The November Wine and Words Book Club meeting was held on Nov. 27, 2018 at Chat Noir, everyone but Jodie were able to attend.

We discussed the book for November, This Is How It Always Is. Most of the members enjoyed the book, but Linda felt it was too predictable. We talked about how different areas in the world treat their LGBTQ communities and how many feel they are a special part of their culture.

Sandie read We Were the Lucky Ones, about a Jewish family who escaped Poland during the Holocaust. She found the book difficult to read, due to the fact it is devastatingly sad. She recommends the book to members for personal reading, but since we have previously read several books about Holocaust journeys, does not recommend it for Book Club at this time.

Cindy recommended a mystery, Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz, which was on the Best Book for 2017 lists of Amazon, NPR, Esquire and the Washington Post. This will be our book for March.

Linda recommended a book about a group of women who left a rest home and traveled, The Last Outrageous Women, by Jessica Stone. This will be our book for February.

Cindy recommenced Circling the Sun, by Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife.

Linda looked up Erin Morgenstern, the author of The Night Circus (2011), which we read previously, but she has not written any other books.

Cindy recommend Unsheltered, by Barbara Kingsilver, who also wrote Poisonwood Bible.

Karen is reading You Are a Badass, How to Stop Doubting your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sinsero.

Kay asked if we read, Kitchen Literacy (2007) and it is not on our Books Read list.

Cindy is reading Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari.

Kay is reading (between books) The Book of Joy, a conversation between the Daili Lama and Desmond Tutu.

There was discussion about what books appeal to members. Sandie mentioned she likes to read books that have strong character development and make her feel involved rather than informed. Some members really enjoy informational books. It was mentioned we might want to choose from several categories of books. What exactly are these categories? Sandie looked it up online and found a list of book genres at https://reference.yourdictionary.com/books-literature/different-types-of-books.html.  This page says that all books are either Fiction or Non-Fiction. These are further broken down into the following genres: Science Fiction, Drama, Action and Adventure, Romance, Mystery, Horror, Self Help, Health, Guide, Travel, Children’s, Religion, Spirituality, New Age, Science, History, Math, Anthology, Poetry, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Comics, Art, Cookbooks, Diaries, Journals, Prayer Books, Series, Trilogy, Biographies, Autobiographies, and Fantasy.

Just a reminder that our book for December/January is Braiding Sweetgrass and the meeting will be at Jan’s.