You Might Be Interested

We can't read everything in book club. Sometimes a book isn't exactly right for RS, and will never make our list, but is worthy of a good read. Except for an occasional biography, I never choose to read nonfiction, yet now I'm completely enthralled with Outliers, and want to pass on this recommendation too. The Geography of Bliss was an award winning book in 2008, written by a former NPR foreign correspondent, Eric Weiner. He is smart and funny and insightful. It's easy to make connections with the places he travels to in this book - I had been to Switzerland, Ty had been to Nepal (the author visits neighboring Bhutan), my friend vacationed in Iceland (after she saw it on The Amazing Race) - and these connections draw you in to his theories on why different places are happier. The book is not for RS (warning, warning) because: He visits the Netherlands and uses pot there, which is legal, but not in line with the Word of Wisdom, and in the Bhutan culture, they hang something that might be offensive (if it wasn't so funny) from their houses to ward off evil spirits. The book is pretty free of swear words, except I remember there were a couple right toward the end. I think he was quoting someone, but I can't remember for sure. You actually could skip the chapters on the Netherlands and Bhutan and still get a lot of pleasure, good quotes, and insight out of this book. I give it two thumbs up, and I really want Nancy Butler to read it.

BSU President, Bob Kustra, interviewed the author a couple weeks ago on his radio program, New Horizons. You can listen to that broadcast at http://radio.boisestate.edu/NewHorizons.html. You can read more about the author and his book here. If you visit Eric Weiner's web site, be sure to go to the page 'Your Happiest Place' and check that out. (I'm really just trying to see how linking works. I hope it does.)

March Preview

We have chosen a nonfiction book, Outliers - The Story of Success, for our March book. The author, Malcolm Gladwell, is very insightful, and thinks about everything in a unique way. He's also a great story teller, so if you usually don't read nonfiction, you'll still be entertained by this book. Gladwell defines outliers as people whose achievements fall outside normal experience. He explains what the Beatles and Bill Gates have in common, why Asians are so good at math, and why you don't want a South Korean pilot. Stories of successful people usually focus on intelligence and ambition. Malcolm Gladwell argues that the real story is more complex, and you have to look at things like family, birthplace, birth date, culture, class, and even ancestry. We're anxious to discuss this book and how the ideas that are presented relate to us, and how we can succeed in the gospel. Our discussion will be at Robyn Brocksome's house, on March 16th. We're planning on a potluck dinner starting at 6:30.

This is a picture of the author, Malcolm Gladwell, not Robyn.

Before the Teasing Begins

I just want to take a minute and say that while all of you are listed by your first name, I am listed with every single letter plus a hyphen. I don't know why except that I have a blog and that's how I'm listed there. Don't worry, you can still just call me Pam. Or Your Royal Highness. It's totally up to you.

The Spirit of the Old Book Club

We had a nice chat about our January book pick, The Spirit of the Old Testament. Sue Ann looks like she was falling asleep, but actually the book wasn't that dry. Notice the smile on her face. It's always a good time at our meetings.

The book by Sidney B. Sperry is in the LDS Classic Paperback Library. Most of us read 2-5 chapters as an introduction, but plan on reading sections throughout the year, as it correlates to the Sunday School lessons. It's a scholarly work, but easy to read. There is something in every chapter that helps you connect and get more out of the Old Testament. I'll just share one quote. There is a chapter on LDS views concerning the Bible where the eighth Article of Faith, about believing the Bible is the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly is being discussed. Brigham Young said, "But it is no matter about that. Read it and observe it and it will not hurt any person in the world."

It was Tara's first book club meeting with us. I think she'll come back again. Let me just say that our group doesn't require you to read the book--or read at all. It helps sometimes, but I've often thought that I didn't want to read a selection, and after everyone has discussed it, I decide I do. I've read some books that I didn't even like, until everyone discussed them, and then I realized that I just didn't get it--they were good books. Everyone discussing together gives you insights into the books, life in general, and we get to know about each other.

Next month we will be at Mary Jo's house discussing The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963. Get reading...or not, you don't have to read....just come and join us.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963

We will be at Mary Jo's house in February (on the 16th), and Pam will lead the discussion. This book is by Christopher Paul Curtis who wrote Elijah of Buxton, which was one of our favorite picks last year. The Watsons is a wonderful book for 5th grade and up, with a civil rights backdrop. This is a delightfully funny and touching story about the Watson family (from Detroit) and their visit to Alabama.
We have several copies that we've borrowed from schools so just grab a book and get reading!

More Action!

We're getting a little more action with our blog. I'm just learning by trial and error, but you all can learn along with me. Right now, as people join, I'm making everyone administrators so that you can join in the fun. I was excited to see Mary Jo, Rachelle and Jennifer join. I think they're all experienced bloggers. I also started following Jenn's links and found goodreads.com which I remember Lola talking about a long time ago. I signed up and love it so far. Some of you are already on there. Of course, I'm really not up to speed on that either, but I'm going to figure it out. You all should join me at that too! We'll discuss it at our January meeting.

Thank You Stace!

Thanks to Stacey our blog now has a nice looking background design. Very classy--just like our members. Some of you might be wondering who Stacey is, because she hasn't been attending meetings. That's because she lives in Kansas. She's my step-daughter, and blogger extraordinaire! My computer skills are limited, but I know I can master a basic blog. I just won't mess with the backgrounds and fluffy stuff until I get some private tutoring when Stacey (and family) visit this summer. Even when I've mastered the fluff, we'll still keep Stace in our group. She's a reader and fits right in!

January Plans

We'll be at Judy's house for our book discussion this month. We always meet on the third Tuesday. Since we won't be having a potluck (just refreshments) we'll meet at 7:00. The book we've selected is The Spirit of the Old Testament by Sidney Sperry. We thought it would be good to start our year of study in the Old Testament with this resource book. There probably won't be anyone who will read this book straight through in time for our meeting, but instead, we can all use it throughout the year for more insights. The book is full of information on the history of Israel, different prophets, Hebrew literature, different cultures, contributions of the Old Testament, and some Latter-day Saint views concerning the Bible. It's well researched and easy to read. Even if you don't have a copy, come and join our discussion.