January's Choice 2009 -NEW BOOK FOR NEW YEAR

Was your New Year's resolution to read more? How about joining a book club? How about eating more breakfast? If any one of the resolutions would do for you, then come join our gang for reading & breakfast.

It's a new year, and a new book. For the month of January, we will be discussing "Chosen by a Horse," by Susan Richards.

A synopsis from barnesandnoble.com reads:

"The horse Susan Richards chose for rescue wouldn’t be corralled into her waiting trailer. Instead Lay Me Down, a former racehorse with a foal close on her heels, walked right up that ramp and into Susan’s life. This gentle creature—malnourished, plagued by pneumonia and an eye infection—had endured a rough road, but somehow her heart was still open and generous. It seemed fated that she would come into Susan’s paddock and teach her how to embrace the joys of life despite the dangers of living."

"An elegant and often heartbreaking tale filled with animal characters as complicated and lively as their human counterparts, this is an inspiring story of courage and hope and the ways in which all love—even an animal’s—has the power to heal."

This is a book for animal lovers, lovers of the human spirit, and readers all together. Enjoy January's selection. It's a new year, a new book! Happy Reading!

MEETING DATE: January 17th, 2009 Fat Man's 9:00am

Richard Paul Evans Christmas Collection Thoughts

The club met on Saturday, December 20th at Fat Man's to discuss the "Richard Paul Evans" Christmas collection. The collection included "The Christmas Box," "The Gift," & "Finding Noel." All popular titles in amongst Evan's works. It seems no matter he writes, it speaks to all kinds of people, in all different ways. With catching quotes at the beginings and throughout the book, Evan's makes it feel like the "Where's Waldo" of quote hunting. But, it makes it for a feel good read, something some people like around the holidays.


Ruth, the person who picked December's book, asked us to read one, two, or all three of the "Christmas Collection." After we read it, we were supposed to write down a quotes that stuck out to us, and memories that the book struck up for us. Like good little readers that we are, we all did so, and it made the discussion more interesting. Going around the table, and hearing what memories it brought up, and what quotes people liked, made you think "Oh, I liked that one too." Sometimes, we picked the same one that others had picked.

As a whole, I think that people liked "Finding Noel" the most, followed by "The Gift" and then "The Christmas Box." They were all good reads, but some struck people as a better read than others. People liked the books for there feel good potential. They were just easy reads for the holidays, and it seems that that is what everyone wants to read while it's a semi-busy time of year such as Christmas and New Years. Most of them got through all of the selections, but some did not get to read all of them, and said they will go back and read what they missed.

If you are looking for a feel good read for the holidays, or in general, any of these or other selections for Richard Paul Evans would suffice. I would say the ratings for the books would be as follow:

CHRISTMAS BOX *** out of *****
GIFT **** out of *****
NOEL ***** out of *****
(based on the three of what we read)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!
Check to see what the next selection is. It's coming soon...

Coming up 12-20-2008

Get your questions, your ideas, and thoughts ready. Book club is this Saturday, December 20th! Last book club of 2008.