The Witches by Roald Dahl Discussion

 In November the group selected The Witches by Roald Dahl to read but as the Christmas season was fast approaching we put that book aside to instead read a few short Christmas stories of our own choosing. Go around the table and do a short review and just plan to have a book group Christmas party. Some were The Little Matchstick Girl by Hans Christian Andersen read to the group by me (Sharon), Kris shared The Old Shoemaker by Leo Tolstoy. She shared that the shoemaker prayed to see the Christ and during the day different people in need came to his home and he fixed their shoes, gave them food and helped them.

It was suggested that rather than doing our usual Christmas white elephant gift exchange that we select a book that we would like to re-gift or purchase a new one and have a random wrapped book gift exchange. Then the giver of the book share why they love it or what they liked about it. Some of the books that were exchanged were a large volume of all the Jane Austin books which I got, yeah thanks Kris! Merri brought The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery, Karen brought The Hiding Place by Corrie Tin Boom, Stefanie shared her fabulously illustrated Princess Bride book and I gave a volume of Agatha Christie: Five Complete Miss Marple Novels and Lorraine brought A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell. Make note of The Hiding Place and A Train to Potevka as possible future selections. 

We had this party on December 17th. I remember it being a great time with food and a game. I can't remember if there was a movie.

Last night, 1/27/2023, we did have our book discussion which included 7 of our members. A fine number for a good discussion. As always, our discussion seemed to turn to the topic of appropriate books, what is going on in the world of those books and how they view the subject matter under the current opinions and standards verses the original creation and intention - to entertain and not set out to offend certain groups or ideologies. Also, how the author may have liked or disliked the way the movie was made from his book. In this case we found that he did not like the first movie and considered removing his name. Many of us had already watched the first movie (1990 version) that had Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling and Rowan Atkinson in it. So, we opted to watch the new 2020 version which didn't get as good of ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Still it had some noteworthy actors such as Octavia Spencer, Ann Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Kristin Chenoweth to mention a few.

As always we enjoyed some lovely food before our discussion. We had come to realize that we must have at least one healthy offering and it is a must to have a dessert or two or three. We do have quite a few good cooks in the group and the others are lovely buyers of delicious treats to share. A well rounded reflection to accompany our discussion. From memory we had Sausage Tortellini soup with focaccia bread, veggie tray and dip, green salad, Cobb salad, apples with dessert cheese ball (recipe below) and caramel dip sauce, pizza rolls like dinner rolls not the frozen square kind - so good, and Lorraine's famous Trifle, strawberry this time I think. I hope I didn't forget anything.

I brought something I have not tried before. A sweet dessert style cheese ball. When I told my husband what it was he didn't think it sounded good. I told him I thought the ladies would enjoy it. They did! Here is the link to the recipe some members asked for. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Cheese Ball I did not take a picture of it but if you can imagine a large grapefruit sized mudball rolled in peanut butter chips with sliced apples piled around on a plate then there you go. Definitely better than mud!

I did look at Kris' daughter-in-law's food blog The Food Charlatan for a recipe like it but she didn't have one. So, challenge to her to come up with a sweet version of a cheese ball for her blog. There are many other sweet/dessert cheese balls on the net of course and I am up for trying another one. Lemon would be another flavor I would be really interested in making.

Our group is open to offering fashion advice as well. Wink wink.

Our next selection is Holes by Louis Sachar. Published in 1998 and likely on school reading lists which is a qualifier for this book groups reading parameters.

Madame Bovary Discussion

We had our 74th book group discussion over the book Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. 

I decided to inter-library loan my copy since our library didn't have a copy. While I waited I decided to find a podcast to listen to. I listened on and off while reading the first half of the book and then committed to solely read the last half . When I finished the book I went to Sparknotes.com and took a quiz and I was able to get more answers correct over the second half that I actually read. It is too easy to have my mind wonder while listening to a book. Still the names were hard to keep straight. I found this book to be somewhat similar to a few other books I was familiar with or have read in our book group. 

We talked a bit about how Emma's desire for a better level of lifestyle and desire to rise to a higher class of society was the temptation and path to her financial and moral downfall.

I didn't really like Emma after she married Charles. She seemed immature and vain. There weren't too many characters that were very likable. They did represent various faults in people and often manipulative behaviors. A lot of villainous characters are master manipulators.

As usual we Busy Gal Classic Reading Society members enjoyed some lovely food to eat over our opportunity to catch up on our lives and book discussion. Kris made some yummy creamy chili and tortilla chips, there was a delicious Pear Salad with fancy cheese, lasagna, rolls, cream cheese with pepper jelly and crackers, Faux Chocolate cake made without sugar - very good - tasted like brownie, Lazy Day cake made with lots of sugar and butter, rice crispy treats and mini cheese cakes. Members that attended were Kris (host) Lorraine, Stefanie, Karen, Stephanie, PeggyAnn and myself.

I made the Lazy Day cake and the Gals seemed to like it. Here is a Taste of Home recipe but not the one I used Lazy Day Cake. I trust it is just as good.

We watched the movie Madame Bovary. I needed to get up early the next day and left about halfway through the movie. I'm not a late night person. I don't really think I ever was one. 

We decided as a group that our next book will be The Witches by Roald Dahl.

Once again the Busy Gals Classic Reading Society book group met to discuss our most recent selection which was The African Queen by C. S. Forester.

The summer, being a busy time for many group members makes reading a little harder and with school starting for our Busy Gal teaching members getting this book read was a challenge. For myself, the book I ordered came after we planned the date to meet to discuss. So, I carried the book everywhere I went and read at the dentist and on a four hour trip home. It does feel satisfying to finish reading a book.

Of course we always have very nice food. Peggy Ann's Chicken bundles, wraps, veggies and dip, crackers and pepper jelly cream cheese, Key lime pies, island pudding, warm peach cobbler, zucchini bread and zucchini chips. Forgive me if I forget something. Each lady puts so much effort into the special dishes they bring. It's awesome!

Our discussion about the book was a little brief since several had not finished the book. We did what we could but didn't get in too deep in the discussion. Some members didn't mind discussing and said it was the natural consequence of not finishing the book.

After eating we enjoyed the movie with Humphry Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. After reading the book and being many years older than the last time I watched the movie or part of it. I was able to follow and understand the story line better. Almost all the time the movie is different from the book and this was no different. The movie was relatively close to the book and discreet as you would expect a movie from the 1950's to be. And a variant of the ending.

Our group included Kris who hosted - thanks Kris! Lorraine, Stefanie, Karen, Stephanie, Peggy Ann, Merri, Sierra and myself.

I have missed several summaries from the last few book selections but we have discussed Tuck Everlasting and The Princess Bride. Which included a bonus gathering since summer schedules couldn't always line up.

Stay tuned to see what we read next.

Keep Reading the Classics!

Sharon