Y-Diners June Meeting

Destination - Barrel Grill Peoria

Rendezvous -  successful

Result - A good time was had by all 

(perhaps some more than others!)

Stay tuned.....there will be more summer fun for these ladies!

New Book Selection

Our choice for August 4th

Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND ONE OF KIRKUS REVIEWS' BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

It is 1943—the height of the Second World War. With the men away at the front, Berlin has become a city of women.

On the surface, Sigrid Schröder is the model German soldier’s wife: She goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and dutifully cares for her meddling mother-in-law, all the while ignoring the horrific immoralities of the regime.

But behind this façade is an entirely different Sigrid, a woman of passion who dreams of her former Jewish lover, now lost in the chaos of the war. But Sigrid is not the only one with secrets—she soon finds herself caught between what is right and what is wrong, and what falls somewhere in the shadows between the two . . .

Thank you Roz - this book looks very interesting.

Wild Indeed

What lovely ladies at a lovely lunch meeting. We had a very lively discussion about  - Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Kelly thanks for being such a great host. 

Personally, I feel like our Kelly J could take the same PCT hike and be ever so much better prepared. In fact Kelly was in shock at Cheryl Strayed's unpreparedness.  But for a 22 year-old in such distress - it was an amazing story. The book was published in March 2013.

Cheryl Strayed, ten days into the Pacific Crest Trail in June 1995.

 We felt the pain and suffering of physical aspects of the trail.  

We all cried when she described her mother's passing. Truthfully we had difficulty talking about the horse scene. We were warmed by the camaraderie on the trail. And again horrified at her lack of planning for provisions and such.
But amazed at her emotional growth during the hike.

Below see some reviews and quotes about the book:

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe “and built her back up again.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail ....... She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than an idea, vague .....But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

******************
Strayed pushed herself on a 1,100-mile hike for which she was woefully unprepared. Her backpack, "Monster," is so heavy she can barely lift it. Her too-tight boots cause half of her toenails to pop off. Psychically, she's in worse shape. Left reeling by her mother's death from cancer, followed by the painful separation from the man she married at 19, Strayed was turned on to heroin by one of her lovers. As she sets off on her hike, there are track marks on her ankle.

...next blog entry announces the new book selection

A Shout Out

Miss Sunshine is a fantastic host!

Thanks so much  Kathy!

June Book Selection is Wild

Seriously - Wild

by Cheryl Strayed

Selected by our favorite wild child Kelly!

June 9th 

Cheryl Strayed is the author of #1 New York Times bestseller WILD, the New York Times bestseller TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS, and the novel TORCH. WILD was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her first selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0 and optioned for film by Reese Witherspoon's production company, Pacific Standard.  

A World War II Story

We had a great discussion about how much we learned from reading Unbroken. Although this selection was  not our easiest read,  we wish  every young person would read this book. Most of us struggled with the early chapters however the payoff  was knowledge gained about personal  endurance and the horrors of the Japanese POW Camps. Amazing how  public awareness has changed about the effects of war on returning soldiers!

We'll most likely never see patriots like those from The G.I Generation.

(Click the link to more about the Generation of Americans)

WW II Memorial in Washing, D.C.

Sigh....so much to learn and comprehend. Thank you book club ladies for the intelligent discussion and your viewpoints. We will not soon forget Louie Zamperini.

      

Read more about the possibility of a Hollywood movie.

(click when text is highlighted)

On a personal note, my father was born the same year as as Zamperini. Had he not failed the physical, he would have been in the war. Our lives would have been changed. 

 I visited the WW II Memorial, a few years ago, soon after it opened.  I met a wonderful veteran who served in the Pacific. We had a great conversation and I was moved to thank him for his service. Admittedly,  I left in tears. Watching  so many elderly gentleman visiting the memorial for the first time (and most likely the last time)  was truly an emotional experience. My pictures below.

April Title

 Kathy's book selection for April 14th


Short Description for Unbroken

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared. Then, on the ocean surface, the face of a young lieutenant appeared as he struggled to pull himself aboard a life raft. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War. In her long-awaited new book, the author of "Seabiscuit" tells an unforgettable story of a man's journey