Food for Thought: Retreat Recap

The Bluestockings have returned from our annual weekend away and it was nearly perfect (having Ann there would have made it 100%). There were laughs, movies, shopping, more laughs, food, and yes, we had our book discussion thank-you-very-much. We mapped out our selections for 2009 and are looking forward to our 2010 weekend adventure! We did that after we spent all day out in public attired in identical Life Is Good tees (book themed, of course). I hope those who saw us had a good laugh; I'm sure they were wondering where our red hats were but we are NOT that kind of group!

The Retreat

The Bluestockings are READY for our retreat this weekend. Pillars of the Earth is our book and it surely will take all weekend for us to discuss...except when we are eating, shopping, or having a cocktail (or all three!).

2008

01/17/08 - pb - The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
02/15-17/08 - retreat - A Diverse Collection of Biographies

03/20/08 - aw - Snow Flour and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

04/17/08 - jc - The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

05/15/08 - as - The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom

06/18/08 - mc - The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel by Jill C. Browne

07/24/08 - kb - The Ruins by Scott Smith

08/14/08 - cc - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

09/11/08 - aw - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

10/09/08 - pb - Good Family by Terry Gamble

11/06/08 - mc - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

12/11/08 - as - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

Characters

Here's a link to a flow chart of the characters in Pillars of the Earth:
http://www.ken-follett.com/images/trees/POTE_WWE_character_tree_v2.pdf

November Update

It's official; our November meeting has been changed from the 13th to the 6th at Mary Ann's. Mark your calendars now!

When you finish a book...

...you might want to make a sculpture out of it. Click on the picture to see more of the bittersweet art of cutting up books.

Bluestocking Retreat Uniform

Some have already ordered their retreat uniform...yay! I'm going to go ahead and put it out there, though: I refuse to wear a red hat!

Eradicate Monkey Mind

After our discussion of Eat, Pray, Love, you might want to try a short guided meditation. Honestly, it's a great investment of eight minutes.

New Book with Bluestocking Connection

This book - just published - is by a cousin of Lee Huff, Molly's husband. Thanks for telling us about it, Ann! Amazon has it (as of today still a pre-order) for $10.17.
From the publisher's website (click on book for link): Emma Mosley is a dreamer who seems to be wishing on someone else’s star. You'd think that meeting the love of your life would make you wonderfully happy. The problem is that he belongs to someone else—her boss! Then Emma is forced into working for a nasty politician, and we wonder if she can keep it together. With a few more surprises, including a love triangle and a shocking political scandal, Emma's world falls apart, and she learns that sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and admit that you need someone.

Another Promising Book

Joshilyn Jackson, author of Between, Georgia, writes about this book and talks to the author. Click on the book to check it out.