The Book Snobs: Jennifer

Monday, April 23, 2012

April 2012 Selection

Jennifer selected Princess Daisy by Judith Krantz as the April 2012 selection. This selection is part of our year of choosing a bestseller from the year of the hostess' birth. The copyright on this book is 1980.

From Random House:

She was born Princess Marguerite Alexandrovna Valensky. But everyone called her Daisy. She was a blonde beauty living in a world of aristocrats and countless wealthy. Her father was a prince, a Russian nobleman. Her mother was an American movie goddess. Men desired her. Women envied her. Daisy's life was a fairy tale filled with parties and balls, priceless jewels, money and love. Then, suddenly, the fairy tale ended. And Princess Daisy had to start again, with nothing--except the secret she guarded from the day she was born.

The Book Snobs Gathering

Monday, April 30 at 6:30 PM
Jennifer's House

We started our evening with wine and chit-chat followed by a dinner of tacos with your choice of crispy corn or flour tortillas. It was delicious.

Then we opened discussion of Princess Daisy. All of the Snobs seemed to have enjoyed reading this book. We discussed the characters and how they were somewhat reflective of the late 1970s and early 1980s. We also talked about how disturbing some of the the story lines were including child molestation and incestuous rape. Many of the Snobs felt that Princess Daisy's "fairy-tale" life was a little too much of a fairy tale.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

May 2011 Selection

Jennifer has selected House Rules by Jodi Picoult as our May 2011 book.

From the author's website:

House Rules is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis.

He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. House Rules looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

The Book Snobs Gathering

The Snobs met at Jennifer's house on Tuesday, May 31. Jennifer served a delicious homemade lasagna accompanied by warm bread and a salad. As usual, a variety of wine was consumed. We finished off the evening with Sock-It-To-Me Cake.

House Rules was an excellent book for discussion. And did we ever discuss. There were several occasions where members had to be reminded to take turns speaking. (I confess, it was me.) We discussed the difficulties that families must deal with when a member has autism. We discussed the crime that was committed and the possible reasons that Jacob did what he did. Since this is a mystery, I'm not going to go into details here, but this novel has a typical Jodi Picoult style ending which leaves you wondering.

In the end, there were still many unanswered questions. Janna, our official secretary, emailed the author the next morning with our questions. We were all extremely impressed to receive a quick response from Jodi Picoult. She took the time to address each of our questions individually. How awesome is that?

How Our Club Works

Here are the guidelines that have been agreed upon for our club.

1. You must be invited to join Book Snobs. We have chosen to limit membership to a maximum of 11 members. Prospective new members will be invited to participate as provisional candidates for a period of at least two months.

2. Book Snobs meet the last Monday of each month except December. Dates may be adjusted by consensus.

3. Each Snob must take her turn at hosting. If you can't host when your turn comes up, it's up to you to trade with another Snob.

4. Next month’s hostess should announce her selection at the end of each month’s meeting. She should also send an email announcement of her selection within a few days.

5. The Book Snobs read a wide variety of books. The method of selecting books for each year's reading cycle will be agreed upon in advance by the Snobs. When it's your turn to host you choose the book from the agreed list or genre.

6. The Snobs will not censor their book selections. Any member may elect not to read any selection, but she should not try to influence a hostess to change her selection.

7. Hosting includes providing dinner and adult beverages for the group.

8. The hostess is responsible for finding or creating discussion questions and leading the discussion. Creativity is encouraged. She is also asked to provide some background on the author and/or the book.

9. The hostess should guide the discussion and make an effort to ensure that all members are heard. She is empowered to ask members to stay on topic and to limit side discussions.

10. Each member is expected to read each month's selection. Readers who do not finish any book should decide for themselves whether they will attend discussion. Discussion will not be limited to avoid spoilers.

Rules of Courtesy

1. Snobs are asked to silence their cell phone ringers during discussion. If you must take a phone call, please step out of the room.

2. Children should not be present during discussion. We should not have to limit our discussion to child-appropriate topics. If your children are home, please make sure they stay in another room.

3. All members are asked to limit side discussions and to be courteous by limiting "talking over" other speakers. Members are empowered to raise their hand and/or use a safe word like "chocolate" when needed, to call attention back to the topic.

4. Each Snob is expected to notify the hostess of her attendance plans each month to allow for appropriate food preparation.