The September 30, 2014 meeting of Wine and Words Book Club met at Sandie’s home. Linda was the only member who could not attend the meeting. Sandie served taco salad and Kay provided a delicious pie made from raspberries and blackberries she had hand-picked.

We discussed the summer book, The Perfume Collector, about how a mysterious letter changes the main character’s life completely. Members’ descriptions of the story included, romance, Paris in the 1920’s, suspenseful, engrossing, and not too chick-flicky.

A form for book recommendations was passed around and each member wrote titles and authors down of books they had enjoyed reading for consideration of books for the coming year.

Anne – The Island, by Victoria Hislop

Cindy – The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Beginner’s Goodbye, by Anne Tyler

Vampires in the Lemon Grove, a collection of short stories, by Karen Russell

The Color of Water, by James McBride

Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers

Cindy & Jan – Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown – Whatcom Reads Book for 2015

Me Before You, by Jojo Meyers

Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kid

Jan – The Signature of all Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Kay & Linda – Empty Mansions by Dedmon and Newell

Pat – Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

Sandie – Oxygen, by Carol Cassella

The meeting schedule was arranged for the year and each member was able to select a book for the club to read during the year from the recommendation list. The schedule is listed below and will also be posted on the schedule page of the Wine and Words website.

October – Boys in the Boat – Linda’s home? – Changed to Cindy’s

November – Zeitoun – Location TBD

December/January – Empty Mansions – Jan’s home

February – The Book Thief – Kay’s home

March – Gilead – Pat’s home

April –The Island – Anne’s home

May – Beginner’s Goodbye – Cindy’s home – Changed to Linda’s

September – Oxygen – Sandie’s home

The book for September, Wild, From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, was discussed and everyone enjoyed the book. Members were appalled by how ill-prepared the author was for her trip, but everyone liked reading about her journey. We had a lively discussion about the stupid choices she made and how she thought of herself as being desirable to almost every man she came across along the trail. Sandie listened to the audio version and enjoyed the book more in this format than reading it in print. Sandie told members about how to borrow the audio version of the book from the library, using the Overdrive software app and their online library login information. She offered to help members set it up on their devices.

The next meeting will be held on October 30 28. We will check with Linda to see if that date works for her to host the meeting. Cindy offered to host the next meeting. Sandie will provide dessert.