September Book Club

Our newest selection:

Faith by Jennifer Haigh

It is the spring of 2002 and a perfect storm has hit Boston. Across the city's archdiocese, trusted priests have been accused of the worst possible betrayal of the souls in their care. In Faith, Jennifer Haigh explores the fallout for one devout family, the McGanns.

Estranged for years from her difficult and demanding relatives, Sheila McGann has remained close to her older brother Art, the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish. When Art finds himself at the center of the maelstrom, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation. What she discovers is more complicated than she imagined. Her strict, lace-curtain-Irish mother is living in a state of angry denial. Sheila's younger brother Mike, to her horror, has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila's questions and refuses to defend himself.

As the scandal forces long-buried secrets to surface, Faith explores the corrosive consequences of one family's history of silence—and the resilience its members ultimately find in forgiveness. Throughout, Haigh demonstrates how the truth can shatter our deepest beliefs—and restore them. A gripping, suspenseful tale of one woman's quest for the truth, Faith is a haunting meditation on loyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharply observed, this is Jennifer Haigh's most ambitious novel to date.

This meeting of the NWH book club will be held at Gail's home. Date to be determined (some time in September though!)

Boston Book Festival

The Boston Book Festival will be happening October 15th. Anyone interested in going? I'll keep my eye on the blog to see what it's all about and keep you all updated!

At our last book club meeting, Laurie brought those of us who ordered it, The Best Simple Recipes from America's Test Kitchen.

Love, love, love this cookbook. The recipes are so easy and delicious. I have made the Fettuccini and Sausage (with brocolli rabe and also with kale) and the Chicken stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach.

If you would like to try a recipe before buying, just let me know-I can send a copy of ones I've tried.

Our newest selection:

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. Brilliantly reported and beautifully crafted, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between the Merced Community Medical Center in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy.

Hello Everyone! Well, we had a great meeting on 3/13. Thank you to everyone who came and for all the beautiful flowers everyone brought to my home. Although this particular meeting had a lot less to do with our book choice (Life by Keith Richards-not many people read it), we had a wonderful time. Thanks to Mary for bringing fabulous stuffed mushrooms, Gail for her decadent deviled eggs, and Tracey for her wonderful avocado dip! Laurie once again made a wonderful cocktail: Jack Frost

• 2 tbsp Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey


• 1 tbsp Drambuie Scotch whiskey


• 1 dash grenadine syrup


• 1/4 cup sweet and sour mix


• 1/4 cup orange juice Combine all ingredients over ice and serve.


• (20 proof, 214 calories, 28.40 carbs)


• Frankly, a fantastic drink!

Lori brought Greek Spinach-Pasta Salad with Feta and Beans:

• 5 oz fresh baby spinach


• 1 15oz can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained


• 4 oz crumbled feta


• 1/4 cup dried tomatoes (not oil packed)


• 2 green onions, chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel


• 2 tbsp lemon juice


• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil


• 1 tbsp snipped fresh oregano


• 1 tbsp snipped fresh lemon thyme or thyme


• 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt


• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper


• 12 oz dried cavatappi or farfalle pasta shaved Parmesan or pecorino romano cheese


• Combine all ingredients (except pasta) and let stand at room temp. for up to 2 hours. Cook pasta and combine warm pasta with above mixture and enjoy!

We then had sausage lasagna (I used Barilla no bake lasagna noodles and it turned out quite good) Monica made a "Quiche" Richards, accompanied by many items inspired by Keith! For dessert we had chocolate cake, coconut cupcakes (here is the link to the recipe), Diane's wonderful Trifle and Tracey made LSD's-Little Strawberry Delights! I apologize for not posting pictures-haven't quite figured out my iPhone/blogging capabilities yet! Ali

Monica said...
Sooo,Book club is coming up. We'll meet Sunday November 14th at Monica's house at 6:00PM. The book,as I'm reading is offering NOTHING in the way of food inspiration.I think the only food mentioned is items in Speed's Convenience store! I really have no thoughts as of now. I'm sure something will come to me as it gets closer. Immortal food?? Food that looks like cells? Food served in laboratory equipment? Who knows. I'm sure it will be good whtever we have. See you in November. Monica
October 8, 2010 9:47 PM

Next Book Club Meeting

Hey all-Next meeting is November 14th at my house. Sunday evening,say,6:00PM.Details to follow. The book is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Our newest book club selection is....

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (click to connect to Amazon.com)

From a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. And from that same life, and those cells, Rebecca Skloot has fashioned in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks a fascinating and moving story of medicine and family, of how life is sustained in laboratories and in memory. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive--even thrive--in the lab. Known as HeLa cells, their stunning potency gave scientists a building block for countless breakthroughs, beginning with the cure for polio. Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution--and her cells' strange survival--left them full of pride, anger, and suspicion. For a decade, Skloot doggedly but compassionately gathered the threads of these stories, slowly gaining the trust of the family while helping them learn the truth about Henrietta, and with their aid she tells a rich and haunting story that asks the questions, Who owns our bodies? And who carries our memories?

Smithsonian Magazine posted this article on their website:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html

A 10 minute story is also available from WNYC RadioLab (click to connect to RadioLab.org)

We are planning this book club for November-hope to see you all there!

The Postmistress

Hello Everyone!

Our newest book club selection is:

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

This meeting will be held at Chris' home on May 23rd. More details to follow. As always, everyone is invited to attend...come join us for drinks, great food and great company!

Here is a short synopsis of the book:

Weaving together the stories of three very different women loosely tied to each other, debut novelist Blake takes readers back and forth between small town America and war-torn Europe in 1940. Single, 40-year-old postmistress Iris James and young newlywed Emma Trask are both new arrivals to Franklin, Mass., on Cape Cod. While Iris and Emma go about their daily lives, they follow American reporter Frankie Bard on the radio as she delivers powerful and personal accounts from the London Blitz and elsewhere in Europe. While Trask waits for the return of her husband—a volunteer doctor stationed in England—James comes across a letter with valuable information that she chooses to hide. Blake captures two different worlds—a naïve nation in denial and, across the ocean, a continent wracked with terror—with a deft sense of character and plot, and a perfect willingness to take on big, complex questions, such as the merits of truth and truth-telling in wartime.

Devil In The White City Book Club Meeting

Hello Everyone!



We had our most recent book club meeting to discuss Devil In the White City. Held at Diane's house, we had a good discussion about the book....more importantly, we had FANTASTIC Chicago Style Hot Dogs!



There were mixed reviews/opinions about this particular selection...some loved it, some didn't...but, that is what the book club is all about!



Enjoy some pictures from this meeting!