The Alice Network Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For The Alice Network, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

Have you read any books featured by Reese’s Book Club? (As in Reese Witherspoon. In case you didn’t know, she has a online book club which is part of her company Hello Sunshine and the books they choose get the Reese seal of approval–much like Oprah’s book selections.) Anyway, for me, the books I’ve read have been hit or miss. Lately, though, it seems Reese is hitting it out of the park with titles like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Little Fires Everywhere, and Where the Crawdads Sing.

Needless to say, The Alice Network is a Reese’s Book Club pick and I loved it. The novel is a dual timeline story featuring two women as they deal with both WWI and WWII. It is set primarily in France. When the two women meet in the aftermath of WWII, their stories converge and they set out on a journey of discovery and revenge.

The Invention of Wings Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For The Invention of Wings, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

One of my favorite books is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. If you haven’t read it, it is chock full of friendship, mother-daughter relationships, and Southern flair. And, of course bees. The narrator is also a spit-fire girl who comes of age during the story. It’s one of those feel-good books that you think back on and sigh with happiness.

I knew the Sue Monk Kidd wrote The Mermaid Chair shortly after. For some reason, it didn’t appeal to me personally. If you’ve read it, I’d love to know your thoughts.

However, when researching books to feature here. I stumbled upon The Invention of Wings. It was released in 2015, but I had yet to read it. The premise was intriguing. In fact, I’m a sucker for Civil War fiction in the same way some people love WWII fiction.

Little Women Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For Little Women, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

This post is the beginning of a new series of posts I have decided to create for Book Club Bites featuring The Classics. I’ve had Little Women on my re-read list for a while and with the new movie coming out this winter, I decided it was the perfect start for this series.

If you don’t know much about Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, I suggest you take some time and read a little about her (even if it’s just her wikipedia page).

Louisa May Alcott led a fascinating life. She was raised by her parents among transcendentalists, including many famous thinkers of the time such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

She grew up to be an abolitionist and a feminist. In fact, her family helped Frederick Douglass and others during their work in the underground railroad. Despite all of this adventure, Little Women is based on what Louisa held closest to her heart–her own sisters and her mother. Her three sisters inspired the characters Meg, Amy, and Beth, and Jo was based loosely upon her own life and character.

In Farleigh Field Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For In Farleigh Field, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

In Farleigh Field has been floating around as a potential read for me for quite a while. I’ll tell you why.

Did you know that Amazon has it’s own publishing house now? That’s right. Just like Penguin, Random House, and the others. It’s called Lake Union and it’s been putting out some hits.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s fine. Readers are meant to enjoy books and not know how the sausage is made, so to speak. However, as someone who likes to keep abreast of the industry, I’ve been wanting to read a book that Lake Union has produced. So, I chose In Farleigh Field.

You might recognize some of the other titles: The Tuscan Child, The Ragged Edge of the Night, Beneath a Scarlet Sky…all put out by Lake Union.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

Wow. This book. Gail Honeyman, you are amazing. This book dealt with so many HEAVY topics with humor and grace. That’s probably why this was featured for Reese’s Book Club.

In the beginning, I think it’s safe to say that Eleanor Oliphant is not a very likeable character, but, by the end, I was cheering loudly for her. What a triumphant character and novel. If your book club hasn’t read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, I highly recommend it. It will surprise you and leave you smiling.

I was actually able to listen to it on audiobook, which was fantastic. I loved listening to Cathleen McCarron’s Scottish accent. She also nailed Eleanor’s sarcasm and the bone-chilling Mummy voice. If you’re able to, I recommend listening to it.

If your book club is reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, I’ve created some book club questions and a recipe to facilitate your group meeting!

14 Christmas Romance Novels for Hallmark Fans

*If you are new here, WELCOME! In this post, I’ll share 14 Christmas Romance Novels for Hallmark Fans!

In my last post Hallmark Christmas for Booklovers, I shared gift ideas for booklovers who also love Hallmark shows. Specifically, I highlighted these shows: Chesapeake Shores, Cedar Cove, When Calls the Heart, At Home in Mitford, and Love Comes Softly. If you love those shows or are an avid Hallmark fan and are looking for unique gift ideas, check out the post.

In this post, I’m going to share 14 Christmas Romance Novels for Hallmark Fans. I hope you enjoy this list of delightful holiday-themed finds for the Hallmark lover and reader in your life and buy a couple for yourself while you’re at it.

Let’s start with this factoid–Did you know that Hallmark has it’s own publishing company? That’s right, the eponymous Channel has it’s own line of books.

The Light We Lost Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For The Light We Lost, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo was a book that kept surfacing in various places on the internet for me, so I decided to read it. It’s been a featured book for Reese’s Book Club and received rave reviews many places. I, personally, have decided not to “review” books here and offer a star rating and I think this book is a perfect example of why.

Jill Santopolo’s writing in The Light We Lost was superb. There were several lines that really made me stop and think. Often, I had to set the book down and walk away for a while to process the reactions it stirred in me. To me, this is a sign of great writing.

All of that said, this book seems to be very polarizing. You either love it or hate it. You can read the wide range of reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. Again, this is what I think makes a great book club book–one that gets you thinking and talking whether you love or hate the characters. It is a great example, though, of how people can experience books so differently based on their own life experiences, opinions, and values. The very reason I steer clear of rating books.

I hope your book club will consider featuring The Light We Lost if it hasn’t yet. It will definitely spur a good discussion. Below, I’ve provided your group with several book club questions and a recipe for The Light We Lost.

20 Christmas Gifts for Hallmark Fans Who Love to Read

*If you are new here, WELCOME! In this post, I share 20 Christmas gifts for Hallmark fans who love to read!

The air is cooler. The leaves are turning vibrant colors. You’ve been given the green light to order a variety of spiced items–pumpkin, apple, cinnamon–without being publicly shamed. You’re looking forward to the holidays that are just around the corner. The shopping, the family, the food.

Okay, maybe the shopping, the family, the food. The other two sound nice, but end up ruining the third by giving you massive amounts of heart burn.

In truth, what you are really looking forward to are the nights spent in cozy pajamas beneath a pile of blankets watching the endless stream of Hallmark Christmas movies. Amiright?

That Hallmark sure knows how to to set up some romantic expectations. And deliver every time. It doesn’t matter how corny the meet-cute is, or how obvious the ending appears, I can’t peel myself away. I have to hang around for that kiss. You know, the one you get in the final two minutes of the show. Man, I’m getting excited just thinking about it. I cannot wait.

So, if you’re like me, a romantic sucker at heart and you want to treat yourself, or if you know someone who is and want to make your shopping a little bit easier this year, check out this list. 20 Christmas Gifts for Hallmark Fans Who Love to Read is full of gift ideas for anyone who loves Hallmark Christmas movies and also loves to read!

The Nightingale Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For The Nightingale, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

If you haven’t read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, I highly recommend it. In fact, it was the book that stirred the passion in my heart again for reading and story telling. I had been reading and studying fiction for a while when I decided to read The Nightingale. And, after reading it, I thought THIS is exactly what a good story should be for a reader. An all-encompassing experience that wears you out by taking you through the full range of emotions and leaves you contemplating life. And, a book with a steady plot full of twists and turns.

The Goldfinch Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For The Goldfinch, I provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

The Goldfinch has been on my reading list for quite a while. Generally, I like to read or at least be informed about Pulitzer Prize winners and usually they are good picks for book club discussions. Although, I will say the last few I’ve read have been hard to read and I’ve taken a step back from the list in recent years. However, when I saw that The Goldfinch was being made into a major motion picture, I decided it was time to read it.

Here’s the deal about Hollywood that doesn’t always apply to acclaimed literary fiction–they (usually) produce movies with a good plot. Literary fiction doesn’t have to have much of a plot to still win awards. The writing and character development are more important.

So, I figured that The Goldfinch would be a good merger of quality writing, character development, and plot.