Butler Women of Wisdom Book Club

You probably thought I forgot about you! No, it is only the usual excuse, a hectic schedule with school at KC and my class at PITT. It has been several weeks since our October book club met to discuss the novel Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Lori, and myself were present at Panera Bread where the meeting was held. There is not much to say about the book Sunshine , since only one of our members actually completed it. Our first book from the science fiction genre, it was slow moving with unnecessary rambling on by the narrator. The plot could have been completed in half the number of pages used to write the book. There was no life altering thematic messages or quotes that one would hope to remember. I did make one personal connection while reading, however, when the narrator described her mother as a person who will not let go of things. For instance, after the narrator and main character Rae returns to work at the coffee house following her kidnapping, she sa...

Hi Everyone, The September Butler Women of Wisdom Book Club met on Wednesday, September 17 at Kairo's Coffee House. Members in attendance were Becky, Ginnie, Cheryl, and myself. It was a small group, but where two or more readers are gathered, book discussions will commence! Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a memorable read. Always a "fan" of historic fiction, I gathered many interesting facts about the suffrage of women in the Chinese culture. For example, although I was aware of the Chinese tradition of footbinding, See's book provided the demented details of the process. A quote we found especially shocking explained why men lusted after a woman's bound foot, "The way her heel curves down like a sac with her forefoot pointed out just so will remind her husband of his own member." To say we were flabbergasted to discover that the male obsession with his own penis is at the root of this perverted tradition is an understatement. I am st...

Hello Everyone, It has been a hectic two weeks diving back into the school year. Each day I get up at 5:00 A.M., meditate through yoga, then proceed to embrace the day! Anyway, with all the embracing I've been doing, I simply haven't had time to write to you. Soon it will be time for our next book club which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, September 17 at Kairo's Coffee House. This, however is the night of Butler's Battle of the Bands and my nephew David is performing in it for the last time. It is his senior year. Can we change the date to either Tuesday, September 16 or to Wednesday, September 24? Everyone, send me an email to let me know! To bring everyone up-to-date on last month's meeting, our August book club was a scrumptious hit! There were seven members in attendance: Becky, Cheryl, Christine, Ginnie, Jody, Lori, and myself. The meeting was hosted at Lori's southwestern style villa overlooking the golden corn vineyards of Penn Township.Our read...

The July 16th meeting was fun. Our light hearted book choice Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella was an easy summer read (especially for teachers who choose to remain unburdened from deep thought for the few short months before school resumes). Members in attendance in the upper room at Kairo's Coffe House were Barb, Becky, Cheryl, Christine, Ginnie, Lori, Jody, Sharon, and me. The meeting opened with a short vocab quiz on some of the main character's, Becky Brandon's, commonly used words: pram, fab, knotty, gubbins, queue, etc. The quiz also asked for the name of Becky's favorite candy bar which Ginnie promptly answered, Kit-Kat! Kit-Kats were then passed around the room costing only 5 Weight Watcher points for 3 snack size bars. Following the quiz and intermittent book discussion, we shared shopping stories. Jody wore her shopping story, a pair of red leather shoes she purchased in the 80's. After spending what her mother would have considered an outrageous...

We had a great turnout for the June book club! Regular members in attendance were Barb, Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Mary Beth, Sharon, and myself. We welcomed a new member Jody Barnhart, and our junior member Makenzie also joined us. Needless to say, the upper room at Kairo's Coffee House was percolating with book talk! The June book Three Junes by Julia Glass challenged our members with multiple narrations, a staggering plot, and a thought-provoking vocabulary. The book exposed the life of Fenno McLeod, a gay man living in New York City but still very much bound to his family ties in Scotland. Fenno's personal relationship with two very opposite gay men lead him on a path of self discovery. Mal, who is also Fenno's neighbor, is dying of AIDS, and, unwittingly, Fenno becomes Mal's support as his illness progresses. Most of us liked the character of Mal. He was the stereotypical gay, flamboyant and pompous. Although Mal would have been a more appropriate sexual partner fo...