Must Reads not on my "Book Club" post

Book Recommendations beyond the Book Club List. 
The date in the ( ) signifies when I read the book as a personal note to myself.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (11/2012)
An amazing tale about the horrifying time of Occupied France and the almost-forgotten Vel' d'Hiv roundup.  Two families forever connected by history and a secret.

Defending Jacob by William Landay (10/2012)
A dad's mission to defend his son who is charged with the murder of another boy from school. Did he do it? Did he not? What do you think?

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (10/2012)
A story about famous Architect Frank Lloyd Wright's long-time misteress and her fight for Women's Rights in the turn of the century.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave (10/2010)
Follow the story of a young Nigerian Refugee. Easier reading and better storytelling than Verghese's Cutting for Stone.

A Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (3/2012)
Two leading male characters, each with very separate agendas and both successful at accomplishing the unimaginable.  Burnham and Holms share an intertwined journey in Chicago during the infamous World's Fair.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (2/2010)
Don't be intimidated by the almost 1000 page book. Most of it moves quickly through the complex storyline, vivid characters and emotions of the main character with a tough exterior and gentle heart.

The Other Boleyn Girl (4/2006)
A captivating historical fiction about the women in King Henry VIII's opulent life.


Books that are so much better than the movies...

The Help by Katheryn Sockett (10/2010)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (12/2008)

Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (4/2012)
Just do it. If anything, to know part of pop culture.  This is the fantastical version of reality TV show, Survivor, except about kids and people actually get killed. The sociology is very much the same.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neffenegger (12/2008)


Books that I've read to keep busy but aren't necessarily page-turners or must-read's.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (12/2008)
Fraternal twins are born, a healthy boy and a girl with downs syndrom. The father chooses to keep one child without telling the truth about the loss of the other.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (3/2009)
The story of a semi-ordinary Bengali immigrant.

Book Club Updates

MIA on Book Club Posts... but here were our last few books in case you're looking for reading recommendations!

#1 Oct 2010: A Scattered Life by Karen McQuestion
Would not recommend

#2 Nov 2010: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrel
Recommend

#3 Jan 2011: Those who Save Us by Jenna Bloom
The story from a German family during World War II.
Recommend

#4 Feb 2011: Love Story by Eric Segal
Would not recommend

#5 Mar 2011 A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
Would not recommend

#6 April 2011 ROOM by Emma Donoghue A sad story of a woman kept in captivity and her child's escape.
Highly Recommend

#6 May 2011 Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson more like 3 cups of deceit - the 'story' of a man who wants to promote world peace by providing education to underprivileged communities.
Would not recommend

#7 June 2011 Bossypants by Tina Fey so hilarious, it's worth the quick-light read
Highly Recommend

#8 July 2011: Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor  Mary Ellen's friend wrote this and it's totally worth reading! An honest diary of one woman's life as she lost her husband while pregnant with their first child. Makes you appreciate life, love and family.
Recommend

#9 Aug 2011: Scandalous Women by Elizabeth Mahon  Short stories, easy reads, but not particularly a can't-put-it-down-page-turner.
Would not recommend

#10 Sept 2011: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Loved Kite Runner, Loved this one too
Highly Recommend

#11 Oct 2011: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon oops, didn't read this one!
Didn't Read

#12 Nov 2011: Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot An interesting story of a medical breakthrough due to one woman's cancer cells.
Recommend

#13 Jan 2012: UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand
Didn't Read

#14 Feb 2012: Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic....ly boring
Would not recommend

#15 Mar 2012: Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Socilogist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh
Recommend

#16 Apr 2012: Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson The pages keep turning as you wonder if the next day will be the one of revealation. An incredible revelation about 3/4ths of the way through.
Highly Recommend

#17 May 2012: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain I found myself incredibly curious about the life of Ernest Hemmingway after this story of his first wife.
Highly Recommend

#18 June 2012: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese Takes awhile to get into, but the second half of the book moves quickly once you've started deeply caring for the twins, Marion and Shiva.
Recommend

#19 July 2012: 50 Shades of Gray Trilogy
Recommend

#20 Sept 2012: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern The mythical story of a circus and two children bonded forever in a game where there are no rules.
Highly Recommend

#21 Oct 2012: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn A disturbing fictional story of a married couple bonded together by the psychotic wife.
Highly Recommend

#22 Dec 2012: Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

Book Club #7

Book for May's Book Club Meeting!

Recipe's from last night's gathering to follow...

Book Club #6

Tonight is book club! April's book was "Room" by Emma Donoghue.  It was a GREAT pick for the month. I don't want to give away too much becuase you should really read this one for yourself. While it discusses an extremely disturbing situation, Emma does a fantastic job of getting into the mind of a 5 year old boy and brining to life this certainly unordinary situation. 

I'm hosting this month's meeting and have made a variety of appetizers for the girls! I'll be posting recipes of the fun little finger foods after tonight!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

While this wasn't our book club book, I'd highly recommend reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.  The story takes place in post-Civil War Jackson, Mississippi.  I loved the character development and that the story is told from the viewpoint of multiple heroines, both white and black.  It's discouraging to think that such segregation occured just a few short years ago, but encouraging to think that the future can only get better.

The author brings to life the love between white and black women who live side by side but never truly know each other. 

Book Club #5

March's Book Club Book... changing the pace a bit with a memoir rather than a fictional novel.  Just ordered mine from Amazon!

Book Club #4

Love Story is February's book. It was a REALLY short read as I finished it on the elliptical machine within an hour.  Apparently, the sequal Oliver's Story. 

This light novel would be good for a quick lay-over, or a long wait at the doctor's office. Nothing too substantial in here and I wish for more character and relationship development. 

Book Club #3

I apparently missed posting about January's Book which is a short-sight on my part because it was actually quite an intriguing book.

Having grown up in a Jewish community, I really only learned about WWII from a very specific point of view. We even watched Schindler's List in an 8th grade assembly, and then visited the Holocaust Museum in DC shortly after. 

This book, Those Who Save Us, is written from the point of view of a German civilian and brings to light what it was like to live as a German woman in Bavaria during this horrific time. 

You'll learn a lot, wonder even more and maybe even shed a tear reading this one.

Book Club #2

I had to miss last month's book club meeting due to work travel. Boo Hoo. Here's the next book up! Let's keep up the good work ladies!

A Girls Book Club

At my friend Stephanie's suggestion, we pulled together an all-girls book club!  At a record high of 16 lovely ladies from several friend-groups, we will attempt to meet once a month to chat about books... er... gossip a lot. 

The boys have a bet that this will only last a few months.  They have started a Tuesday night darts club for boys that they are sure we will join after the new year. 

Let's prove them wrong ladies!  First up:


















Stephanie hosted the first gathering to "get to know you" and to pick the first book. She made some gluten-free cookies for me and specially bought gluten-free hummus!  It was very sweet and thoughtful of her.  I'm still eating leftover cookies she sent home with me.

Books in 2010

I've been on a bit of a reading binge since completing my coursework at Kellogg. I guess we really did spend a lot of time on those business cases!  Here are some of the books I've read lately:

   An interesting story told through the eyes of a New York Shoe Shine Boy. It felt so real and the stories were so descriptive, that I honestly thought that this was an autobiography.  I was actually dissappointed to find out it was all fictional. 

I love the other Giffin books, especially Something Borrowed and Something Blue which is the same exact story line told from the viewpoints of two best friends.  Baby Proof was also a fun read that continued the lives of the main characters from Giffin's previous two novels.  This story starts with new characters but in the same NYC setting.  It reminds you why you love who you're with and even though the grass may seem greener on the other side, you just have to be reminded that the cloud will pass, and your grass is even greener.


 Totally insightful on living as a first generation immagrant to the US. The pressures of American society, the challenges of being so far away from your family, inter-racial relationships... all things I've seen with my own two eyes and have a fond appreciation of Jhumpa for depicting the feelings in a beautifully written novel.


  Amazing. If you only read one book on this list, or one book all year - read this one.  It's an amazing recollection of the author's life in a fictionized format and is completely insightful on the Indian cultlure, the streets of Bombay and the excitement of Mafia Dons. 

 A lovely novel about an American First Lady, based on the story of Laura Bush.  I had also read George and Laura : Portrait of an American Marriage which is how I knew the background of Laura and understood more about the first couple.


  I just had to. It's too much a part of pop culture and I felt like I was missing something by not reading it!  A quick read with well developed characters in a fantastical world.


 It was fun to read this and then go see the Sex and the City movie!  A upbeat silly story of New York's elite artists told through the eyes of the building in which they reside.  Fast, fun and a break from the mundane.

Currently Reading:

 This book reads like a movie. I can picutre every scene on the beach, in the music shop and in the broken down bungalow that the family lives in.  It feels a bit like a teenage-grade read, but sometimes you just need those mental breaks!

Up Next:
 Recommended to me by Joan Chow, CMO of ConAgra Foods who is an extremely successful and inspirational Chinese Woman who has "made it" in the American Business World.