Good afternoon, bookish girls. Just a quick reminder that I'll be posting some discussion points on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in a few weeks. I hope you'll sneak a read in. It's a classic, but more importantly... it's short!

Good evening, bookish girls. I hope you have been well these past weeks since our last discussion. We are excited to be posting questions for Malcolm Gladwell's Blink in just a few days.

Tonight however, Kelly and I are pleased to announce that fellow reader and bookish girl, Carol, be leading the discussion this time around.

Carol and I served as missionaries together on Temple Square some (undisclosed) number of years ago. It didn't take long for me to realize that Carol was brilliant, charming and very funny.

Today Carol lives in Arizona with her husband and four beautiful children. She loves to sew, garden and bake... and she especially loves to try new recipes. She also enjoys to craft, particularly with her children.

Carol works as a curriculum editor. Among other endeavors, she writes and edits for www.ikeepsafe.org, a website that provides parents, teachers and policymakers with resources for teaching children how to use technology safely. This past summer, she edited classroom materials for Signing Time.

A couple of months ago I had the chance to catch up with Carol in San Francisco. I had a wonderful time reminiscing with her... and just as on the Square all those (still undisclosed) number of years ago, Carol proved to me that she is very much still brilliant, still charming and still very, very funny.

Thanks, Carol, for agreeing to be our first brave reader to lead a discussion. We're looking forward to it!

p.s. I will write equally complimentary posts of no less than three paragraphs for all future bookish girls who agree to lead book discussions. If that is not enticement enough, I will throw in cookies.

p.s.s. OK, seriously, if you'd like to lead a future discussion please email me at the address given on the sidebar. I'll still send cookies.

So, Blink it is! I'm excited. Especially because a copy is already waiting for me on the hold shelf of the library. (I didn't personally vote... but I was kind of rooting for Blink, I must admit.)

Look for some questions to pop up here on November 9th.

And... happy reading!

p.s. I'm reading A Christmas Carol with my real-life book club in a couple of months. I thought it might be fun to start some discussion for it here, too. I'll likely put some questions up around the middle of December?

Do any of you think you'd be interested in reading along? We are all so familiar with the story, I know. But I've always said that knowing the plot can't ruin a truly well-written book. I think of almost any book that I can think of this particular one will put that theory to the test. Let me know what you think...

Hello, bookish friends. Are you ready for another book? This time we're choosing among four non-fiction books. I think they are all interesting choices and I'm curious to see what catches your eye.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations of women in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love. Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

--Book summary courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Beyond the Killing Fields by Usha Welartna

In 1975, after five years of devastation and upheaval caused by civil war, the Cambodian people welcomed the victorious communist Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot. Once in power, the new regime tightly closed Cambodia to the outside world. Four years later, when the Vietnamese communists invaded Cambodia and defeated the Khmer Rouge, the world learned that during their control the Khmer Rouge had turned the country into "killing fields", in one of the most horrifying instances of genocide in history. Of an estimated population of 7 million people, about 1.5 million had been killed or had died of starvation, torture, or sickness. After the Vietnamese takeover, thousands of survivors of the Khmer Rouge, fearful of continuing war and a new communist regime, fled their homeland. Approximately 150,000 of them settled in the United States. This book documents the Cambodian refugee experience through nine powerful first-person narratives of men, women, and children who survived the holocaust and have begun new lives in America.

--Book summary courtesy of Amazon.com

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

In this interesting read for parents, Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, explores how various factors come together for the ultimate success of an individual. Gladwell compares greats such as Mozart and Bill Gates, professional hockey players and other highly successful adults and analyzes how culture, circumstance, birthdate, luck, and even the timing of entry into kindergarten may play into each person's growth potential. One of the key statistics Gladwell employs is that 10,000 hours of time spent on a given skill, especially during youth, will create excellence in that area.

--Book summary courtesy of Carol

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell writes, "It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good."

Stay tuned, fellow readers. We're pulling together some book choices for you to vote on....

Alright already! We get it, we get it... You wanna read So Long, See You Tomorrow.

Well, your wish is happily granted. And I am equally excited to give the novel a go.

I'm going to make an executive decision on the spot and say that we'll be back to discuss the book on Monday, August 31st. I'd consult my partner in crime, Kelly, but she gave birth to a 9 lb. baby boy this afternoon... so she's been just a wee bit busy.

As for the rest of you bookish girls (and boys, although we never give you the credit you deserve)... Go, read, enjoy, come back and report. We can't wait to hear from you...

-Melissa

Well, fellow readers, it's time to choose a new book!

This time around we've decided to put out three choices for your consideration. You can review the books outlined below and vote on the sidebar. (Of course, feel free to comment in the comment section as well, if you wish.)

For this reading, we will not break the book up into sections for review. Instead we will open a discussion once at the end of August. (It is possible, however, that the discussion at that time will have multiple threads to facilitate conversation on different aspects of the book.)

One thing we have really appreciated so far is book suggestions. If we haven't used your suggestion, it's most likely being considered for future use in the club. So, please take heart and keep making suggestions!

Also, even though three different people wrote the book summaries... please don't feel like you're voting for a person rather than a book. We're not taking book votes personally. (I don't even know if that needed to be said... but I said it.)

Alright then, go vote! I can't wait to see what the masses crave!

(What? Three people can't be considered a "mass"?... Oh, stop it. Just let me dream.)

Book Choice 1: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut’s writing, along with ogres, is like an onion. Layers! It is strange, quirky, funny, sarcastic, accessible, and deep. Cat’s Cradle is about the father of the atomic bomb, his midget son, a fictional non-religion that exists only on a fictional island with its own fictional lexicon – all of which can be read in a only few afternoons. And while on the surface it’s a strangely entertaining story, what lies beneath is a poignant exploration about life, relationships, and humanity complex enough to keep you thinking for several more afternoons.

--Book summary written by Brett

Book Choice 2: So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

I had just finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewki when I read about the author’s five favorite books. Wroblewski said, “There's a special society of readers who know what a perfect novel So Long, See You Tomorrow is, and I'm proud to be among them. The story opens with a murder, suicide, and mutilation near the small Illinois town of Lincoln, but quickly turns to the emotional journey of Maxwell himself, who, in 1918, at the age of ten, lost his mother to the Great Influenza. The result is a braid of memoir, fact, and fiction, rendered in gorgeously spare prose.” A special society of readers? I wanted in. And well, now I am. Do you want in, too? As another enticement, you should know this novel clocks in at only 135 pages. Don’t let the mutilation reference scare you. It’s not gory. This book has adult themes, but no graphic sexual or violent content. There are maybe two uses of expletives.

--Book summary written by Kelly

Book Choice 3: Summer by Edith Wharton

Wharton, famous for creating characters civilized, restrained and repressed, lets it all out in Charity Royall, the protagonist of her novel Summer. The novel follows our heroine through a summer in which she faces life outside of her rural village and upbringing. In the city, she finds love, sexual awakening and, inevitably, the consequences of both of these discoveries, for better or for worse. Lest you fear overly explicit content, you should know two things. One: This book was published in 1917... scandalous "then" means something entirely different than scandalous "now." Two: I originally read this book in a literature course at BYU. Although, upon mental review, I'm suddenly seeing its intended purpose through the mind of my beloved alma mater. Perhaps... cautionary tale? You be the judge.

--Book summary written by Melissa

Hello again--

Kelly is still in the hospital. It is really frustrating (and scary) to have her there. She has been in a lot of pain and has been unable to talk on the phone even. As such, I'm truly missing my book club buddy and beloved sister.

In her absence, I'm going to post something on Book 5 tonight... and hopefully Book 6 tomorrow. I know I promised to post before the end of the holiday weekend but I was really busy eating cake for breakfast as part of my patriotic duty.

For now, a couple of things:

1. Would anyone be interested in writing up your own little bio to be published here? It might be fun to get to know one another a little better... to put a face with a name, so to speak?

2. Kelly had a book lined up for August... but I don't know how the rest of the month is going to go for her. We may want to choose something else for August. I'd love to hear some suggestions. I know we've had Owen Wister's The Virginian and Graham Greene's The Power and The Glory suggested. These are both awesome recommendations... and I hope to work them in. But it's kind of funny: I want to put The Virginian off for a bit because it's about the untamed West. I want to put The Power and The Glory off because it's about a Catholic priest in Mexico. (The equation? The Virginian + The Power and The Glory = Death Comes for the Archbishop?) So, just in case... Does anyone have any additional suggestions for us to consider?

--Melissa

Hello, friends --

I'm sorry that we didn't post as promised today. Kelly, who is seven-and-a-half months pregnant, had to be admitted to the hospital. (She's being well taken care of there and hopefully she will be feeling better soon.)

I guess I could have picked up the slack, as a good sister should, but my 10-year-old has been very sick since last night... and, well, I'm a little behind.

I'm kind of banking on the idea that most of you are thinking more about BBQ than archbishops... but I'll still try to post something before the end of the weekend.

But in the meantime, please feel free to post your own thoughts. We'd love to hear them!

-Melissa

Some dates:

June 26th: I'll post discussion questions for Books 3 and 4 of Death Comes for the Archbishop.

July 3: Kelly will post discussion questions for Books 5 and 6.

July 10: Kelly will post discussion questions for Books 7, 8 and 9.

August 1: We'll start a new book... to be announced soon.

Some questions:

What do you think about the club's format?

Do you wish that we would discuss the book in one shot at the end of a month instead of breaking it up?

We think that we will choose a book bimonthly instead of monthly. What do you think?

Some things to think about:

Don't forget that you can to post your own discussion questions at any time.

That's all. Really just one thing to think about, I guess.

OK. So what the heck was I thinking?! I don't know nothin' 'bout nothin'. At least that's the psychological crisis I'm currently going through thinking that I could ever pull off mediating an online book club. I've pretty much convinced myself that everything I could say about this book is either obvious, unoriginal or most likely both.

But I'm doing it.

And, what I'm saying is... If I'm going to put myself out there, you have to do it too!

There are all kinds of things you can do to appease my crisis: Start your own thread. Ask a question. Comment on my threads to validate my existence.

Are you up for it, bookish girls? (And... Dad?)

Yes, I think you are.

OK, now.

Go!

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Welcome, readers! The kick-off book for our virtual book club is Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop.

Published in 1927, Death Comes for the Archbishop enjoys spots on both the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels and Time Magazine's 100 Best English Language Novels. Cather herself considered it her best work.

Death Comes for the Archbishop follows a Catholic bishop and priest as they struggle to establish a diocese throughout the New Mexican territory in the mid-19th century. Like much of Cather's work you can expect it to be a simple story full of beautiful descriptions. Because of the book's structure, Cather hesitated to call Death Comes for the Archbishop a novel. Rather it reads more like a collection of short stories about the two main characters, Bishop Latour and Father Valliant.

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The idea for an online book club started, really, with my bookish sister Kelly who loves books and who loves to discuss books but who lives too far away to participate in a bona fide book club, at least, that is, with me. This was a real bookish bummer. So one day we were thinking about all the other members of our family, and friends too, who live just too darn far... but who are nevertheless quite bookish. We wanted to discuss books with all these bookish folks, too!

And we were thinking that maybe there were other bookish people out there in the world who want to discuss books and who maybe don't want to leave the house so much to do so. And, so maybe, we thought, a book club could be a blog? We weren't sure... but we wanted to find out. And that, my bookish friends, was the genesis of the Bookish Girl Book Club.

The Bookish Girl Book Club is very new and somewhat experimental. We've come up with a loose framework for how we think things should, or may, go... but everything is subject to change (or hopefully, improvement).

Here's what you need to know so far:

1. First of all, join! Email us at bookishgirlbookclub@gmail.com to be added to the club. Of course, if you'd rather read along as more silent-observer and less active-participant, that's fine too! But we hope to facilitate discussions here and we'd love to hear your voice. (Figuratively speaking, that is.)

2. We will be discussing the book as we go. Each book will be broken down into smaller sections. Discussion points or questions will be posted every week. These questions will be posted by either me or Kelly... but we will be turning to other readers to take the reins on books in the (near) future. Especially if your book is chosen as a book club selection, which leads me to...

3. Make suggestions! We will be posting a schedule for the upcoming months. Is there something that you'd like to read and that you think other bookish girls would enjoy? Email us or leave a comment.

4. In addition to the discussion points we'll have along the way, we encourage readers to post questions at any time. If you join via email, you'll be made a blog contributor. Just pose your question or discussion point as a post. Other readers can chime in in the comments section of your post.

5. While bookish girls are slaves to their novels, they are never slaves to this club. You can come... or go. Cherry-pick the novels that interest you the most; we don't mind! That's why we intend to publish a schedule. (Very soon, we hope!) That way you can plan ahead and choose what works for you. Maybe it will be all of them? We would like that, too!

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This week's assignment is to track down a copy of Death Comes for the Archbishop and read the Prologue and Books One and Two. (This is only about 80 pages.) I'll post something next Wednesday.

Have fun and see you next week!

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