Sweet Potato Queens One True Book of Love

I was invited to join a book club a few months ago and this was our very first book pick (our second was 50 Shades...yeah we're that kind of book club).

Here is the synopsis from Paperbackswap.com:

From the back of the book: — To know the Sweet Potato Queens is to love them, and if you haven't heard about them yet, you will. Since the early 1980's this group of belles gone bad has been the toast of Jackson, Mississippi, with their glorious annual appearance in the St. Patrick's Day parade. In this book, their royal ringleader, introduces the Queens to the world with this sly, hilarious manifesto about love, life, men, and the importance of being prepared. Chapters include:

* The True Magic Words Guaranteed to Get Any Man to Do Your Bidding

* The Five Men You Must Have in Your Life at All Times

* Men Who May Need Killing, Quite Frankly

* What to Eat When Tragedy Strikes, or Just for Entertainment

And, of course:

* The Best Advice Ever Given in the Entire History of the World

From tales of the infamous Sweet Potato Queens' Promise to the joys of Chocolate Stuff and Fat Mama's Knock You Naked Margaritas, this irreverent, shamelessly funny book is the gen-u-wine article.

For me this book was kind of funny and semi-entertaining, but I didn't love it.  It did make for some really awesome discussions at our book club.  

The book also includes some delicious sounding recipes.  One woman made the dip and brought it to book club and it was pretty tasty.  I tried the pineapple-cheese casserole dish on my own and it was just ok.

Overall I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This had been on my to-read list for a while. I was drawn to the cover for some reason and intrigued that it was based on the life of First Lady Laura Bush. So when I found La Belle Vie Book Club and saw their next pick was American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld I thought "Perfect!".

This was a big book (over 500 pages). It is broken up into four parts that take place at four different addresses of Alice, the main character, with the last being 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It starts with her in her childhood home and is mainly about Alice as a teenager.

Part One was by far my favorite part. A major tradegy befalls Alice as a teenager that I could somewhat relate to (although hers was much worse). There were so many shocking moments and it made me think about how all these bright, successful women I look up to were once teenagers and have gone through a lot in their lives.

Part Two is about Alice as a twenty-something working girl. She is a librarian at an Elementary school and like many young career girls, her life is mainly about work. Until she meets Charlie. This section was also pretty shocking and it was a little disturbing to read some of the more intamite scenes and imagine Charlie as George W. The plot lines were good and again I could relate to Alice throughout this section.

Part Three is Alice as a mother and wife of a man from a famous, prestigious family. Even though Alice has faced many challenges up until this point, this is perhaps the most challenging time for her. The plot lines slow down some, but you can see her internal struggles in this section.

Part Four is about Alice as the First Lady. This section was the most disappointing for me. The book had started out so well, but this section fell flat I thought. It didn't ruin the book, but it didn't end with a bang either.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it. I had to keep reminding myself that this was fiction and not a biography of Laura Bush. And it did make me want to learn more about her, but even if it wasn't based on her, it would still be a great story!

I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Online Book Club!

A few years ago my friends and I formed a book club (we called ourselves "Book Blub" due to a spelling error in one if our email strings!) It lasted about a year before we all got too busy to keep up with it but I really miss the Book Blub!

Last week I found a great online book club!



They are going to start reading Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife for April. This book was already on my "to-read" list so I went out and bought it and plan on following along the discussions in the Book Club!

Here is a synopsis of the book:
A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice Lindgren has no idea that she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. In her small Wisconsin hometown she learns the virtues of politeness, but a tragic accident when she is seventeen shatters her identity and changes the trajectory of her life. More than a decade later, when the charismatic son of a powerful Republican family sweeps her off her feet, she is surprised to find herself admitted into a world of privileged. And when her husband unexpectedly becomes governor and then president, she discovers that she is married to a man she both loves and fundamentally disagrees with- and that her private beliefs increasingly run against her public persona. As her husband's presidency enters its second term, Alice must confront contradictions years in the making and face questions nearly impossible to answer.

In case you can't tell it is a fictionalized portrait of Laura Bush. I read her other novel, Prep, a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to this one!

Go get the book and follow along with us!