Christmas Bookclub

This year’s Christmas bookclub was held on Friday 28th December in Brasserie 66. It was a lovely ending to a fabulous book-filled year full of Christmas cheer and high jinks. The book this time was The Cutting Season by Attica Locke. Those who had read the book found it slow-moving. We all went for their delightful Christmas menu which was good value at 33 for a starter, main course and dessert. The food was delicious and they offered a choice of either dessert or a Christmas cocktail. Many of us partook of the cocktail. Debs gave us all a lovely gift of homemade face cream made from meadowsweet she collected on our bookclub away trip in the summer. We also had the first bookclub awards where everyone received an award certificate and we each made a speech. All awards were courtesy of Billy Bear and the following were presented:

Val received the Good Conduct Award. She would also have won best attendance if she had bothered to show up – only kidding we know she was ill! I got the doctors cert to prove it!

Adrienne was presented with the Teddy Bear Award. Also if there was an award for best buns, Adrienne would have also won this as her fairy cakes are legendary. She is also our newest member.

Trish received the Computer Whizz Award for keeping the blog going single-handedly, not that anyone reads it! Ironically as most people know I am also the technophobe amongst us but am still surpassing Debs on this score, just about as she is catching up fast!

Amers was presented with the Outstanding Reader Award. She is our little bookclub swot, every bookclub needs one!

Shinners won the Helping Hands Award. She is also our newest mammy and one of our founding members.

Debs received the Happy Face Award. She was also contender of best storyteller – can anyone forget her been stung by a swarm of bees story?

Ciara got the Shining Star Award. She is also our best/only overseas/international member

Lisa was presented with the Playing Well with Others Award. She is also a fellow technophobe!

Kathryn received the Bright Idea Award. I was running out of ideas/valid categories at this point! Although she could also have won best attendance or best organiser if Billy Bears had some foresight.

Everyone also wins Hostess with the Mostess awards – there wasn’t enough to go around!

So onto another year, 2013 beckons and the next book up for discussion is How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper:

Summary:
A portrait of a modern guy in crisis, Tropper's third novel (Everything Changes; The Book of Joe) follows Doug Parker, whose life is frozen into place at 29 when Hailey, his wife of two years, is killed in a plane crash. Unable to leave the tony suburban house they once shared, he spends his days reliving their brief marriage from the moment he found her sobbing in his office over troubles with her first husband. At the same time, Doug's magazine column about grieving for his wife has made him irresistible to the media (book deals, television spots and the like are proffered) and to a wide array of women who find him "slim, sad and beautiful." Though stepson Russ is getting in trouble at school and Doug's pregnant twin sister, Claire, moves in, no amount of crying to strippers can keep Doug from the temptations of his best friend's wife or Russ's guidance counselor. Alternately flippant and sad, Tropper's book is a smart comedy of inappropriate behavior at an inopportune time.
Additional Info from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Widower-Bantam-Discovery/dp/0385338910

The next bookclub date for your diaries will be Chez Harmo on Saturday 9th Feb for lunch (anytime time after 2pm) and maybe even some book chat.....depends on how good we've been adhering to our resolution to actually read the books this year.

Happy Reading and Happy New Year Bookclubbers!