Our internet has been out a lot of the last week. Out on Sat. Fixed on Monday afternoon. Out again on Wed and then fixed again on Thur afternoon. We've missed having it - and then a part of me thinks it is a nice break.
Wanted to share about a couple of our book clubs. We read Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise McGraw in November. This has been my daughter's favorite book club book. (Thanks Joe for the recommendation!) I too found it to be a very interesting piece of historical fiction set in (no surprise) ancient Egypt.
After discussing the book, we always enjoy yummy treats. Just had to share a picture of these delicious cookies with caramel inside that warmed and became gooey when placed over a hot drink. Yum!
When we hosted in December, we selected
Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis. Its a series of books written about Christian teens - some of whom are dragons. It was an engaging story and is part of a series of (I think) eight books. Rebecca has read all of them and is helping a friend to make a movie about the story.
We had fun coming up with the snack for this one! Dragon claws aka rice krispy treats.
Dragons eggs - female (chocolate!)
Dragon scales (chips) and fresh leaf dip (spinach dip).
Toothpicks for the fruit served double duty as "sword practice". And did you note the other dragon eggs? The male ones? They are meatballs. LOL
Our January book title was
The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez. This is a story about "Operation Pedro Pan" which happened during Castro's takeover of Cuba. This historical fiction takes place through the eyes of a young girl who watches the changes in her country. She and her brother are then sent to the US and she wonders if things will ever be the same again.
We had delicious Cuban food! Flan with a decorative red umbrella was such a fun touch!
Our February title was King Alfred's English: A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should be Glad We Do by Laurie White. A fascinating book on the history of England and the way history affected the language we speak! So many interesting things to learn such as why we spell "knife" with a K and why "A" is an "uppercase" letter and much, much more! A really fun look at history!
We enjoyed delicious homemade scones, tea and quiches. A fun ending to our night!
This is really an enjoyable time. We meet just once a month. I have mentioned doing this to one of my boys and he is also very interested in starting up a club for boys. Or maybe boys and girls since it would be a younger group? I would love to hear from any of you that have done this.
Happy Reading!
Leslie
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This is one of those posts that makes me wish I wasn't so close to the end of my homeschooling years. What fun times for the girls and their moms!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list of books. I will have to put that away for when my girls are older. Thanks for the constant inspiration.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Dawn
Leslie, everytime you post about your book club I want to ask you, how did you get it going? This is something we would love to put together!
ReplyDeleteBo - It isn't too late! Go for it if it sounds like fun. ((((Bo))))
ReplyDeleteMichelle - I asked friends with girls that were teens if they were interested in starting a book club. We currently have 4 families - so it doesn't take many! We meet once per month.
The hostess comes up with the list of questions and leads the discussion. She also provides snacks for afterwards.
For the books, the first year we met and discussed books and picked them out together for the year. Some books were nixed if one family was not comfortable with it. This year we have chosen and talked about it via emails. Sometimes we'll share books that we think sound interesting and someone else may choose to do that book.
Does this help? If you have more questions, I'm happy to share!
Hugs
Leslie