SNOW FLOWER CUPCAKES

Totally decadent cupcakes from The Cupcake Cafe (Beverly MA) to celebrate Mardi Gras and Snowflower and the Secret Fan. Yummmmm.

BACK TO THE BOOKS

Bigtime apologies! I have been quite lax about being the communicator for The Thin Book Club.

Finally...ladies, here's the scoop (as decided at our wonderful January meeting at JM's house.)

On 2/24 I will be hosting and we'll be discussing SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN by Lisa See
On 3/24 EK is hosting and we will be discussing THE GUERNSEY LITERARY & POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrow
On 4/28 we will be meeting (locale tbd) and we will be discussing UNACCUSTOMED EARTH by Jhumpa Lahiri
On 5/26 we'll meet somewhere (locale tbd) to discuss GIRLS LIKE US- Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller

Who wants to suggest books for us to read the rest of the year?!

FOUGHT OVER ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/fashion/07clubs.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Fashion & Style
Fought Over Any Good Books Lately?
By JOANNE KAUFMAN
Published: December 7, 2008

"The trouble with book clubs often has little to do with books, or Oprah..."

I feel blessed that THE THIN BOOK CLUB does not act like the clubs mentioned in this 12/7/08 New York Times article. Quite often we don't all agree, but we just move on...no hard feelings. No fights have ever broken out, and if we've lost members it's been because they've moved away, or frankly weren't that interested.

We have basic "rules" but we're probably quite flexible compared to many book clubs...but every so often we remind ourselves that we should be better. For 2009 I think we're going to take more care in book selection and "ownership" of the evening.

Reminder...next meeting at EK's house is 12/16. We're reading The Monsters of Templeton.

MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON by Lauren Groff

Dear Ladies of the Thin Book Club: How are we going to beat ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG?? For the second month in a row we all seemed to have loved our chosen book. Let's see if we can make it three. Our next meeting will be at EK's on 12/16. Thank you JJ for last nite's fabulous homemade cheesecake and accompaniments. Yummm.

This Thanksgiving I am truly grateful for our bookclub. I always look forward to our evenings of books, politics, local gossip, family updates and laughter. Yeah us! Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!

For December we'll be diving into THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON by Lauren Groff
http://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Templeton-Lauren-Groff/dp/140134092X/ref=ed_oe_p


Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, February 2008: On the very morning Willie Upton slinks home to Templeton, New York (after a calamitous affair with her archeology professor), the 50-foot-long body of a monster floats from the depths of the town's lake. This unsettling coincidence sets the stage for one of the most original debut novels since The Time Traveler’s Wife. With a clue to the mysterious identity of her father in hand, Willie turns her research skills to unearthing the secrets of the town in letters and pictures (which, "reproduced" in the book along with increasingly complete family trees, lend an air of historical authenticity). Lauren Groff's endearingly feisty characters imbue the story with enough intrigue to keep readers up long past bedtime, and reading groups will find much to discuss in its themes of "monsters," both in our towns and our families. --Mari Malcolm

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. At the start of Groff's lyrical debut, 28-year-old Wilhelmina Willie Upton returns to her picturesque hometown of Templeton, N.Y., after a disastrous affair with her graduate school professor during an archeological dig in Alaska. In Templeton, Willie's shocked to find that her once-bohemian mother, Vi, has found religion. Vi also reveals to Willie that her father wasn't a nameless hippie from Vi's commune days, but a man living in Templeton. With only the scantiest of clues from Vi, Willie is determined to untangle the roots of the town's greatest families and discover her father's identity. Brilliantly incorporating accounts from generations of Templetonians—as well as characters borrowed from the works of James Fenimore Cooper, who named an upstate New York town Templeton in The Pioneers—Groff paints a rich picture of Willie's current predicaments and those of her ancestors. Readers will delight in Willie's sharp wit and Groff's creation of an entire world, complete with a lake monster and illegitimate children.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Based on the works of James Fenimore Cooper--particularly The Pioneers, in which the celebrated novelist reimagines his hometown, Cooperstown, New York, as Templeton--Lauren Groff's debut novel startled critics with its originality and power. Despite its magical realist elements, The Monsters of Templeton is primarily an exploration of the history of Templeton and its monsters of the decidedly human variety. Willie is an engaging and likable character, and the plot is driven forward by the imaginative use of invented source documents and vintage photos culled by Groff from antique stores, flea markets, and even eBay. The only complaint? A few too many voices and sources. Compared to Carol Shields, only more whimsical and inventive. (San Francisco Chronicle), Groff is a promising new writer who has penned an innovative, entertaining first novel.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Review
A fantastically fun read, a kind of wild pastiche that is part historical novel and part mystery, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure."
-- Booklist

Product Description
"The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass."
So begins The Monsters of Templeton, a novel spanning two centuries: part a contemporary story of a girl's search for her father, part historical novel, and part ghost story, this spellbinding novel is at its core a tale of how one town holds the secrets of a family.
In the wake of a wildly disastrous affair with her married archaeology professor, Willie Upton arrives on the doorstep of her ancestral home in Templeton, New York, where her hippie-turned-born-again-Baptist mom, Vi, still lives. Willie expects to be able to hide in the place that has been home to her family for generations, but the monster's death changes the fabric of the quiet, picture-perfect town her ancestors founded. Even further, Willie learns that the story her mother had always told her about her father has all been a lie: he wasn't the random man from a free-love commune that Vi had led her to imagine, but someone else entirely. Someone from this very town.

As Willie puts her archaeological skills to work digging for the truth about her lineage, she discovers that the secrets of her family run deep. Through letters, editorials, and journal entries, the dead rise up to tell their sides of the story as dark mysteries come to light, past and present blur, old stories are finally put to rest, and the shocking truth about more than one monster is revealed.

BOOK CLUB GIRL blog

Tonite, we of The Thin Book Club will be discussing LOVING FRANK (i'm in love with this book...but not quite finished), and inevitably we'll end up trying to figure out what to read over the next few months. We're always looking for suggestions. Please let me know if you have any?!
I just came across Book Club Girl's blog and I have to admit, this is what I thought my blog would be like until I digressed a bit and made it about my own adventures, my own pix etc. This blogger is also a publishing gal. And I need to dig a bit further, but I think mabye her blog is only focusing on Harper Collins books. I haven't had time to check that out yet. Since we don't publish fiction where I work, I can't blog about books our bookclub should be reading...focusing only on our books for enthusiasts.

Maybe someday I can refocus this blog solely on books. But in the meantime, for reading ideas...check her out Book Club Girl's blog for lots of great reading suggestions. BTW, I'd love to read Ann Patchett's RUN next!

http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/
Book Club Girl is: a member of a book club and an avid reader who spent most of her childhood immersed in a book, an English major who considered library school until she realized it was all about computers, so turned to publishing, where she now works (but she vows to talk about books from all over and not to simply flog those from her own house). She was single, lived in the city, met a man, moved to the 'burbs, and is now a wife, a stepmother, a mother, and in her spare time, a fledgling blogger dedicated to sharing great books, news and tips with book club girls everywhere.