
(Book #32) Once again we came to Geri’s Christmas Book Club and Cookie Exchange Extravaganza. Geri started us off with glasses of Prosecco garnished with frozen cranberries and sparkling white grape juice for those who preferred a non-alcoholic option. She served delicious ham and cheese mini sandwiches which are baked in the oven [I’ve taken these to my family Christmas party ever since!] and mushroom and cheese quesadillas. She had many requests for both recipes. This year there were 17 varieties for the cookie exchange. I gave the girls the new bookmark with 2013’s reading list — not only was it laminated, but it had a bit of a lanyard laced through the top with a trinket or beads attached. I was evolving, slow-ly. In addition to the new bookmark, I gave out Christmas ornaments a miniature copy of the book each of the girls had hosted.
Many of the girls had previously read Jeannette Walls book The Glass Castle and loved it, so we chose to read her lesser known Half Broke Horses. Those who had read both said that reading Half Broke Horses helped to explain Rosemary’s seeming lack of maternal instincts in The Glass Castle. I think everyone agree that the life of Lily Casey Smith was well worth the novel her granddaughter wrote about her.
Favorite Quotes:
If I owned hell and west Texas, he said, I do believe I’d sell west Texas and live in hell.
if people want to steal from you, they get you to trust them first. And what they take from you is not only your money but also your trust.
and a great quote for book clubs:
Sometimes after I finished a particularly good book, I had the urge to get the library card, find out who else had read the book, and track them down to talk about it.