Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

I'm all ready for book group tomorrow night, having finished my reading of this fantastic first novel by author, Abraham Verghese. It continues to amaze me that one who is talented in a particular field (in the author's case, medicine) can broaden the scope of his/her gifts to include breathtaking writing.
So it is with Cutting for Stone, a novel set in Ethiopia and initiating the reader with the birth of twin boys to nun. The rest of this brilliant book is the back story for just how this came about.

Annette Gordon-Reed won the National Book Award for this engaging work about the 30 year relationship...and family...that Thomas Jefferson had with Sally Hemings, enslaved on his plantation.

Dewey: the small town library cat who touched the world

I'm totally enchanted with this book...if you weren't an animal lover before reading this book, you're sure to question why you haven't welcomed a personality as charming as 'Dewey' into your life....

Book Group Christmas Party

Last Tuesday was such a relaxing and fun evening spent with book friends as we discussed our December book selection, The God of Animals, by Aryn Kyle.... indulged in holiday goodies...and exchanged books with one another.


Here's the book that I drew in our exchange:

Summer mornings on the front porch

What my book group's reading:

We'll gather in August to discuss "Justine", the first of Lawrence Durell's 'Alexandria Quartet' series.

Our July discussion centered around Iris Murdoch's, 'The Bell'.

May found us reading and discussing, "Little Big Minds", by Marietta McCarty.

Our April book group selection for First Tuesday was a very poignant memoir by Abigail Thomas, Three Dog Life.

Desert Queen, by Janet Wallach, was our March book. I'm not sure we had this in mind when we chose it last fall, but it will tie in nicely with Women's History Month!
For some Middle Eastern flavor, I brought along dates, pita bread, olives, hummus, and tabouli for us to sample as we discussed the book and I believe that this just might have been one of our best book group get togethers, yet....

Sharing books with friends....

One of my favorite places to stop in and check out used books is our local Goodwill. I picked up a couple of contemporary classics for my 'third daughter' (Molly's best friend), Katlyn. I think that I piqued her interest with Fahrenheit 451 and Flowers for Algernon ;-)

Molly, on the other hand, has been reading The Rest of Her Life, by Laura Moriarty. I'd picked it up when I went to the author's reading (as well as having a great chat with Laura!) at the Kansas Book Festival this year.

Good friends, Mary Jo and Ervin Grant, invited us over to their home for dinner last weekend and Ervin sent me home with this book. If you can't quite read the subtitle, it says it all about the premis of the book - 'America's century of regime change from Hawaii to Iraq'.