Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Look into the Future Months.....


For April's Book Choice we'll be reading the The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. Book was chosen by Jim Wilde.  This book is Miss Marple's first mystery.

About the Book:
Miss Jane Marple, spinster sleuth extraordinaire, is introduced in this first-ever mystery to feature her brilliant talents. The setting is St. Mary Mead, where Colonel Protheroe is found shot in the vicar's study. Nearly everyone in town is a suspect: his daughter, his second wife, the artist enamored with both of them, the poacher, and even the vicar. Into this uproar, Miss Marple carefully steps and shrewdly fits the nearly endless puzzle pieces together. Match wits with this master of the deductive arts.


May's Book Choice we'll be reading His Name is Guck by Clyde A. Landon.  Book was chosen by Donna Wilde.

About the book:
At the age of ten, Clyde Landon's world revolved around slingshots, marbles, and talking his way out of trouble. But that all changed the day he met Guck, a motley colored shepherd dog. The bond between them was immediate, and when Guck needed a new home, it was Clyde who quickly assumed responsibility, convincing his parents to allow him a pet, despite the family already having too many mouths to feed.


Guck was ours. I could hardly believe it. There wasn't another dog in the whole wide world like him...'You're ours!' I told him. 'You're mine. Mom said I could keep you.' For some strange reason, I felt as though I was telling him something he already knew, but he listened intently while I carried on...'Guck Landon.' It sounded perfect, just perfect.

In His Name is Guck: A Story of a Boy and His Dog author Clyde Landon recounts his unforgettable memories with this special dog, one who displayed the ultimate in love, courage, and devotion. Landon uses his knack for description to transport readers to 1940s Colorado, where a boy and his dog roamed the mountainside together, sharing incredible adventures and an undying bond of friendship.


June's Book Choice, we don't have a host as of yet.  We are currently looking for a host and a book.  If anyone is interested please send an email to stocktonbookclubut@yahoo.com.


BOOK: Like Father, Like Son?

We have a suggestion from Ronnalee Hesford that we should read "Like Father, Like Son?" by Roger T. Muir.  We would like to get as many people involved in this as we can, but we don't know when we'll be reading the book.  The majority of our members of the book club are women and mothers, we would like to have some men and fathers involved in this discussion.  We hope this to be enlighting for all.

About the Book:
Co-authored by Roger T. Muir and Greg D. Boyle, this quick read retales the true stories of two young boys who grew up in very different circumstances. One had a dad in the home, the other did not. Both find paths to success, but at what cost, and how can you ensure you're on the right track?

Concerned with the staggering statistics that 85% of all imprisoned youth and 63% of all youth suicides come from children of fatherless homes, this book explores a very serious topic with the greatest of integrity and compassion, combining tough realities with a great blend of humor, hope and inspiration.

Richard Paul Evans, NY Times #1 best selling author of The Christmas Box stated, “In their book, Like Father, Like Son?, Muir and Boyle examine the impact a good father can have on his son – and the damaging effects his absence can create. As you contemplate the stories and recommendations shared, I believe you will find a sense of healing and renewed potential."

Check out the website- http://www.fixthefathers.com/

Friday, February 18, 2011

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli(March's Book Choice)




This book is the sequel to the New York Times bestselling book, Stargirl and centers on "the world's longest letter" in diary form. It picks up where the previous novel left off after Stargirl left Mica High and describes her bittersweet memories in the town of Mica, Arizona along with the involvements of new people in her life, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Stargirl, living now in Pennsylvania, tells her own story this time, in "the world's longest letter," which is actually a series of journal entries. New in town, homeschooled, and feeling rejected by Leo, the 16-year-old narrator of the first book who had fallen under her spell, she is lonely and sad -- her "happy wagon," where she keeps stones representing her level of happiness, is almost empty. She befriends Dootsie, a loud but loveable 6 year old who takes a shine to Stargirl and her pet rat Cinnamon. Betty Lou never leaves the house and is known as the witch. Shes actually extremely nice and Stargirl visits her nearly ever day.

With the arrival of autumn, Stargirl's life is affected when, arriving at her Enchanted Hill to plant another spatula in her solar calendar, she sees a house on fire, and in her attempt to break in to warn any possible residents, ends up in the hospital with smoke-damaged lungs and a sprained ankle. She stays in the hospital for one week, getting visited by Dootsie (in her waffle halloween costume), Alvina, the Honeybees and Perry, also getting calls from Betty Lou. Once Stargirl recovers, she returns to her Enchanted Hill to plant the next spatula, only to find Perry has been planting them in her absence. Perry and Stargirl share a sunrise kiss, ending Stargirl's confusion over having feelings for both Leo and Perry, but leaving her to deal with the reality of living with uncertainty.

As winter sets in, Stargirl turns herself to planning her Winter Solstice party, inviting all of the people she has encountered in her new town to celebrate the beginning of winter by joining her at sunrise on the Enchanted Hill. Stargirl also discovers the truth about Perry, whose mother has a new baby, whom Perry has been trying to support by working several jobs last summer and by resorting to "stealing" to avoid burdening her with feeding him. In the end, Stargirl becomes worried that no one will show up for her solstice party, but is reassured by Archie, her former teacher and friend from Arizona, who arrives to attend her celebration and comforts her with his wisdom.
On the morning of the Winter Solstice, Stargirl is overwhelmed and surprised when a huge crowd of her friends and acquaintances, and several other people she's unfamiliar with, flock to Calendar Hill, as she now calls it, including her friend Betty Lou who hasn't left her house in nine years. The magic moment of sunrise is magnified by a special tent her parents have built, allowing the sunlight to stream in through a hole in the tent, forming a single beam that cuts through the crowd of people and pierces the back wall. Everyone is profoundly affected by the start of this new day, and returns home to the start of cold winter.



February's Newsletter

Stockton Book Club Newsletter!!!!

February 2011

Edition #2

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (February’s Book Choice)

We’ll be reading Stargirl in February. The book centers on an eccentric and compassionate 10th grade student at Mica Area High School in Arizona named Susan "Stargirl" Caraway, who has spent her previous years in homeschooling. Eleventh-grader Leo Borlock narrates throughout the story. Between the story and the epilogue, the narrator implies that 15 years have elapsed.

Our Meeting will be held at the Stockton Miner's Cafe on Saturday, February 26th at Noon.


Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli(March's Book Choice)

This book is the sequel to the New York Times bestselling book, Stargirl and centers on "the world's longest letter" in diary form. It picks up where the previous novel left off after Stargirl left Mica High and describes her bittersweet memories in the town of Mica, Arizona along with the involvements of new people in her life, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Stargirl, living now in Pennsylvania, tells her own story this time, in "the world's longest letter," which is actually a series of journal entries. New in town, homeschooled, and feeling rejected by Leo, the 16-year-old narrator of the first book who had fallen under her spell, she is lonely and sad -- her "happy wagon," where she keeps stones representing her level of happiness, is almost empty. She befriends Dootsie, a loud but loveable 6 year old who takes a shine to Stargirl and her pet rat Cinnamon. Betty Lou never leaves the house and is known as the witch. Shes actually extremely nice and Stargirl visits her nearly ever day.

With the arrival of autumn, Stargirl's life is affected when, arriving at her Enchanted Hill to plant another spatula in her solar calendar, she sees a house on fire, and in her attempt to break in to warn any possible residents, ends up in the hospital with smoke-damaged lungs and a sprained ankle. She stays in the hospital for one week, getting visited by Dootsie (in her waffle halloween costume), Alvina, the Honeybees and Perry, also getting calls from Betty Lou. Once Stargirl recovers, she returns to her Enchanted Hill to plant the next spatula, only to find Perry has been planting them in her absence. Perry and Stargirl share a sunrise kiss, ending Stargirl's confusion over having feelings for both Leo and Perry, but leaving her to deal with the reality of living with uncertainty.

As winter sets in, Stargirl turns herself to planning her Winter Solstice party, inviting all of the people she has encountered in her new town to celebrate the beginning of winter by joining her at sunrise on the Enchanted Hill. Stargirl also discovers the truth about Perry, whose mother has a new baby, whom Perry has been trying to support by working several jobs last summer and by resorting to "stealing" to avoid burdening her with feeding him. In the end, Stargirl becomes worried that no one will show up for her solstice party, but is reassured by Archie, her former teacher and friend from Arizona, who arrives to attend her celebration and comforts her with his wisdom.

On the morning of the Winter Solstice, Stargirl is overwhelmed and surprised when a huge crowd of her friends and acquaintances, and several other people she's unfamiliar with, flock to Calendar Hill, as she now calls it, including her friend Betty Lou who hasn't left her house in nine years. The magic moment of sunrise is magnified by a special tent her parents have built, allowing the sunlight to stream in through a hole in the tent, forming a single beam that cuts through the crowd of people and pierces the back wall. Everyone is profoundly affected by the start of this new day, and returns home to the start of cold winter.


January’s Meeting

We met at the Stockton Miners Café for January’s book club meeting. We discussed Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Spot Café by Fannie Flagg, The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright(November’s Book) and Collection of Christmas Short Stories by Various Authors (December’s Book). We had a very lively discussion about the books, especially about Fried Green Tomatoes. We want to thank everyone who came and enjoyed lunch with us, everyone had a lot of fun.



Suggestion:
RonnaLee suggested that we read Like Father, Son? by Roger T. Muir and Greg D. Boyle in the future months. Visit www.FixtheFathers.com for more information. She is friends with the Author. We want everyone’s input, she might be able to get the Author to come to Stockton to talk to us about the book.



Future Reading?
We are looking for volunteers to host or choose a book for April's and future months’ book club meetings. A few book choices we have are “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert (Jamie has the movie and we can watch the movie during the meeting) , “Like Father, Son?” by Roger T. Muir and Greg D. Boyle, “The Help” by Katherine Stockett, reread “The Wednesday Letters“ by Jason F. Wright (November was a hectic month and not everyone read November‘s book and we would like to read it) or The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. We are open to any types of literature, please let us know if you would like to host a furture meetings or if you would like to suggest a book Call Jamie at 435-840-8183 or RonnaLee at 435-843-9675.



Fun Recipes

Best Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients

4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

-Directions

Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.

Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.

In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.



Stargirl’s Smiley Face Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll out dough and cut out with a cookie cuter (suggestion: use a round or a star shaped cookie cuter) place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

After cookies have cooled decorate cookies with a smiley face with frosting and candy. See below for Frosting Recipe. Be like Stargirl and get creative!!!!


Yummy Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

Instructions

(Medium Consistency)

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

****Editor’s note: I thought adding recipes that coordinated with the books would be fun. Please let me know what you think.****


Current Stockton Book Club Members
RonnaLee Hesford - Founder
Jamie West - Co-Founder
Nadine West
Kathleen Memmott
Lela Anderson
Mary Durtschi
Debbie Rusk
Suzanne Thompson
Jim Wilde
Donna Wilde
Don West Jr.
Josie West
Jill Bartholmew
Doralee Speakman
Joyce Grogan

Books We Have Read in the Past Months
2009 -
Sept. - To Kill a Mocking Bird by Lee Harper
Oct. - Peyton Place by Grace Metalicous
Nov. - Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson
Dec. - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
2010-
Jan. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffennegger
Feb. The Importance of Being Eanest by Oscar Wilde
Mar. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Apr. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini
May. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Jun. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Jul. Agent Bishop by Mike Peters
Aug. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Sept. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief by Rick Riodan
Oct. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Lerouix
Nov. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
Dec. Collection of Christmas Stories by Various Authors
2011-
Jan. Fried Green Tomatoes of the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg.
Feb. Star girl by Jerry Spinelli
Mar. Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Apr. ?

 
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Happy Reading!!!!!



****If you have an idea for a book and would like to host a book club meeting or if you have any questions or comments please call Jamie at 435-840-8183 or Ronnalee at 435-843-9675. Email at stocktonbookclubut@yahoo.com. Also, if you have anything to add to our newsletter, please let us know.****