Boston Book Festival October 15th

Jennifer Haigh (Faith) and Vanessa Diffenbaugh (Language of Flowers)

Future options!

Hopefully one of our future selections

The Language of Flowers

The Food!

October Book Club!

We had a wonderful time at Gail's home. Our selection, Faith, caused a great deal of discussion, some friendly arguments and reminisces of growing up.

This book didn't particularly lend itself to food suggestions, so we did family favorite pot luck.
Great wine, food, desserts and friends- what more can you ask for.

Our menu consisted of:
Appetizers: Alison's cheese spread & cucumber sandwiches, Laurie's goat cheese spread, Gail's deviled eggs, Lori's pumpkin bread and Monica's mushroom rolls.

Main course: Mary's Mac & Cheese, Gail's Squash and Sausage bake, Lori's wonderful salad with home made dressing.

Dessert: Gail's Pumpkin Trifle, Alison's Indian Pudding and Tracey's God Bless Ryan cake!

Please join us for our next book club in January!
Our selection is The Boy on the Moon

Boston Book Festival-Jennifer Haigh

Jennifer Haigh, author of our current book selection Faith, will be lecturing at the Boston Book Festival October 15th.

Fiction: Truth and Consequences 2:30pm BPL Rabb Lecture Hall

Jennifer Haigh is a novelist and short story writer whose first book, Mrs. Kimble, won the 2004 PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. Baker Towers, her second book, was a New York Times bestseller and won the 2006 PEN/L.L. Winship Award for outstanding book by a New England author. Her stories have been published in Granta, Ploughshares, Five Points, Good Housekeeping and many others. Of her latest novel, Faith, Kirkus Reviews writes, "Haigh deals with complex moral issues in subtle ways, and her narrative is beautifully, sometimes achingly poignant."

I will be attending the book fair and am going to try to see her. Please check out the link for the book fair for a list of authors/times/exhibits:

Boston Book Festival

We will be having book club October 2nd, 4 pm. We will let you know at which home....

Ali

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