Blogger Book Club #2

in Book Club!

Last night was the second meeting of the Charlotte Blogger Book Club.  This was the first time we discussed a book because we picked the book at the first meeting.

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Our book club selection was A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein.  This book tells the tale of a upper-middle class doctor named Pete.  Pete pushes his only child, Alec, to succeed at a ‘traditional’ life and is dismayed when Alec drops out of college and begins to date Pete’s best friend’s daughter.  Ten years earlier, the daughter committed an unspeakable crime that Pete simply cannot forgive.

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Reviews of the book were mixed – some of us loved it (me) and some didn’t.  But the book certainly prompted an interesting discussion about parental responsibility and how far you can push your kids to succeed.

 

Katie printed the discussion questions off the Internet so we had something to talk about when we ran out of topics.  It was fun to have such an intellectual discussion with my friends.  I felt like I was back in college!

 

James added a lot to the conversation, too.

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Then I came home, ate dinner, and started another book (but not the book club selection for June – I read A Friend of the Family too soon and forgot a lot of stuff).

 

Our selection for June is Little Bee by Chris Cleave, if you want to follow along!

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Here’s today’s breakfast – it was a good one!

 

Two sunny-side up eggs, a Morningstar sausage, crusty Italian bread, and some watermelon.  Oh, yeah.

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It’s going to be a busyyy day.  Better hop to it.

{ 59 comments }

 

  • Brittany (A Healthy Slice of Life) June 3, 2011, 9:22 am

    Breakfast definitely looks like a winner!

    Looking forward to rejoining the group next month for Little Bee when my baby classes are over. 🙂

  • kalli@fitandfortysomething June 3, 2011, 9:28 am

    oh i love reading! lately though i have been reading some real non thinkers. good luck with your busy day 🙂 happy friday!

  • Rachel @ The Perseverance Diaries June 3, 2011, 9:33 am

    I need some new Summer reads! A book club is a good idea…

    That breakfast looks yummy! It’s almost the weekend 🙂

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat June 3, 2011, 9:34 am

    That’s so cool that you have a book club! It’s something I’d love to do, but I struggle to find the time to read books – and I blame all the fabulous blogs out there like yours!! 🙂

  • Karen @ Run Shop Travel June 3, 2011, 9:36 am

    Hmmm I actually bought Little Bee at the airport awhile back and never got around to reading it! Maybe it’s time I did!

  • Hillary June 3, 2011, 9:36 am

    Ohh, I finished Little Bee a few weeks ago; it is SUPER intense, but so well-written. I also read Chris Cleave’s other novel, Incendiary, which was brutally heartbreaking. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!

  • Holly @ The Runny Egg June 3, 2011, 9:38 am

    I so want to join a book club — but I’m afraid I’d hate having to read a certain book by a certain time — I like to be able read at my own pace.

    That book sounds interesting!

  • Amisha June 3, 2011, 9:39 am

    Little Bee is soooo good! You will love it. I actually cried while reading it.

  • Amy June 3, 2011, 9:40 am

    Thanks for posting the next book! 🙂

  • Ann @ Day by Day June 3, 2011, 9:42 am

    Your book club looks like fun! I’ve always wanted to be in a book club. Now that I’m out of school for the summer I have about ten books stacked up that I want to read- I may have to add Little Bee now after looking it up on Amazon. It looks really good.

  • Ashley O. @ The Vegetable Life June 3, 2011, 9:43 am

    Ohhh a book club sounds like so much fun! I am looking for some new god books to read this summer so I cant wait to hear more of your reviews!!!!!

  • Mandy the Mood Eater June 3, 2011, 9:45 am

    Holy Yum, what a tasty looking breakfast! I’m always looking for book recs – Little Bee looks great! Thank ya, ma’am!

  • Gina @ Running to the Kitchen June 3, 2011, 9:48 am

    delicious looking breakfast!
    I would love a book club to have some sort of “adult” conversation 🙂 sounds like fun! I’m reading The Kitchen House right now. One of Jenna’s book club recs.

  • Kate @ Walking in the Rain June 3, 2011, 9:49 am

    Ooh Friend of the Family would be a good suggestion for my own bookclub. We’re reading The Windup Girl now and Little Bee is on deck soon.

  • LindseyAnn June 3, 2011, 9:57 am

    I think I need to find and join a book club–this English major is feeling deprived of good literary discussion.
    I would do what you did all the time in school–I’d get too far ahead in readings and forget what happened by the time the discussions rolled around.

  • Lucy@The Sweet Touch June 3, 2011, 10:00 am

    Caitline, I beg of you, turn back from Little Bee right now! I know some people are going to say it was amazing but it really isn’t. I think you will know what I mean once you finish but I am interested in hearing your review:)

  • Caitlin @ The Caitie Experiment June 3, 2011, 10:01 am

    I read Little Bee after receiving it as a birthday gift from a friend who loved it! I liked it and it’s definitely well-written, but I just didn’t “get” what had everyone going nuts over it. I think it might have just been the style of the narrative that I wasn’t crazy about, but it’s definitely interesting and pretty heavy! I can’t wait to hear your opinion on it!!

  • Sara @ OurDogBuffy June 3, 2011, 10:03 am

    I had a friend read Little Bee for her book club!

  • Jaime June 3, 2011, 10:09 am

    my mom read Little Bee and LOVED it 🙂

  • Michelle@Crazy*Running*Legs June 3, 2011, 10:18 am

    Wow that book sounds really interesting! My {virtual} currently reading In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. I can’t wait to discuss it!

  • Kimberly @ Healthy Strides June 3, 2011, 10:24 am

    “Little Bee” is very good. Very sad but good. Great choice!

  • Michelle June 3, 2011, 10:29 am

    Hmmm. I’d be curious to see what you guys thought of Little Bee. I had really mixed feelings on that book but it seems to be super popular.

  • Liv @ The Salty n' Sweet June 3, 2011, 10:30 am

    I love getting into deep discussions with my friends. And it looks like James likes it too 😉

    I’ve heard a lot of good things about Little Bee. I just might join in on the June book club 😀

  • Colleen June 3, 2011, 10:30 am

    This looks so fun! I’m inspired to start a book club here!

  • Clare - Never Niche June 3, 2011, 10:35 am

    I read Little Bee in two nights! You will love it.

  • Samantha June 3, 2011, 10:40 am

    A Friend of the Family sounds like a great book! I’ve been looking for my next read, so I might pick that one up! What’s Little Bee about?

  • Allie Q June 3, 2011, 10:42 am

    I so want to join a book club! It’s awesome that you get so much reading done. I actually just started reading “In Defense of Food.” I’m liking it so far, but there’s just one problem…I CANNOT stay awake! The best time for me to read is before going to sleep. And I know this isn’t really something to complain about, but I fall asleep so easily that after about two pages I’m nodding off. Besides reading at another time, do you have any advice for NOT nodding off so I could actually make a dent in all these books I want to read?

  • Kara Q June 3, 2011, 10:45 am

    Little Bee is one of the best books I’ve read in AGES. One of those ones that has stuck with me and kept me thinking about it for months afterwards. Enjoy!!

  • Julie (A Case of the Runs) June 3, 2011, 10:59 am

    The BEST part about me graduating is that I can read more books! I just finished Wicked and had a mini-discussion with the bf last night after I cooked dinner and he was doing the dishes. It was great to connect on yet another level with him!

  • Beth (Well I'll Be) June 3, 2011, 11:02 am

    That book sounds great!! Discussions like this are one of the things I miss most about college. I think I’ll start my own book club!

  • courtney (pancakes and postcards) June 3, 2011, 11:06 am

    Hi Caitlin!

    Do you have any blends in SF? I’m trying to start a blogger book club there too this month and am trying to rope in whoever might be interested 🙂 so excited!

  • Julia June 3, 2011, 11:07 am

    I’ve been looking for a new book to read, so I’m going to look into this one! And that breakfast looks so delicious. I want to steal your watermelon haha!

  • Christine June 3, 2011, 11:09 am

    Book clubs are the best!

  • jen @ taste life June 3, 2011, 11:13 am

    I need a book club to join! Or I need you and everyone you know to move to Asheville. Either way.

  • ally June 3, 2011, 11:14 am

    You are going to LOVE little bee! Easily one of the best books I have ever read. I read it while on vacation in the Bahamas and couldn’t be torn away from my lounge chair to mingle until I finished! It was THAT good!

  • Amber Faye @ One "Faye" At A Time June 3, 2011, 11:14 am

    Oh I think I am going to have to get that book, I have been looking for a new book to read!

  • Chelsea @ Go Chelsea Go! June 3, 2011, 11:31 am

    I haven’t read A Friend of the Family, but it’s on my To-Read list at Goodreads.com. I am such a bookworm, especially now that I have a kindle!

  • Erin @ Big Girl Feats June 3, 2011, 11:45 am

    I JUST had a professor tell me about Little Bee last night. She said it was phenomenal. I’m excited to read along!

  • Allison @ The Delicious Life June 3, 2011, 11:46 am

    I LOVED LITTLE BEE!!!!!

  • Taysa June 3, 2011, 11:58 am

    It’s rare that a book elicits such a negative response from me, but LITTLE BEE is seriously one of the worst books I’ve ever read, if not THE worst. It’s insultingly bad. A good choice for a book club, though. There will be lots of things to talk about.

  • Ellen June 3, 2011, 12:10 pm

    I am part of a book club and LOVE it. It’s nice to get exposed to books you might not pick up typically. My club alternated fiction and non fiction which I highly recommend!

  • beth June 3, 2011, 12:38 pm

    I’m halfway through it…and on the fence. Can’t wait to hear you’re take on it!

  • Alison Elizabeth June 3, 2011, 12:38 pm

    Little Bee is without a doubt, one of the most incredible, unique and beautiful books I’ve read in years. I hope you love it too!

  • chelsey @ clean eating chelsey June 3, 2011, 1:17 pm

    Little Bee was one of the best books I’ve ever read – it was definitley a little bit disturbing, but you won’t be sorry you read it.

  • jess June 3, 2011, 1:46 pm

    Caitlin – you seem to be reading a lot lately! Update us on some of your other reads!

  • Paige @Running Around Normal June 3, 2011, 2:03 pm

    omg I loved Little Bee! Don’t start it too soon, because it’s a quick read and hard to put down:)

  • Nic Dempsey June 3, 2011, 2:43 pm

    I hope you like Little Bee, over here its called The Other Hand. It’s really interesting to see what others thought about it, I got to hear Chris Cleave speak about why he wrote the book, so maybe I was more sympathetic to it, but I did enjoy it.

  • Tori (Fresh Fruition) June 3, 2011, 3:09 pm

    I love me a sunny-side-up egg with some crusty toast now and then! It’s one of my weird craving foods that I want desperately from time to time.

  • Amy @ love4living June 3, 2011, 3:53 pm

    Charlotte really looks like such a lovely place to live! Random, I know. But all your posts and pics about it look so nice!

  • Jess-The SemiAbnormal Gal June 3, 2011, 4:32 pm

    I just got Little Bee as an audiobook from my co-worker, we do our own book club with my long distance bestie in DC (whom is conveniently her daughter! Are you confused yet?). Anyways, my co said she loved Bee, but it was disturbing. I’m super excited, but I have to finish Fall of Giants by Follet in the car first, so I can start Bee! yay book club!

  • Heidi - apples under my bed June 3, 2011, 7:15 pm

    Yay Book Club! Your breakfast looks picture perfect 🙂
    Heidi xo

  • Karmen June 3, 2011, 7:59 pm

    Very interested to hear your thoughts on Little Bee! IMO, it was a very well written book, but incredibly heavy to me. I picked it up on my last day of vacation last year and finished it the next day. You’ll have to let us know what you think!

  • sirenjess June 3, 2011, 9:05 pm

    You’re going to love Little Bee. I read it last summer.

  • Mac June 3, 2011, 10:52 pm

    I would love to find a book club in my area, so I could have a nice little girls date. Any suggestions on where to find people or clubs?

  • Britta June 4, 2011, 2:27 am

    Hi Caitlin – coming out of the lurk zone to weigh in on Little Bee :)Ditto to #52 Karmen – I REALLY enjoyed the book and devoured it, but it is incredibly sad and kind of haunted me for awhile after reading it. Excited to see your take on it.

    BTW – I love your blog, am recently venturing into more healthy foods as a result of you and other amazing health bloggers. Good luck on your race tomorrow!!

  • Shannon @ A Pinch of Ginger June 4, 2011, 11:32 am

    OoOo Little Bee is intense (as all of the Ladies have said above) but I really liked it! Have you read The Help? Thats definitely another good one to add to the book club!

  • Kristen June 4, 2011, 6:39 pm

    I loved Little Bee, I know you will too!

  • Alison June 6, 2011, 11:54 am

    I read Little Bee with my book club — you will certainly have lots of great topics to discuss with it! Very thought provoking.

  • Bethany June 8, 2011, 10:35 am

    I can’t wait to hear what you think of Little Bee. It was my pick for my book club a few months ago. It is very intense, but it has a lot of great things to talk about.

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