This Month's Selection: The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, But Could Have, and May Yet

What We Thought: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Afternoon Readers Book Club

September 2015
I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

“Why didn’t I buy a new phone earlier? Why don’t I always walk around with a spare phone? It should be a law, like having a spare tire.” -- Poppy, I've Got Your Number

“If it’s in the bin, it’s public property.” -- Poppy, I've Got Your Number

Afternoon book club members welcomed two new readers to the group discussion this month!

Readers agreed that the book was humorous eliciting plenty of laughter. Most said it was a quick read and hard to put down. Although many of the situations the characters found themselves in were unrealistic there were enough twists and turns to keep readers interested in the outcomes. The main characters were like able and charming even though they did not seem to be compatible with each other. Although bride-to-be Poppy Wyatt had self-esteem issues, she was so delightful, considerate, and helpful that readers said they wanted to have a girlfriend just like her.

The ridiculous situations moved the story along and generated a lot of discussion. Readers were captivated by the loss of the engagement ring -- a sentimental family heirloom -- and Poppy’s inventive ways to cover it up while desperately trying to recover it.

Most of the episodes were memorable and recalled fondly by readers; the wedding planner who made Poppy do her work, Magnus who didn’t care about the wedding vows, the quirky in-laws who were more worried about their son’s dedication to Poppy than how she would fit into the family, a hilarious family Scrabble game, Sam and Poppy’s purchase of a fake engagement ring, and Willow, Sam’s ex, who didn’t know that their relationship was over, are just a few of many favorite parts of the book that were mentioned.

Readers said they plan to read more books by Sophie Kinsella, who also writes as Madeleine Wickham, as well as similar titles like Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding.

This Month's Selection: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I've Got Your Number

 

by Sophie Kinsella

 

Tuesday, September 15

 

1:00 p.m.

“Utterly charming . . . Put Sophie Kinsella’s Number on speed dial.”—USA Today

 
Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill, but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!
 
Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.
 
What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents, she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

Summer Pot Luck Selection: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

All three of the Holmes Public Library book clubs will come together in one big group on Tuesday, August 18, at 6 p.m. to share a pot luck supper and talk about The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, a fun summer read. Hope you can make it!

What We Thought: The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Afternoon Book Club
July 14, 2015

All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion

by Fannie Flagg

“Whom the heart first loves does not know or care if they are related by blood.”

 Fannie Flagg

The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion is a story of two family histories and a decades old secret that ties them together. Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama is looking forward to a relaxing retirement when a secret is revealed that takes her back in time to the 1940’s Pulaski, Wisconsin. Sookie is horrified to learn of her true family heritage but grows to love and appreciate the richness of both backgrounds.This plot line stimulated a lot of discussion about genealogical research and surprises in book club member’s own lives which paralleled the All-Girl story.

Members enjoyed reading the book and readily connected with the characters’ stories. They loved the descriptions of their individuality and quirks. Everyone had a favorite, but Sookie’s mother, Lenore, the force of nature was liked by all. She had great friends and was well loved and more than tolerated by her husband in spite of her eccentric ways.

The story goes back and forth from southern culture in the present with Sookie’s family and friends to Fritzi Willinka Jurdablalinskie’s Polish family in 1930’s and 1940’s and their Wisconsin Phillips 66 Filling Station to Howard Hughes Airport and Avenger Field in Texas during World War II, ending up in the Danish settlement Solvang (Sunny Fields), California, complete with windmills. The author effortlessly ties up loose ends and family connections.

Several discussions about the importance of religion and morality in family life during the World War II era compared to how life has changed in our time added another dimension to the conversation. Some felt that the changes were for the good and the openness in contemporary society is more beneficial to children who would have been ostracized in earlier years.

Another strong theme was the actual history of the WASPS (Women Air Force Service Pilots), women pilots who were recruited and trained to fly military planes so they could fly the new planes from the factories where they were built on to military bases for male Air Force pilots and their war missions. This part of military history had been sealed and classified for thirty-five years without recognition. This was an unexpected revelation to most readers but not surprising due to the strong characterization of the women in this story.

Billy Bevins  “Hiya, Pals”   

Polish strudel from a bakery