Delicious Reads

As I blogged last year, I belong to the BEST book club in the entire world.  I am not exaggerating, it honestly, sincerely, really, truly is the best. Click here to see my post from last year that explains more about this amazing club.  For those of you that aren't going to click on that link I am going to copy and past from that post cause I like the way I said it last year and kinda don't feel like saying all the same things but in a different way so ....

"So this past year I joined the most amazing book club that has ever existed! We read such awesome books that cover such a wide range of topics, genres and reading levels. I love the variety that we have in our books from month to month! I also love all the people that are part of this club, I look forward to book club all month long because of how fun everyone makes it. Since it is such a big club I always manage to meet someone new each month, which is awesome! I love meeting new people. Another huge benefit of being a part of this particular book club is the food, we have a delicious FEAST every month! We have a lot of talented cooks in our club so we have a wonderful gourmet spread every time! I must give props to my dear friend Kelly Dearth for making it all happen! This is her lovely book club that has grown and developed over the past 5 (now 6!) years. She hosts it every month and puts so much work into making it the delightful thing that it is, thanks a million Kelly!"

My second year in Delicious Reads was even better then the first!  I strived to be more involved and to read more of the books then I did last year, I read all but two this year!  I tried to read the books even if I knew I couldn't make it to the meetings which helps a lot in our discussions throughout the year since we sometimes compare and contrast writing styles, themes, characters etc.  Towards the end of the year I also started getting into going to book signings with some of the members of the club, they are so fun and interesting!  So here is a recap of our book club year :

2011 BOOK CLUB BOOKS AT A GLANCE:

January - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE By Jane Austin - Our Rating, 4.2 stars

February- CLOCKWORK ANGEL By Cassandra Clare - 4.4 stars

March - THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN* By Kate Morton - 4.4 stars

April - THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL By Emmuska Orczy - 3.7 stars

May - SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE* By Alan Bradley - 4.6 stars

June - THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN* By Garth Stein - 3.2 stars

July - DIVERGENT By Veronica Roth (couples book club) - 3.5 stars

August - PARANORMALCY By Kiersten White - 2.0 stars

September - THE BOOK THIEF** By Markus Zusak - 4.8 stars

October - WOMAN IN WHITE By Wilkie Collins - 2.75 stars

November - CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER* By Michelle Moran - 3.5 stars

December - LEFT TO TELL By Immaculee Ilibagize - TBA

*My favorites of the year

**My absolute favorite of the year (That book is seriously life changing)

2011 BOOK CLUB PICTURE RECAP:

{JANUARY}

{FEBRUARY}

{MARCH}

{APRIL}

{MAY}

Karin, Mom and Thomas got to visit this month!  Bethy moderated this book as well and did a fabulous job!

{JUNE}

{JULY}

This month was the couples book club where the husbands read the book and came to the meeting.  It is always interesting to hear their thoughts on the book, they always really get into the discussion which is neat.

Sometimes as a favor Kelly will make a CD with songs that relate to the book in some way.  Last year she did it for the final book in the Hunger Games series and this year she did one for Divergent.  I love these favors!

{AUGUST}

{SEPTEMBER}

Kelly made her own version of a book that is described and made throughout the story and passed it around so we could all write notes or thoughts about the book.

{OCTOBER}

I was in Switzerland visiting Bethy in October/November so I didn't get to go to this meeting but it looks like it was a memorable one.  Instead of just a discussion they had a murder mystery dinner and everyone was assigned a character.

{NOVEMBER}

So we read this book during November and discussed it in December.  Our December meeting is the best one of the year, it doubles as our book club Christmas party.  We always have cheese and chocolate fondue for dinner, then discuss the book, then have a book club boutique, then have our gift exchange. It is always such a blast! A perfect way to kick off the Christmas season.

I won the prize for getting the most correct answers on the quiz!

{December} 

I wasn't able to make it to this meeting and the pictures haven't been posted yet.  But the book was very good