(August) September Book Clubs

September was a double month of book club! Two times the fun!

Month: August 
Hostess: Chrissy
Book: The Weirdness by Jeremy Bushnell
Food: Greek Pizza, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, fancy cupcakes
Wine of the Night: A luscious merlot


It was a hot fall day the day we met for Chrissy's book club, which seemed appropriate due to the fact that Chrissy had August, although we had to meet in September. The end of August was just so crazy for everyone - vacations, and in the case of Mary, her little baby boy's surgery. Little Will had had surgery just a week before, and was in attendance so we could all coo over him. Chrissy's cats have never seen a baby, and they were very curious about him! He took it all in stride, as he has cats at home himself. 

Speaking of cats, this book. I wish we could say we liked it, but we just didn't. It was not what we expected, which was a Neil Gaiman/Christopher Moore blend. For us, this book just didn't work. I am going to say it was just too weird, even for me. 

We caught up on each other's lives, as it had over a month since we had all been in a room together, hanging out.  All in all, it was a fun, low-key, mellow kind of evening, the kind you would expect from an early September evening, that was warm and humid, even better to have been spent with your close friends.

Month: September
Hostess: Mary
Book: The Beekeeper's Ball by Susan Wiggs
Food: Homemade veggie lasagna, butternut squash soup, chips and salsa, chocolate cake
Wine of the night: A Trempranillo

What a perfect month for a book about honey! Bees are out in full force here in September, as they make their final hurrahs before winter hits. I can't imagine a fall without bees buzzing around the apple cider and donuts! 

It had been another warm fall day, too warm in my opinion, but the evening was cool. We all one by one filed into Mary's house, which was warm and bubbly from the sounds of the soup on the stove.


When the author Susan Wiggs found out that our book club was reading this book, she awesomely sent us a little care package! Inside were coasters, sticks of honey, tea, and bookplates. We loved the coasters, that say "My wine club has a reading problem," especially since we like to call ourselves the Bottle of Wine Book Club.

We all settled down with our soup, eating and talking about this and that. It was fun because we had just gathered together two weeks ago, for Chrissy's book club. It was a double book club month! 

I had fun discussing this book, talking about the flashbacks and how they made me cry. Mary and I disagreed and debated on which book was better, The Beekeeper's Ball, or the first in the series, The Apple Orchard. I firmly believe that Beekeeper's was better, although I did enjoy them both. I feel this one had more feeling, and I liked the main character better as well. I had been curious about her in The Apple Orchard, and was happy when she got her own book. If you want to check out my reviews, you can find them here and here. 

Have any of you read either of these books, or The Apple Orchard? What are your thoughts? 

Book Review: The Beekeeper's Ball by Susan Wiggs

Title: The Beekeeper's Ball
Author: Susan Wiggs
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

Isabel Johansen, a celebrated chef who grew up in the sleepy Sonoma town of Archangel, is transforming her childhood home into a destination cooking school—a unique place for other dreamers to come and learn the culinary arts. Bella Vista's rambling mission-style hacienda, with its working apple orchards, bountiful gardens and beehives, is the idyllic venue for Isabel's project…and the perfect place for her to forget the past. 

But Isabel's carefully ordered plans begin to go awry when swaggering, war-torn journalist Cormac O'Neill arrives to dig up old history. He's always been better at exposing the lives of others than showing his own closely-guarded heart, but the pleasures of small-town life and the searing sensuality of Isabel's kitchen coax him into revealing a few truths of his own. 

The dreamy sweetness of summer is the perfect time of year for a grand family wedding and the enchanting Beekeeper's Ball, bringing emotions to a head in a story where the past and present collide to create an unexpected new future. 

My thoughts:

This book was perfect for the springtime mood I have been in. The sun is shining, and I am itching to get outside and plant flowers and do outdoorsy things.This book is book two in the Bella Vista series; the first is The Apple Orchard, which I didn't like quite as much as this book. I think the story line was more developed this time, and the characters as well.

Isabel was my favorite in The Apple Orchard, and I was so happy to read a book about her character. And the food sounded to die for. I want to make or at least eat the bee sting cake that was mentioned in the story. I found a recipe here,  and I am thinking about attempting it this summer.

Isabel is a reserved, organized woman, who grew up practically in paradise at Bella Vista. Her parents died before she was even a week old, and she was raised by her adoring, indulgent grandparents. She loved cooking, and went off to cooking school to pursue her dream of becoming a chef, and now she is back, turning her home into a destination cooking school. And from the sound of it, if this place were real I would want to go myself! Although Isabel seems so together, she is harboring a secret that is preventing her from living her life fully. She closes herself off from love, and prefers her orderly world of her own creation.

When sexy-hot Cormac "Mac" O'Neil bumbles onto her property, you know he is definitely going to shake things up. A journalist and adventurer, he is at Bella Vista to write the biography of Isabel and her half-sister Tess' grandfather Magnus. Isabel mistakes him for a local beekeeper that she has contacted, and this results in a trip to the emergency room. Cormac is anything but safe and orderly, which is intimidating to Isabel. She fights her attraction to him, even as he pursues his attraction to her. He has his own demons, but as he is enveloped into the world of Bella Vista, he does his own soul searching.

When Mac begins the biography on Magnus, the reader is transported back to Nazi occupied Copenhagen, as we hear about Magnus' life under the regime. Later, we also hear about the ordeals that Anneslise shares. Her story actually brought tears to my eyes. Wiggs does an excellent job writing about such sensitive topics in a respectful manner.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a book about family, love and healing,  set in a gorgeous paradise. If you liked The Apple Orchard, you will love this one.

Mini Book Review: Candlelight Christmas

Title: Candlelight Christmas
Author: Susan Wiggs
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

A single father who yearns to be a family man, Logan O'Donnell is determined to create the perfect Christmas for his son, Charlie. The entire O'Donnell clan arrives to spend the holidays in Avalon, a postcard-pretty town on the shores of Willow Lake, a place for the family to reconnect and rediscover the special gifts of the season.

One of the guests is a newcomer to Willow Lake— Darcy Fitzgerald. Sharp-witted, independent and intent on guarding her heart, she's the last person Logan can see himself falling for. And Darcy is convinced that a relationship is the last thing she needs this Christmas.

Yet between the snowy silence of the winter woods, and toasty moments by a crackling fire, their two lonely hearts collide. The magic of the season brings them each a gift neither ever expected—a love to last a lifetime.

My Thoughts:

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I didn't like the main male protagonist, Logan O'Donnell, very much at all in the beginning. He was working for a summer camp, and his son Charlie was staying at the camp as well. Aft first, it seemed like Logan was disappointed in his kid, for being to afraid to zip line. My reaction was "What a jerk!" And it was summer, so how could this be a Christmas book, at least in upstate New York?

Well, it turned out to be just the set up for the rest of the story, which I felt just kept getting better. Logan is a divorced father, a former top athlete, and adventurer. He meets Darcy, who is a pro athlete superstar and model, and when they meet it is not quite love at first sight, but there is definite interest. Darcy is good friends with Logan's sister, and is invited to spend the holidays with O'Donnell clan. Darcy and Logan are thrown together, and sparks soon fly. They each have a bit to learn about the other, as their personal pasts, situations, and hang ups threaten to doom their budding relationship.

I could have sighed with contentment when Christmas finally arrived! An old ski lodge, a blizzard that snows people in, and hot chocolate. I am a sucker for this story line (and I am actually reading another book that uses this same tried and true romance novel plot device right now!), and Candlelight Christmas did not let me down.

This book is perfect for getting into the holiday spirit and for snuggling up with under a blanket, hot chocolate in hand. A yummy sounding recipe for cocoa is even included!

The Apple Orchard ~ Review

Title: The Apple Orchard
Author: Susan Wiggs
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

Tess Delaney makes a living restoring stolen treasures to their rightful owners. People like Annelise Winther, who refuses to sell her long-gone mother's beloved necklace—despite Tess's advice. To Annelise, the jewel's value is in its memories.

But Tess's own history is filled with gaps: a father she never met, a mother who spent more time traveling than with her daughter. So Tess is shocked when she discovers the grandfather she never knew is in a coma. And that she has been named in his will to inherit half of Bella Vista, a hundred-acre apple orchard in the magical Sonoma town called Archangel.

The rest is willed to Isabel Johansen. A half sister she's never heard of.

Against the rich landscape of Bella Vista, Tess begins to discover a world filled with the simple pleasures of food and family, of the warm earth beneath her bare feet. A world where family comes first and the roots of history run deep. A place where falling in love is not only possible, but inevitable.

And in a season filled with new experiences, Tess begins to see the truth in something Annelise once told her: if you don't believe memories are worth more than money, then perhaps you've not made the right kind of memories.


My Thoughts:

I remember visiting the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and standing in front of an exhibit with a boat.  The exhibit was dedicated to Denmark during World War II, and how they saved almost all of the population of Jewish people.  They rowed their people to safety under the cover of night. I was struck by the heroics of this nation. The Denmark Rescue saved 7,200 people, a momentous act of bravery and compassion.

The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs includes some of this history. She handled this sensitively, and with the respect that the subject needs. She did not reduce it to some literary device or  add it to give the book more weight. It added to the book in a way that taught as well as told the back story.

That being said, there were lots of twists and turns to the book.  I thought for a minute that it was going to be like The Parent Trap, and then the story spun down a different path.  There were a few loose ends that I didn't feel were resolved, but this looks to be the first in a series, so perhaps resolution will occur in the following books.  There was also a scene that didn't make sense- all of a sudden a character is in the story in a part he wasn't before, without being introduced into that scene. It was very confusing for a second!

I thought the characters were fun and diverse, and I liked them all, but I liked Isabel the best. I hope we get to know her better in the future, but for now, I enjoyed reading about her cooking and baking. Their were some delicious sounding recipes at the beginning of each chapter - some of them made me long for summer even more than I already do.  I could imagine reading this book in my yard, enjoying the sun eating fresh tomato slices and drinking Pellegrino. Or a Californian Pinot Grigio. Yum!

Overall I think this book has a lot to offer -mystery, romance, history.  If you like any of this in the books you read, give this book a try.