Quite a few years ago, my girlfriends from high school and I started a book club. We called it something clever like, Date @ Eight. The idea was that we’d meet once a month, on the eighth, and discuss the book we read for that month. Such good intentions we had. (That sounds like something Yoda would say.) I think our book discussion lasted about 12 seconds, and then it quickly turned to class, boys, jobs, and everything else an early 20 something needs to talk to their girlfriends about.
I absolutely loved it and always looked forward to our Date @ Eight. However, our lives quickly took over and book club was pushed to the back seat. And years went by, without a book club.
Then came September. My friend Kali, pictured above holding the book, mentioned she was starting a multi-generational book club with her mother-in-law. When I first heard multi-generational it made me giggle a bit. It was so Kali. Then I got excited. What a great way to form relationships with women of all ages.
We had our first meeting in September and discussed what we all wanted out of the book club. I think there were seven of us at the first meeting, and all of us lovers of books. No better company, I must say!
The first book we decided on was, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I had actually picked the book up prior to leaving for London and planned it to be my “airplane” book. I read the first chapter before leaving and decided it just wasn’t what I was looking for. Frankly, the main character was already irritating me.
So when we decided to read it for book club I was anxious about how I first felt about it, but was happy I already owned it. As I continued to read past the first chapter I started to enjoy it and ultimately it became a book I would recommend to others.
To sum it up:
Orphan girl has a lot of teenage angst. And that is what originally bothered me about her character. It alternates chapter by chapter from current day life as an 18-year-old girl free from the “system”, and a nine-year old girl, suffering in the “system.” She starts to learn the meaning behind different flowers from one of her foster mothers, Elizabeth. She uses flowers as away to share her emotions when she has learned to become so closed off and guarded.
The book takes you through her trials of trying to lover herself and others. She never knew love and didn’t believe she deserved it, until certain people entered her life. She did all she could to self destruct, but even a broken girl can’t break unconditional love.
So, pick it up, read it and let me know what you think!
Book for November- The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
Duchess of Windmill 