Tuesday, October 8, 2013
I Joined a Book Club. HELP!!
I've finally joined my first book club. Yippee! Sadly, I haven't been terribly consistent in my attendance but I'm working on it. I'm having great fun though.
This coming month, I'm hosting the book club meeting and I need some help...lots of it!
I know. I know. I'm always asking for help and you might be muttering "Why doesn't she figure something out on her own for a change?!" I should. I know. But I really would appreciate the help. Here's what I need though:
First, I need recommendations for good book club reads or books you think would lead to both fun and great discussion. I need to recommend 4 or 5 to the group to vote on.
AND
Secondly, I need help implementing a pasta bar. Eek! In our book club the host provides the main dish and everyone brings something along to go with it. I want to do a pasta bar. I just want to. So how do you guys think I should go about it? Should I provide 3 different types of pasta and 3 sauces? Or should I provide the pasta, a few toppings, and one sauce? Or do I do something else. All ideas would be appreciated.
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How exciting! My recommendation is any book with a twist - something unexpected, so y'all can discuss whether or not you saw it coming. Exs. Gone Girl or Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson. If you want non-fiction that reads like fiction - try The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession, David Grann.
ReplyDeleteAnd a pasta bar sounds fantastic.
Tanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
For books we had great discussions for Gone Girl, The Painted Girls, and A Place at the Table.
ReplyDeleteI love the pasta bar. I would say at least two different sauces so you cover both marinara and cream. Also you could do a sauce with meat or have two different meat options as. Another thing to consider is do you have anyone who has a gluten or a lactose intolerance, vegetarian or vegan, or other dietary needs that you need to accommodate for?
A pasta bar sounds like a great idea, it gives people a large variety of choices and it should be easy to do what Lisa said and have options that will suit guests with certain dietary needs ^_^. Here is a link for a Pasta Party recipe over at the Pioneer Woman. She has 3 pastas, 3 sauces and 7 toppings that I am sure you can pick and switch out to your liking.
ReplyDeleteAs for book recommendations I would suggest books that are maybe something with a mystery or like others have suggested a twist - The Demon Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, White Cat by Holly Black or maybe something on your to-read list that you haven't given a try because it's outside your comfort zone (I always prefer to read those kinds of books with a group, it makes it easier to get through like Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet [definitely a book more gritty then what I would choose to read but something I appreciated reading and it definitely inspired discussion]), or you could also choose a book that's going to be movie - The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, Divergent by Veronica Roth.
I hope this helps ^_^
Sandy
FUN! I'm itching to start a book club.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about pasta bars but you should check Pinterest. That's my go to place for party ideas. :)
Check these out: http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=pasta%20bar%20party
Oh no pressure then! ;) We provide nibbles (light snacks) and drinks but not meals. This is my second book group that I have set up, I left the first group as it became too big and more of a social event than a book group, (books got little discussion maybe 10 minutes out of 2 hours). This group is more serious in that we get good discussion but we have a laugh and a chat too. I hosted last time and checked out the latest bestsellers and offered a mix of those and some from the libraries reading groups list.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like so much fun ! I've never done a pasta bar, but I think like a linguine and penne pasta and then different sauces would be good.
ReplyDeleteAs for books, I know the book club in this area usually puts something on their Google group and then members can vote. If it were me, I think I'd pick a book from either the National Book Award or Printz awards. That way you know it will be good and you can talk about why it was nominated for an award.
Oh man, sounds like fun! I love the idea of a pasta bar, but you could also just do two choices instead of three… I would say two kinds of pasta and two kinds of sauces like a meat&tomato sauce plus something meatless like pesto.
ReplyDeleteBooks are a little tricky because there are just so many to choose from! Recently, I read and loved Z (the story of Zelda Fitzgerlad) by Therese Fowler and The Paris Wife by Paula McLean; Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott; The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling; and The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings. These all make for good discussion, I think.
Good Luck and keep us posted with how it all goes :)
Congrats on joining a book club ! I've been meaning to but have never found the time.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest The Night Circus, Daughter of Smoke and Bone or The Shining !
As for a pasta bar I'd suggest Cajun pasta, it is so good since it's a nice twist on alfredo ! I also second Srcibing Shadow for recing Pioneer Woman. She never disappointing.
Pasta bar is a great idea! What about an angel hair with pesto and veggies.
ReplyDeleteBooks I think are great The Kitchen House, Gone Girl is always our book club favorite conversation. It was a July book of the month and we are still talking about that book and what about The Fault in Our Stars.
Have fun!!
Wow!! I think that a Pasta Bar is a great Idea! And is easy to prepare before hand, sauces particularly, they get better when you heat them up.
ReplyDeleteAs for books, I don't know if your book club has like a theme or something, but I recommend Catherine McKenzie's books Arranged and Forgotten, they are a little bit chick-lit ish, a little bit women's fiction and a little bit romantic. Arranged is about a girl who gets into an arranged marriage because she doesn't believe she'll find true love; and Forgotten about a woman who comes back to her life after six months where everyone thought she was dead, but that's just like the hook, the book is about much more :D