Merry Book Holidays!

We had a great meeting at RedEye Coffee House about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. We discussed the values of statistics at the beginning of each section, the odd abundance of Nazi's in this family, the original title of the book, and of course, why all the men in this book don't have normal relationships. The meetings on Saturdays are a great hit, because some of the members go to movies afterward, and enjoy the cheap ticket prices of movies in the afternoon.

Sadly, this will be our last meeting of the year, because with finals and the holidays coming up, it is simply too hard to come up with a Saturday that is not swamped with engagements. Therefore, to compensate, we have chosen not one, but THREE books to read for our next meeting on January 9, 2010 at 11:00 AM. The first book is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. The next book is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the last book is The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. The variety of these three books should keep everyone entertained this holiday time, as well as give us tons of things to talk about when we meet again. So enjoy the rest of the year, happy holidays, and I hope to see everyone back in 2010!

Cheers!

The book with the Dragon Tattoo

While I have been busy with work, school, life, and all that has to offer, I have neglected this website. I have not, however, neglected the book club. We had our meeting at Borders to discuss A Thousand Splendid Suns, and we enjoyed the fine weather while we did it. I think we had a great discussion about roles of women in the world, mental stability, and of course, families. Because of busy schedules and more and more appointments in our books than ever before, we have decided to move meeting times to Saturday mornings. That way, we can have coffee, talk books, and not be broke while doing it. For those of you who don't drink coffee, most of the places that serve coffee also serve a variety of teas and juices, so don't despair!

The next book is called The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. It is a crime novel set in Sweden, so it should be thrilling if anything. We are going to meet at RedEye Coffee house at 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 21st. I hope to see you all there!

A thousand Splendid Readings

So, this has been a long time coming, but the explanation is needed. We did NOT meet for When You are Engulfed in Flames. There was a war of viewpoints for this book, and so rather than risk having a huge argument, we decided it would be prudent to skip the book completely. As someone who finished the book late ( But did finish!) I enjoyed the dry humor and sarcastic view that the book displayed, as well as overall, the commentary on human interactions.

This missed week however, means that we had EXTRA TIME to read this upcoming book, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. This book describes two women and their struggles in Afghanistan. We will be changing our location around and date to compensate for the time difference ( or at least that is our story) , so we are now meeting on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 11:00 AM! We are meeting at the Borders Cafe, since it is a morning meeting. Please come and enjoy the coffee, the talk, and the company!!

Reading up in Flames

I'm sorry for the delay in an update from our last meeting. The discussion on The Life of Pi by Yann Martel was very insightful. We came up with new perspectives about the book thanks to the discussion, as well as merited a comment or two from random listeners! We did change our venue though, because in these hard economic times, it is sometimes easier to go to Crispers, than to go to an upscale restaurant like Urbane. We still enjoyed our soups, sandwiches, and salads, and we still had a great discussion!

Our next book coming up is called When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. It should be exciting to read, and a collection of short stories is something that we haven't tackled as a group yet, so the discussion to follow will surely be varied and interesting to say the least! It will be at Brew and Bean Coffee company ( keeping in the theme of hard economic times ) so be ready on October 19th, 2009 at 6:00 PM.

Cheers!

The life of Reading Pi

Last night was the meeting for the novel The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It was great! We met at Fusion Cafe, which none of the members had been too, and we were all pleasantly surprised by the quantity of food, the decor, and of course, the taste of everything.

The discussion of the book was thwarted for a bit by the slight fact that no one had printed out the handy-dandy discussion questions that were on the blog, but with ingenuity and a little bit of phone web searching, we managed to get a good discussion in about everything in the book from zebras to evil, to buddhism to racing. I think it was a good discussion overall, and I am excited that a 4 books into it, we are still meeting, discussing, and having a good time!

The next book we are reading is the wonderful Life of Pi by Yann Martel. We are meeting on October 5th, at 6:00 PM at Urbane restaurant!! If you don't know where that is, on the side of the blog, if you click the Urbane link, it will take you to a google map of the location, as well as having the menu of the restaurant. So everyone, like always, feel free to bring people you think would have an interest in this group, and as always, fresh ideas, new place, and good friends are always approved!

Cheers!

The art of reading in the rain

Thank you for those of you who came out to our meeting last night, it was a great success. Even though we didn't meet at our usual date because of Labor Day, we still ended up with a very fun meeting in a stylish atmosphere. We met at 101 Restaurant, which, as we all now know, has 1/2 price drinks from 4PM-7PM, Monday through Friday, and 25% off all food too... so two mixed drinks = about 10 dollars, not too shabby. The conversation about The Unbearable Lightness of Being was interesting and lively, and I think the 'swanky' atmosphere helped establish ourselves as a true happy hour book club.

The next book to start reading is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, so once again, mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 23rd!! We will be meeting at Fusion Cafe at 6:00 PM ( look at all this planning we have done already!). Once again, we encorage you to bring people to the meeting who have a shared interest in books, conversation, and a good time.

Cheers!

The unbearable lightness...and reading

Today is the first official meeting of the book club. We will be discussing the book "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies". The meeting, to keep in with the happy hour theme is to take place at the local Mexican restaurant, El Jalisco's. It has 2 for 1 GIANT margaritas, and after one of them, most patrons are most willing to talk about any subject, so discussing the pros and con's of martial arts training shouldn't be too hard.

Our next book is The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. The current set date for this meeting is SEPTEMBER 7th, 6:00. We still don't have a place ( unless we pick the same place again...), so keep looking at this blog to find out some more information.

Cheers!

New Beginnings ...with zombies!

Welcome to the first blog of the Book Club Happy Hour. Unlike conventional book clubs which usually discuss literary giants from the comforts of a dusty library, the one that is beginning is aimed for the group that likes to kick back, have a cocktail, and converse with friends about shared readings. We don't pretend to know everything, and we don't think that our tastes are better than yours .. ( ok, sometimes we do..) but we are always open for a good read, engaging conversation, and of course, the happy hour.

What better way to initiate our new club, then by delving into the book entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith ? This book will definitely bring something to the table, if not smiles.

Please write down in your calenders that the first official meeting is on August 17th, 2009. The time will be determined, but I am guessing since most of us 20 somethings have a job to go to, it will be after work. Please feel free with suggestions for places to meet!!

Cheers,
Book Club Happy Hour