonsequential thought. As Roger marvels at the strength of his son-in-law and the tenacity and skill of his wife, a former kindergarten teacher, Roger attends each day to "the one household duty I have mastered"—preparing the morning toast perfectly to each child's liking.
December/January 2010-11 Selection - Giovanni's Light: The Story of a Town Where Time Stopped for Christmas by Phyllis Theroux
Book Club Meeting - Barnes & Noble Superstore in Clackamas Town Center

Synopsis

Ryland Falls wasn't paradise, but there was a certain storybook quality about the town that made visitors catch their breath. As in a book, the order of the stories never changed. On December first, the Chamber of Commerce always hung out the "Yuletide Greetings" banners, the plastic Santa Claus went back on the top of the firehouse roof, and grumpy Diane at Elwood's Market started wearing her set of imitation reindeer antlers. Yet on this particular Christmas, there were signs that the order of things would change. And when it did, the people in Ryland Falls never celebrated Christmas the same way again.
February 2011 Selection - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Book Club Meeting - Barnes & Noble Superstore in Clackamas Town Center

Synopsis

Sentimental, heartfelt….the exploration of Henry’s changing relationship with his family and with Keiko will keep most readers turning pages...A tender and satisfying novel set in a time and a place lost forever, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives us a glimpse of the damage that is caused by war—not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to the hearts and humanity of individual people. Especially relevant in today's world, this is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more importantly, it will make you feel
March 2011 Selection - Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell
Book Club Meeting - Barnes & Noble Superstore in Clackamas Town Center

Synopsis

In this gorgeous, moving memoir, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gail Caldwell reflects on her own coming-of-age in midlife, as she learns to open herself to the power and healing of sharing her life with a best friend. Caldwell's greatest achievement is describing both the very best that women can be together and the precious things they can, if they wish, give back to one another: power, humor, love and self-respect.