Not Fall-ing Behind

After this is posted I will officially be caught up! Woo-hoo! Once I saw the pictures from the August book club I was so jealous! There was pie involved people!

Let's go over the food first because.. yum! There was KEY LIME PIE what? Sad I missed that it looks amazing and everyone thought it was a refreshing and light dessert. There was also cowboy caviar dip which is a vinegary deliciousness that includes corn, beans, tomatoes, and jalapenos (we have a special nickname for jalapenos in our house, but I won't include them on a public forum) Also to add to the deliciousness provided there was also smoked bacon cheese with crackers. Who doesn't love bacon? That smokiness was the perfect balance to the very fresh ingredients of the other menu items. 

Now time for the wines! These were also very light and refreshing with a fun twist! Doesn't this picture just make you thirsty for a glass? Look at those amazing colors! These three beauties are featured from Barb's favorite winery in Missouri, The Stone Hill winery. Kick'n Sangria, Kick'n Koolada, and Kick'n Berry. The sangria was the favorite of the night although these were all delicious the koolada and berry were a tad on the sweeter side. It was mentioned that the Koolada tastes like what some people would imagine what it would taste like to drink Ban de sole' sun screen  SPF #4 and the oil, this must have brought on some flashbacks ;) 

Last but certainly not least, the book. We read The Vactioner's this month and everyone felt like the description misled us quite a bit. It was a quick and easy read for summer time but our expectations were higher and it was disappointing. This was the first book that had all thumbs down from everyone that read it. Wow first time that's ever happened! Basically we all started out thinking there would be more humor and character development and it ended nicely but other than that it just could have been better. This biggest complaints were unnecessary F'bomb's and crassness. I mean, there are times where this is necessary for the story or for the character, but it just did not make sense here and it brought the story down.

Well in light of that, everyone is still looking forward to the next book which will be, A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman. "A charming debut...You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel new sympathy for the curmudgeons in your life."  Well cheers to the next book meeting or exceeding our expectations! No whining if it doesn't though, each disappointment is a learning experience! I know for a fact that we will still choose to laugh, discuss, and enjoy each other's company even if it's the worst book ever! Choose Wine!

Fall-ing Behind

Do you ever have one of those moments where you write the date and cannot believe that is actually the date? Where has the time gone people, it's already September! As you can tell I am very behind in updating you on our wine and book club, but don't you worry, I will make it up to you with fantastic updated from the past two meetings.

First up is July! It was a hot one let me tell you! All of the wine for July was chosen at Trader Joe's which is extremely popular over here on the West Coast, how fun that I could find them too!

 The Honey moon Viognier was sweet but not too sweet. The Three Pines was a red blend of Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah; It was a little too dry for almost everyone's tasters. The Green Fin Grenache Rose was the perfect blend of sweet and seemed to be everyone's favorite of the night.

Now for the food... I was drooling over this! First up is the Swiss Almond dip which was warm and delicious. Then store bought Garlic Hummus which was yum-o! And to top it off Chocolate Berry Chill for dessert, made even yummier by the host, Cheri, because she added more fudge and more ice cream; how could that go wrong?!

Onto the book... oh the opinions on this one! Ha! It was titled Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner. Our often used quote applies here "well... I didn't hate it." Only 2 1/2 out of 6 likes for the group. Everyone enjoyed the premise, setting and historical aspects, but overall it just wasn't a good read overall. We did come up with a fun reading challenge that would be so great for our book club or any book club! Below is the "book club bucket list"

Read:

1. A book with  more than 500 pages
2. A classic romance
3. A book that became a movie
4. A book published this year
5. A book with a number in the title
6. A book written by someone under 30
7. A book with nonhuman characters
8. A funny book
9. A book by a female author
10. A mystery or thriller
11. A book with a one-word title
12. A book of short stories
13. A book set in a different country
14. A nonfiction book
15. A popular author's first book
16. A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet
17. A book a friend recommended
18. A Pulitzer prize winning book
19. A book based on a true story
20. A book at the bottom of your to read list
21. A book your mom loves
22. A book that scares you
23. A book more than 100 years old
24. A book based entirely on it's cover
25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
26. A memoir
27. A book you can finish in a day
28. A book with antonyms in the title
29. A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
30. A book that came out the year you were born
31. A book with bad reviews
32. A trilogy
33. A book from your childhood
34. A book with a love triandle
35. A book set in the future
36. A book set in high school
37. A book with a color in the title
38. A book that made you cry
39. A book with magic
40. A graphic novel
41. A book by an author you've never read before
42. A book you own but have never read
43. A book that takes place in your home town
44. A book that was originally written in a different language
45. A book set during Christmas
46. A book written by an author with your same initials
47. A play
48. A banned book
49. A book based on or turned into a TV show
50. A book you started by never finished

How awesome is that list?! I'm proud to say there are quite a few I personally can cross off because of being in book club as well as things we can cross off for a book club as a whole. This would be so fun to try and complete and also easier to pick a book! 

This list is the exact representation of why we chose to do this book club. Pick a number between 1 and 50 and no matter what, you are trying something new and experiencing something you wouldn't have otherwise done. That's what its all about, trying something new, pushing the boundaries and having fun while doing it because you have a group of friends doing it together. Will everyone like it? No. Will everyone at least try? Yes. Will everyone gain something from it? Yes. And that's how the cookie crumbles my friends. Do me a favor and pick a number for us! How much fun! Whoever comments on this post and picks a number for us we will chose a book from that category for November! Ok, Ready, set go! 

The meeting for August/September will also be posted this week so keep your eyes peeled for multiple posts this week! Don't go whining about me being behind, have some wine instead!