The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big Ass Novel, by Jill Connor Browne & Karin Gillespie

Hi ladies, 

If you missed the January meeting at Anissa's, you missed great food, great conversation, and great outfits.  I was stunning in an off-the-rack black nylon-blend blouse, a teal velvet ruched scarf, pleated jeans, and cowboy boots.  My jewelry was faux diamond & crystal drop earrings, silver and teal bangles and teal rhinestone bauble ring. 

I don't remember what the others were wearing. 

Anissa served Funeral Food from the month's book club book, The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big Ass Novel:  Chicken Shit, Chocolate Stuff, and Revirginators (special thanks to Lisa, who provided cranberry juice for these!).   Everything was dee-lish and served up at the dining room table in beautiful dishes... just like a proper Southern mean should be!  Farrah brought Pig Candy, which was sickeningly delicious.  Bacon and brown sugar... really??  It's disgusting and yummy, all at the same time.

Also served up were some of these little nuggets:

Stacey's burning desire to get the hell out of our neighborhood and move to Crystal Falls, where nobody talks to each other.  And that's the reason she wants to live there.

Suzy's philosophy against goodie bags at birthday parties (and frankly, her non-belief in birthday parties in general, since her daughter has yet to even have one). 

Anissa's darling furry boot-topper cuffs (oh yes... she was wearing those!) 

Kindle vs. Nook....  Sunday insists that Kindle won the competition, however she's on her fourth - or is it FIFTH one?  I don't know.  I can only keep up with the ONE nook I've ever had.

A local 80's band that plays at Shooter's in Cedar Park... Big Question of the Night:  does the lead singer have JUNK?  Yes or no?  Stacey pulled up a crotch pic on her iPhone, which we zoomed wwwaaaayyyy in on and passed around for everyone to inspect.  The consensus?  Pardon the pun, girls, but it was a hung jury.  We simply couldn't tell. 

There was also talk of some disturbing activity at the Wal-Mart right here in our own beautiful Cedar Park, Texas.  People necking in the parking lot, spanking the monkey behind the shrubbery, and some good old big, black junk hanging right out front.  I personally find this all a bit of a turn-on, but the other girls seemed grossed out, so I played along like I did, too.

And since we can't seem to have a gathering without discussing Stacey's dog's anal glands, we were graced with that discussion... AGAIN.

So there you have it! 

February's book is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.  It is SOOO GOOD.  Sunday will be our hostess and the meeting is Friday at 7pm.  I hope everyone can make it!  The theme will be along the lines of the book... think pea soup, wasa crackers, stale bread and such.

Recommended Reading

I've heard from a few people that are in a bit of a lull, so I want to share some of my recent books.  I'm currently reading a mystery called, The Weight of Silence, by Heather Gudenkauf.  It's really good, but it's about two little 7-year-old girls who go missing, so it's kind-of tough to read.  The writing is very engaging, though, and it sucked me right in.  I read for four hours straight the night I started it - I couldn't put it down!! 

Another book I'm reading, that's really good:  Spoken from the Heart, by Laura Bush.  It's her autobiography and it's just a good, wholesome, sweet read.  She talks about her childhood, growing up in a small Texas town and "the way things were."  Republican or Democrat, Bush fan or not...if you are at all interested in the history of Texas towns or about the Bush family, you will enjoy this book. 

I wanted to let you know that Leighton put me onto Philippa Gregory and her books, which are about old England.  I read The White Queen and loved it so much, I started reading The Red Queen yesterday and I'm halfway finished!!  I went online to see what order they are in and I found that she's written about 15 books... I can't wait to read them all.  If you have any interest in historical fiction at all, you'd love these books.  They are all fact-based, which makes it really believeable.  Here's the author's website for more information:  http://www.philippagregory.com/

I also wanted to tell you about a few mysteries I've read recently (also tips from Leighton) - these are really great, too!!

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (synopsis from bn.com)  A powerful and resonant novel from Tom Franklin—critically acclaimed author of Smonk and Hell at the Breech—Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter tells the riveting story of two boyhood friends, torn apart by circumstance, who are brought together again by a terrible crime in a small Mississippi town. An extraordinary novel that seamlessly blends elements of crime and Southern literary fiction, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a must for readers of Larry Brown, Pete Dexter, Ron Rash, and Dennis Lehane

Never Tell a Lie, by Hallie Ephron (synopsis from bn.com)  It all started with the yard sale. Ivy was eight months and one week pregnant when she insisted that she and her husband, David, clean out the junk they'd inherited with the old Victorian house they'd bought three years before. Call it nesting, call it nerves she just wanted it all gone: the old electrical fixtures, the boxes of National Geographics from the 1960s, the four black wool greatcoats.

Neither she nor David recognized the woman at first. But it turned out that the customer asking about the lime-green glass swan dish the woman who looks just about as pregnant as Ivy was none other than Melinda White, a former high school classmate of David and Ivy's. When Melinda was a child she used to play in their new house, she explained. It looked like they'd been doing some work. Would it be all right if she took a look around? David took Melinda inside. And she never came out.

Now David's under police suspicion, and Ivy finds herself digging deep into the past to clear his name. But David's history, she begins to discover, is not necessarily the history she remembers, and before long Ivy has uncovered a twisted web of deceit, betrayal, and lies, both the ones we tell those we love and the ones we tell ourselves. . . .

Relentlessly fast-paced and disturbingly creepy, Never Tell a Lie is a page-turning thrill ride about how well we know the people we love, and how far we are willing to go to protect the secrets of our past.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I have!