Rockettes, Rockstars and Rockbottom by Keltie Colleen

This book was picked entirely for the theme potential!  Seriously, we had to throw in a cool Rockette costume to all the book club fun!  The decorations, dancing, costumes and New York Style food was a blast.  We had such a great time at this meeting!  We felt like serious Rockette dancers until we tried to take a picture lined up and all kicking our feet at the same exact time!  So this whole Rockette thing is not as easy as it looks!  We had loads of fun trying though and lots of memories that only bring us closer together! 

                                        

I guess we need to talk about the book since this is a book club blog!  It was a super easy fast read and a bit annoying.  We did immediately research her three unnamed guys after reading.  She teases us with thinking they are mega stars by not offering up who they are just referring to them as Singer, Dreamer and Dasher or was it Dancer?!?  I created a quiz all about the Rockettes since this book wasn't really a discussion piece.  The quiz was fun and had a fancy New Yorkish style cupcake for the champion.  Well, a cupcake from the local bakery because we live far from the real thing!  Sample questions from the quiz... How tall do you have to be to be a Rockette? 5'6 to 5'10 1/2.  What two forms of dance should you be highly skilled in? Jazz & Tap. 
                              

My husband made decorative stars for all the members from cereal boxes!  We also made one of a kind Firefly bleach shirts for all the Rockettes at the meeting.  

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

We love a free book contest!  We all have been winners a time or two!  Katie won each of us a copy of Life After Life.  Check out Reading Group Guides or Goodreads if you want to enter a few.  We seem to have good luck at either of those. 

This book makes you think!  It definitely makes for a good discussion.  Most of us really liked it.  Watch out!  You might even want to re-read it!  The book can be read and enjoyed or delved deeper into and studied. 

We had decent food choices from the book to have a sit down meal together.  We had Salmon, seed loaf and German pastries from a local German Coffee Shop. 

We collected change for a give back project this month.  My cousin is heading to Romania for a mission trip so we were able to help a local girl make a difference in the world.


*What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally get it right?  Wouldn't that be wonderful?   -Kate Atkinson, Life after Life

Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent

I can't believe it has been three years of FUN and reading!  Oh, the memories we have made.  I am not sure where I would be without these amazing woman and wonderful books.  I was very sick this month so we had to celebrate a little late.  We wore the signature Firefly color blue and decorated the same.  We talked about Favorite books from the year.  These is My Words was popular amongst all of us.  Gone Girl and The Shoemaker's Wife seemed to be the runners up.  We talked about our favorite costumes.  Hmmmm....this one was tough.  My personal favorite costumes were The Great Gatsby and Gone Girl!  The Amish outfits lost the costume competition.  We all seemed in agreement on that one.  We also discussed favorite laugh out loud moments, foods and memories from the year. 

One member mailed us all forms to fill out. This helped  get us thinking about the above questions before we met.   Everyone got a handmade silver firefly charm to celebrate the occasion.  Maybe on the 5th anniversary we will go crazy and get tattoos!   

Hercule Poirot's Christmas: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie

This book was perfect for getting us in the mood for a couples Murder Mystery party!  Crazy Christmas season was coming so we needed a fun and silly party to just relax and have fun.  This was a great escape from reality to play parts, dress up and be silly with friends!  We have had trouble in the past finding good Christmas books that are not too cheesy!  So if you need a good Christmas pick we would all recommend this one.  We all had a great time and enjoyed the Murder Mystery party experience.  The men were great sports and surprised us all with their acting skills.  It was fun to try but we probably won't be doing it again anytime soon. 

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen

The Firefly book club is full of moms of boys.  We all have children ranging in ages 3 to 16!  It is nice sometimes to read a Young Adult or Children's book for a meeting.  Especially one that the kids or kids friends have already read.  This book was OK and gave us a little discussion.  We mostly used this book has a Halloween theme to make sure we got in the annual book club costume bash!  Yes, I am aware we are usually in costume but we invited the whole family for this one!  We had Superhero squads, Ghost Hunters, Dawg the bounty hunter and his wife, The Simpsons and a Cowboy & Angel right from the country song!  We suggest every member planning an activity or game to share and play with the kids or whole group.  It takes pressure off the host and brings lots of creativity and FUN to the party.  A favorite this year was trying to eat the doughnut off the string the fastest.  HAppY HaLLoWeeN!!! 

These is My Words by Nancy Turner

This is the perfect fall book club book!  We all really enjoyed this book and most will continue to read the whole series.  The host decided on a shabby chic feel for decorations.  It felt like we were back in the old days with Sarah.  The host has a little one room summer kitchen on her property that was decorated perfectly.  We went with a boots and hat cowgirl type dress.  We even had a little coyote scare!

Everyone got an up cycled chair as a parting gift.  Sarah almost had a matching set by the end of the book.  The goodie bags were amazing with homemade soap, warm socks, country picture frame, seeds for planting, lace koozies for the Mason jars and a cool covered photo box.  We also got soup mix to make later. 

We enjoyed Mexican food for dinner thanks to the neighbors in the book.  The Fajitas were grilled outside and so yummy!  We also had tortillas, homemade bread, pecan pie and Texas trash dip.  Book clubs make for the best eating.  The whole night ended up being one of my most favorite book clubs.  That is a hard title because we really know how to throw a meeting!

It was hard for everyone back then especially children so the host picked The Ronald Mcdonald house for the charity this month. 

 http://www.rmhc-centralohio.org/wish_list.php

This is a wish list for Columbus, Ohio.  They have many other locations though if you want to give but don't live near The Firefly book club. 

Gone Girl

A crazy book club meeting for a crazy book!  The host created a crime scene just like the book in her house.  She also had crazy drinks, rummy worms and casseroles like those boring housewives make.  We all came in disguise like we were on the run.  The goodie bag was a jar with Punch & Judy pasted on the front.  They each were made out to the Amazing Member.  Don't worry they were filled with gifts not blackmail vomit!  They had upcycled cuff bracelets for restraints, a pair of panties from the scavenger hunt, alcohol test swabs to stay alert, and smarties because Amy was smart.  Blackmail photos were framed around the room of members with famous people.  It was lots of fun watching each member discover the pictures! 

We definitely recommend this book for you and your friends.  Enjoy talking about all the crazy characters and have a crazy good time.  Read up on the history of Punch & Judy before the meeting.  That was strange and interesting to learn and talk about.

We donated used cell phones to victims of domestic violence.  Check out the link if you are interested in helping with this cause.  http://www.actionohio.org/cellphone_collection.htm