Lists

My book group met Monday night. A small group- lots of catching up with my friends as I missed the January meeting. We discussed The Dovekeepers - it was not an easy discussion. Not sure why- three had not finished it, one had read it a year ago and I had done a bit of research online to help remember it as I had read it back in mid-January. All seemed to like the book. Our discussion led to whether we had read other Alice Hoffmann books (with a little looking I did find an old list) and we had. But this led to the question- do we have a list of all the books read since the group started back in the late '90s with Memoirs of a Geisha? So I have been going through my book bag . I bring my bag to every meeting and take notes- the date, the selected book, who chose the book, who was hosting, the discussion and whether the group liked the book. But I only started keeping any records since January 2005. Here is a picture of the inside of my book bag. Lots of clippings, pages with book titles. Now this could stand some organizing. I did manage to find an early list and scan it (I am new to scanning) and send it out but that list only had books through 2006. So I guess I have my work cut out for me.

Re-entry!

Got home yesterday afternoon after a delay leaving Maui and a delay in Dallas. Ugh. Long night and day getting home but we are finally here. Catching up on the mail, laundry, house stuff. Lots of the snow has melted from The Blizzard (which we missed). Finished Beneath A Marble Sky. I enjoyed it - love the idea that the Taj Mahal may have been started as a memorial for the Emperor's wife but the architect fell in love with the Princess and really designed and built it as a testimony of his love for her. Will start The House On Willow Street next. Book club meets next week to discuss The Dovekeepers. Will need to review a little bit as I read it about 4 weeks ago and my memory just isn't that great these days. One of our book selections is the biography of Steve Jobs. Very lengthy and I think I should be starting it soon....Saw lots of rainbows while on Maui which means there was a bit of rain while we were there. It was a first for me to see a double rainbow and I saw several!

Need more books...

Today is our last full day on Maui. So far the weather has not been cooperating- lots of rain and clouds. But it is still warmer than home. I am working on my challenge. I finished Wolf Hall. It took me quite awhile to figure out who was speaking and whose voice was whose....a bit confusing but once I did I enjoyed the book. Oh those Tudors! The intrigue, the plotting, the manipulations. I would have never survived! I then read The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. Slow to start for me but I finished that and realized that I was out of books! Luckily there is a HUGE Barnes and Noble in Lahaina- really beautiful- much bigger than the B&N at home. So I did a bit of research for book suggestions, checked out a couple of reviews and bought two more books....Beneath A Marble Sky, a love story about the building of the Taj Mahal (on my bucket list to visit) and the second book is House on Willow Street by Cathy Kelly. Of course neither of these two books were on my "list". I didn't want to buy any hardbacks, a couple of the books weren't in stock so I just thought these looked interesting. So I think I am close to achieving my goal of a book a week.....would like to read Bring Up The Bones which is continuing the saga started in Wolf Hall. My book group meets soon to discuss The Dove Keepers. Should be interesting.