eeek!

It's been over a year since we've posted here!

Holy crapola.

The Eight Non-Blondes Christmas '08

I finally sat down to capture and cut the footage filmed at our Christmas book club. The end product is this:



Love you guys!

Terri

xo

bookclub - june 2009

A week ago I hosted my first bookclub at my place slash my mom's place.

Days days ahead of planning, chopping, baking, shopping lists and the best part of all - choosing books. I had an awesome time spending a morning at Exclusive Books choosing a nice little stalagmite of books to persue. I had already checked out the Booker prize lists for the past few years and had a few ideas of what I wanted. How odd though, as much of a bookworm that I am, it was the first time I had really indulged in buying books. And it was lovely.

The evening was lovely, luckily the cold weather held off and we could enjoy ourselves outside. I kept the food pretty simple, not to detract from the books of course. So to start it was 101 Cookbooks Vegetarian Split Pea soup, with Martha Stewart's Mac & Cheese to follow and finishing off with a slightly burnt Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Nectar & Light.

Of my books put forward, these were chosen:

An American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld
6 Suspects - Vikas Swarup
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

Happy Reading until next month!

pic: 101 cookbooks

pic: smitten kitchen

pic: nectar and light

9 ½ months pregnant and hosting book club

This is the thought that ran laps up and down my mind as I walked up and down the Pavillion shopping centre searching for falafel balls. The tone of this mantra ranged from pride-filled declaration (9 ½ months pregnant and hosting book club! Yes!) to joking at the absurdity of it all (Come on! 9 ½ months pregnant and hosting book club? What was I thinking?!) and then later, through the lump in my throat, as I stood in the third shopping centre of the day, still without the falafel balls, I could but whimper, in a completely and utterly depressed tone, “Please, I’m 9 ½ months pregnant and hosting book club, I need help, I just need to find falafel balls”.

That was me on the phone to the guy who makes the falafel after I tracked down 1 little measly tub of 12 balls at the Everfresh in Cowie Road (newly renamed Problem Mkize). He tried to help but couldn’t so in the end I just decided to get various balls resembling falafel which would fit in a pita along with hummus, tahini and Israeli salad. So much for a simple meal plan.

After all that I abandoned the idea of whipping up my own home-made halvah ice-cream and just went with a tub of Nestle’s best for dessert instead. I still have all the ingredients in my fridge apart from the halvah, which I have managed to work my way through. Anyone for 2 tubs of fresh cream?

Once I was home, with my shoes off and an old mix CD playing through the DVD speakers, I felt much better. In fact, I found the chopping of ingredients for the salad and the soup rather therapeutic. Until I realized that half the ingredients bought from Pick ‘n Pay were rotten and all that chopping therapy went down the drain. Luckily my hubby picked up the bits and pieces on his way home from work and by the time the girls arrived the table was set with candles, the new books were laid out enticingly and a 3 course dinner sat waiting in the wings. I could have made a little effort with my own appearance, but I only realized that after everyone left and I caught a shocking glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Needless to say, I didn’t go into labour and the evening was a great success. We have four new books in circulation and all were quick to find homes for the month. While I look forward to hearing the reviews, I may have to skip next month’s book club because I will have a brand new baby to care for and I have now learnt the lesson about making over-ambitious commitments when it’s not just myself I’m looking out for anymore…

My Horizontal Life: 0 stars... YOU HEARD ME! ZERO!

If you're looking for a no-brainer, you're in the right place.
In fact... You're not just in the right place. You've actually just bought a house there and you're probably the mayor of the town!
Eish.
I didn't know that a book about sex could be this boring.
If you're gonna write about smut, GIVE US SOME SMUT DAMMIT! The badly written constant teasing that something juicy is on the next page drove me mad.

Noodle, is it too late for a refund from the bookstore? Hehehe...
Don't feel bad, though! I've wasted many a good cent on books I thought would be incredible, but they weren't. When you spend as much as we do on the actual price of books, wouldn't it be great if there was some guarantee that the book would deliver every time?

Oh well.

Posted by Carmen on behalf of Lor while we're still setting up her gmail/blog membership...

First things first, I have to announce that I have finished one of my books already, last week in fact, I think this is a great achievement for the black sheep of book club.

Ok, so now about dinner... I must say that when the decision was made to change to each others' houses for book club, I was a little nervous. I am a perfectionist in the kitchen and really was not sure how I would ever be able to serve up a 3 course tasty meal, in-style and in-time.

The menu is always key, the simpler the better. I tend to over complicate things, that can be done in a much easier way. This time round, I went for a simple menu that was easy to pull together and obviously vegetarian all the way.

Starters - Steamed asparagus with homemade balsamic, honey and mustard sauce dribbled over them – yummy, so easy and totally healthy.

Mains – Brinjal, pesto & mozzarella stacks. These caused me some panic. Once I had prepared them I decided to place them in the warmer drawer till the clubbers arrived, when I checked on them the mozzarella had melted so much that the perfect stacks were now nothing more then leaning towers of pizza. It’s amazing what a little wooden stick can do – “the toothpick” came to the rescue.

Dessert - Chocolate file pastry cigars with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.
These really turn heads at dinner parties, as they look so professional but so easy to make. Grab some filo pastry, take one sheet, measure to the size of chocolate piece you are going to be using (the mini top decks are the bomb) then place the chocolate on the edge of the filo and roll up like a spring roll remembering to fold in the sides. Seal with milk. These are really delicious – one prefect bite - warm melted chocolate oozing from the crispy pastry, textures are intertwining harmoniously and then cold contrasting ice cream creates the perfect finishing touch – a real highlight!!!

The evening went so well, drinks flowing, dogs licking feet and of course great books, great company and great conversation.

First Book Club of the Year

Where do I begin to sum up what was, quite frankly, one of the coolest evenings I've had in a long time?

Maybe we should start with the changes we've made this year...
Instead of our usual "hostess picks a restaurant and everyone meets there on the first Wednesday of the month", we've decided to try hosting book club at our homes. And to start things off, we held the first book club of this year at my place...

The new rules:
Everyone brings R50 and whatever they're drinking to the hostess' place and she provides a simple dinner and buys as many books as she'd like to throw in that month.
Those who choose not to host at home can do the restaurant thing, but they then don't receive the R50 per person from the others, seeing as everyone will be paying for their dinners at the restaurant. Easy!

As far as sticking to the budget: I would say I was pretty much bang on. I did go over by about R100, but there were a few ingredients that I'll use up later on my own, like the bottle of mayo that I didn't use in its entirety. Things like that... Also, being the first one of the year, I wanted to be a little extravagant and make it special. MY choice!
So girls as the Guinea Pig for this new format, I would say that it CAN be done on R400 (R50 per person)! Easy.
Also, if you consider that as the hostess you'll only be spending FIFTY RAND A MONTH for the next SEVEN MONTHS (when the others take their turn to cook), I was HAPPY to splurge a little. I used to spend anything between R300 to R500 a month before. This way is MUCH cheaper.

As far as effort goes: I did it all in a couple of hours! I'm sure we all know a simple, mainly vegetarian, cost cutting week-day dish that everyone will devour after a long day at work. If you're tired and don't feel like cooking, just order R400 worth of pizza! If you don't want to make a starter, a chip 'n dip would be fine!
I'm a real Nigella-Wannabe who loves cooking so that's what I did... YOU don't have to! It's completely up to you.

Well, on the morning... I was so excited about cooking dinner for everyone and seeing the gang that I was up at 4.30am, tidying up my place and doing a little food prep. I wanted everything to be fresh, so I didn't do too much that morning. I decided to rather come home from work an hour earlier and get things done then.

The menu

Potato Wedges
Chili mayo dip

Wraps filled with...
Chicken strips
Oven roasted veggies
Hummus
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Grated Cheese
Shredded Lettuce

Banana Tart Tartin
Hazelnut Ice-cream

And that's what the main course looked like... The pic doesn't do it any justice! My crappy cell phone camera made everything yellow! But anyway:



The potato wedges and dessert weren't around long enough to be photographed... :P

The STUNNING Russel Hobbs hand held blender that the girls got me as a house-warming gift made short work of the hummus. The 2 cans of chickpeas were blitzed in less than 5 minutes... SERIOUSLY!
Thanks, girls. (xox)
When you have the right tools, cooking is EASY! Blunt knives and not enough mixing bowls will put ANYONE off...

Everyone made it except for Sach... :(
We really missed you, Sach, and I hope little Brogan gets better soon.

The big boozers of the evening were:
Carmen
Lorraine
Noodle

The non-boozers of the evening were:
Maria
Terri
Kate

And the new boozer of the evening was:
Gail

GO GAIL!!!

Apart from a stack of dishes and the straightening up of a few chairs, I'd say my place got off dead easy! And even though there were lots of little elements that had to be made in order to create our own wraps, it was very VERY easy throwing the evening together! I'm looking forward to my next dinner party with the girls already. I don't think I'm going to wait the 8 months until it's my turn to host again. I won't last that long! I have a ton of recipes I want to try on you chickies!

And seeing as it was such a hit, I've decided to share the recipe for my dessert. When you guys see how easy it is, you'll want to make it when you're entertaining too! It's an easy Old Faithful that I depend on for something yum but simple when people come over.
I also really like the hot-cold combination in desserts so this one is right up my alley!
Here goes...

Bananas About Book Club
(8 Dainty Servings)
- A couple of hours before, take a roll of store bought puff pastry out the freezer to thaw.
- About 45mins before you want to serve dessert, turn the oven onto 220C.
- An a (±A4 sized) dish, place about 4TBSP of butter and half a cup of golden syrup. Melt in the oven for a couple of minutes.
- While the syrup/butter are melting, slice 6 medium bananas into long vertical strips. (I got 3 strips per banana.)
- Take the dish out the oven place the bananas in (rolling them in the syrup), sprinkle over a pinch of cinnamon.
- Return the dish to the oven and bake for ±15 minutes. (The bananas should START to go golden brown.)
- Take the dish out the oven, cover the bananas with the sheet of puff pastry and return to the oven for ±15-20minutes. It's done when the puff pastry is golden and the bananas have caramelised.
- Slice into portions and serve HOT with a scoop of your favourite ice cream.

See??!!
FIVE ingredients and not even 5 minutes prep time... Perfect for the Busy Domestic Goddess!

Enjoy girls!
Lor, you're next. Can't wait!

book club | society

I hosted this months bookclub at Society. With a wedding and birth just around the corner, I themed the evening a 'Babies and Brides' bookclub. Unfortunately Katie was unable to make it though… I made little bookmarks for all the girls and baked little choc chip cookies as little favours.
All of my books were ordered online from Take2, as I found their prices to be better than Exclusives, even with the bookclub discount.
I was really looking forward to eating at Society as I hadn't eaten there since they opened. I also had a very pleasant (if not drunken) sushi experience there a few months ago. Wednesday is actually their half price sushi night, and I don't know what they serve when its full price, cos I was a little disappointed. My soggy hand roll arrived with a big lettuce leaf on top (?) I removed it to find a tiny piece of tuna underneath. My tempura prawn cucumber maki was pretty good though. The ultimate in taking the piss was my main meal. Please do not charge me R90 for a Seafood Linguine with 3 prawns in it. And 4 scallops the size of my pinky toe. Its insulting. I can do the math - R90 can get a helluva lot of pasta and prawns. They must be having a laugh.
A few of us lingered for another drink after we gave up trying to figure out the mysterious black hole of a bill. I must have had fun, cos I completely forgot to pick books for myself. Silly girl.

Me too! Me too!

Well the Exclusive Books Winter Sale has started, and although a bit disappointing this year, I did manage to find one little gem hidden in amongst the chaffe (yes, i know the metaphor doesn't quite fit, but I was at a loss for another word). 44 Scotland Street. It's another Alexander McCall Smith - him of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency fame. I haven't read it yet myself, but I have read another book in the series: The World According to Bertie, which has been light, easy reading, but quite delightful. So when I saw the first book on sale, I grabbed it up and thought I have to put it in for all our enjoyment. They're all set in Edinburgh and focus around the lives of the inhabitants of 44 Scotland Street. It was initially published as a serialised novel in The Scotsman newspaper, so the chapters are all quite short, which is why it's so nice to pick up and read short snippets at a time. Anyway, gotta go - we can chat more next time xx

I know it's not my turn... But!

I couldn't resist picking up four awesome books at a second hand book sale this weekend, girls!
Look forward to this one by Wendy Holden. I'm already halfway through and it's a lot of fun. PLUS, I picked up the follow-up novel from the guy who wrote "A curious incident..." (Mark Haddon), and a girly novel called "Four Play", AND a murder mystery / thriller novel about the death of Edgar Allan Poe.

I'll throw them into the mix at our next book club jorl!

just some light reading…

For your reading pleasure - some very unprofessional reviews of some of the books I've read:

Hotel Babylon - Imogen Edwards–Jones & Anonymous
I love inside secrets. This is like the Kitchen Confidential of hotels.

The Call - Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Part 2 of your typical hippie bongo find yourself book.

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction - Sue Townsend
Pleasant enough, but I was as entertained as I was when I read the earlier books as a teenager. I'm old and jaded now…

Yoga School Dropout - Lucy Edge
Loved this. A true story of this chicky who works in advertising and takes some time out to travel around India and visit various yoga retreats. She gives actual information on places that exist, so it makes for a good reference. I so need a reread, so that one day when I run off to India for a few months, I'll know where to head.

Lifetide - Lyall Watson
Lyall Watsons books are like textbooks for living on planet earth. Fascinating stuff.

Supernature - Lyall Watson
I love this dude. A biologist takes weird 'supernatural' stuff and tries to explain it in a logical scientific way. So friggin interesting!

Gifts of Unknown Things - Lyall Watson
A magical story, woven with science and mystery. The book covers the time the author spent on an little island in the Indonesian archipelago. I'll never get tired of reading this.

The Biology of Death - Lyall Watson
Explaining all sorts of interesting stuff about death, and all the gray areas in between.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
Nice story. Cute cover design.

The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Just your typical hippie bongo find yourself book.

The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith
I loved the Number 1 Ladies Detective series, and was surprised to enjoy this too. Likeable lady detectives, who'd of thought?

Running With Scissors - William Burroughs
Very entertaining. Much better than the movie.

Toast - Nigel Slater
Great memories about family and growing up all kinda related to food. So I had to like it.

Gazza - Paul Gascoigne
I like a good bio. Learnt about Gazza's life. Sheesh, he was naughty.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
A nice easy read, told in such a refreshing way.

Seven Types of Ambiguity - Elliot Perlman
I honestly cannot remember what this one was about. Sjoe.

The Only Black at the Dinner Party - Eric Miyeni
I really enjoyed some of the thoughts in these short articles. But I think Eric Miyeni should stick to writing. He is really not made for radio…

The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffenberger
What a beautiful love story. I read this in one weekend and cried solid during the last 2 chapters.

Promiscuties - Naomi Wolf
Okay-ish. I think I preferred The Beauty Myth though.

Ageless Body, Timeless Mind - Deepak Chopra
Another winner by Deepak.

A Foreign Affair - Shaun Briley
I enjoyed this. I think this was the one about the troubled couple who buy a house in the middle of nowhere. Can you just see the drama unfolding…

The Book of Secrets - Deepak Chopra
I loved this book. Deepak and his metaphysics rock. I think I might buy it and add it to my textbooks for being human. I pored over each word for weeks. Every page had an aha! moment, its a lot to take in.

Smilas Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg
Super duper kick ass interesting. At first. The second half went a little loopy. SPOILER ALERT! And then, after everything… aliens?!

By The River Piedra, I Sat Down And Wept - Paulo Coelho
I like this sort of philosophical nonsense, but they kinda gave away the morale of the story right at the start.

Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster
Started off so friggin interesting and then the second half was SO boring.

Yoga For People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do it - Geoff Dyer
Meh.

Mystic River - Dennis Lehane
I never saw the movie, but I loved the book. Well written, I still have vivid images of the story in my head. Heartbreaking.

Smacked - Melinda Ferguson
Wow. This was scary. It's frightening how easy it can be to fall into the drug addict bottomless pit. You can see how this could happen to anyone.

Journey To The South - Annie Hawe
Based on actual experiences, this is funny and interesting. Good read.

Skinny Legs - Tom Robbins
Funny ha ha and funny strange. I still rate the Can o' Beans and the Spoon's discussion on why slang is bad.

Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho
Great philosophical slash sex book about a women who becomes a prostitute. I didn't judge her once, she had a good understanding of what she was doing. Saucy, but not gratutious.

She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
Long, it felt like three books in one. But very readable.

How To Get What You Want, And Want What You Have - John Gray
One of my favourite self-helpish books. Interesting and useful.

London Fields - Martin Amis
I tried, I really did, but I couldn't wade through this book.

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Poignant. Well written considering the subject matter.

All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
Pleasant and funny. I borrowed this and still haven't returned it… : \

Soul Stories - Gary Zukav
More self-improvement stuff. Oprah rates Gary…

Eat Mangoes Naked - SARK
Love SARK books. Whenever I feel like my spirit needs a hug, these books are the answer.

Innocent When You Dream Tom Waits The Collected Interviews
Some interesting insights, from then to now… Damn, Tom Waits has such a sense of humour. He's a sharp guy.

Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
Every woman (and maybe every man) on this planet needs to own this book. There is something in here for everyone. What a special journey, that is really well written too.

Sexus - Henry Miller
Lots of sex and rambling. Sounds a lot more glamourous than it is. Honestly, 3 pages of ruminating on how he feels walking one block down a street in New York just tires me out. We geddit Henry, you're an sensitive (self absorbed) artiste.

Perfume - Patrick Suskind
After wading through Sexus, this book was like a breath of fresh (perfumed) air. Honestly, it felt like a light read. I like reading books set in the olden time.

The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
I've just finished this, after a good few months of absorbing each page. Again, every page is full of insights and aha! moments. It makes so much sense. Don't worry about the past, because its over. Don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow could never come. Just enjoy RIGHT NOW, cos its all you really have.
Next stop, A New Earth.

book club | marco paulo

We had another slightly smaller book club on wednesday, but it was no less enjoyable. We stuck to some serious conversation topics and share our thoughts an opinions on everything from adoption to charity to family weddings…

The service was so good that you don't even have to think about it. My meal was fresh and tasty, the portions were pretty substantial, and my glass of chenin blanc was delightful.

Here is some blurb on the restaurant:

Marco Nico is one of Durban’s most highly regarded restaurateurs. His Mediterranean background is reflected in, yet doesn’t dominate, the menu.
Best for: Slick service and memorable cuisine.
Don’t miss: Partner Paul Sheppard’s recommendations.
Marco Paulo: Accord House, 2 Golf Course Drive, Mt Edgecombe; tel (031) 502-2221

book club | the engine room

On wednesday Maria hosted book club at The Engine Room in Durban North.

I had the spinach and butternut tortellini to start, for mains linefish wrapped in rice paper on the lightest risotto ever, and poached pear with walnut and blue cheese crumble for pudding. Thats a lot of eating. Dessert was okay, I don't know what I was thinking ordering boiled fruit, I should have had the chocolate torte. But my starter and mains had me almost licking the plate.

But to enjoy yourself, you really can't spend too much time thinking about your R24 glass of Wolftrap. Just let it go, enjoy your meal, and bring out the plastic to pay. Tito Mboweni will love you.





Some of the conversation topics included…

SATC
Gratutious penis shots
Smooth vs Not Smooth
Crystal Skulls
The Mayan Calendar
The Anti-Christ
The Apocalpse
The Second Coming
The Collective Consciousness
100 Monkeys
Contraception
The Role of a Mother
Who Killed the Electric Car
Methane
Why are we burning fossil fuels instead of cow poo
Worm farms
Recycling
Turning off the lights
Learn Spanish and move to Spain - anything but Australia
Fake Guess handbags
Written warnings
Indesign is crap, and Freehand will forever rule
The price of books

good reads | it's what your friends are reading!

I've just joined GoodReads to create an online 'library' of all the books I've read. There are also loads of reviews from other readers.

Check it out.

I can't believe I actually paid good money for this kak...

I guess it's safe to say that I've officially put this one down FOR GOOD! This is what happens when you try to buy a book for the wrong reasons and under crappy circumstances...
1. Don't buy a book based on a movie that you liked that was based on a book written by the same author... Doh!
2. Don't leave your book club book-buying to the last lunch hour before your actually bookclub get-together. You WILL be under too much pressure to choose something good in less than an hour. It really doesn't work. Try to check out some book reviews or bestseller lists or SOMETHING.
3. Never judge a book by its cover. No seriously...
But that's just the tough thing about buying new NEW books. Unless it's been around for a little while, it's hard to go on the cover or even some reviews when it comes to choosing a book and having to pay for it! You win some. You lose some, I guess. I was certainly The Biggest Loser this time around. Bleh!

Is this thing on??!!

Hey ladies...
I think it's about time I post something on our bookclub blog. I haven't been ignoring it; I just haven't had the time to say anything, or anything interesting to say at all... If you take a peep at my own blog you'll see that I haven't posted anything in AGES!!! Anyhoo... Here's a little something on what I'm reading at the moment: The Red Queen (Margaret Drabble). It's one of Maria's contributions, and I'm really enjoying it. For NOW...
Here's the story:
There really WAS a Red Queen called Lady Hyenyong who lived in the second half of the 18th century and was married to a seriously controversial prince. This Margaret Drabble chicky has taken this existing story, re-written it for the first part of the book and, then for the second half, gone on a bit of a creative wank writing how the ghost of the Red Queen chooses some chick from the present-day UK to retell her story... Or something like that. Here are some reviews of the first English version of the actual Lady Hyenyong memoirs:

"Undoubtedly, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong, known as Hanjungnok (Records Written in Silence), are one of the most important and moving pieces of traditional Korean literature. Written as carefully crafted autobiographical records, the work is a rare historical document that vividly depicts the daily life at the Korean royal court in the second half of the eighteenth century. As such, it is a unique and historically invaluable insider's account. . . . Haboush must be congratulated for an exemplary annotated translation that preserves the tone and color of the original texts. In an excellent introduction, she informs the reader about the author, the period background, the literary genre of autobiography, and the textual history of manuscript. . . . Lady Hyegyong's extraordinary autobiographical accounts are an important literary and historical monument."–Korean Studies

"This authoritative edition . . . elucidates the intricate world of Korean court–its morass of age-old strictures, interfamilial rivalries, and just plain ill will–through which Lady Hyegyong had to navigate, both in her life and writing. . . . Part of what makes these memoirs so gripping is the threat of erasure, present from the start."–Voice Literary Supplement

"Lady Hyegyong writes of a life that none of us could have lived, yet her words and feelings are the same as those expressed and experienced by women in many time periods and many civilizations. However, many of things she writes about are not to be found in the contemporary world, and it is the juxtaposition of the familiar and the unfamiliar that makes her memoirs fascinating to the modern reader. . . . The translation by JaHyun Kim Haboush is fluid, and her wonderfully analytical introduction gives the reader useful background material, as well as insightful interpretation."–New Asian Pacific Review

Something tells me that reading the English translation of the original memoirs would be better. I'm enjoying this first half. I really hope ol' Drabble doesn't piss me off in the second half... Eish.

bookclub | plaka

some of my fuzzy pics…

Making amends

Well, after Terri's little reprimand last night over the sorry state of our blog, I thought I'd be the first one to jump in and comment on last night's Book Club. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to add, so we'll have to rely on Vanessa for that. Book club was fabulous - great venue Lorraine! Although a bit on the pricey side, such that Carmen was contemplating offering sex in the hopes of having her booze bill cut down, the food was done to perfection and my prawns in particular where some of the best I've ever had... mmmm.

We missed Sacha and Gail though, but we were all tucked round a cosy little corner table as a result, which made for some marvellous intimate conversations - amongst others, the joys of the Moon Cup and the evils of pregnancy - thankfully though, I won't be needing one of those little contraptions for another few months at least, so I'll let the rest of you test drive them before I commit.

Lorraine brought in some great auto-biographies, and I chose one about a couple of girl friends who went on a road trip in the late 70s, and while they were sleeping in thier tent in the middle of a reserve somewhere, some psycho deliberately drove over their tent and then proceeded to attack them with an axe! This is the story of the one girl coming to terms with the trauma of that, and I can't wait to get into it!

So that's that for now, I'll feedback on the book as I proceed, but now it's up to the rest of you to add your two cents to our fledgling blog and get it off the ground!

Hope to see you all next week!
xx

ciao italia

Another great night! Thanks to Katie, the reader extraordinaire for organising the new books…

Confessions of an absentee

I won’t be at bookclub this week. Not because I don’t want to, because I really do. And not because I wasn’t given excellent directions from the airport by K, because really, I was! But because “Your kulula flight MN603 on 2Apr @ 17H45 has been cancelled, but we've put you on MN617 @ 19H30, apologies kulula.com”!! On the bright, 'secret' pholosophy, side; at least my drive to O.R T will be fraught with less traffic...

Please someone spot me 50 ronds for the new books, I’ll reimburse.
Will also hand deliver the book I’ve been holding onto, reading with relish, and not dropping in the bath, to whom ever would like it next.

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is for someone who feels like a love story. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling beyond the margins of time with Henry and Clare, and though predictable at times, I found it to be more reliable at least than Kulula.com!

P.S See Juno!

P.P.S It's no April fool's day joke. They really just cancelled my flight. Bleh.