HBIC Book Club - August Book Pick!

Well another month has flown by, I know I say that every month but every month I am shocked at how fast the weeks pass. Must be old age. Anyway, we just finished another book! 7 books into our year long, 12 book challenge! Awesomeness. I loved Day After Night by Anita Diamant. She is such an imaginative historical writer. The setting of the book was so depressing (boo The Holocaust) but she managed to create distinct and multi-dimentional characters that stood out from their historical circumstances. They were relatable and complex and I really look forward to hearing what the group has to say about this book! Speak up and let your voice be heard! ;)

So our August book pick is in! Next month we will be reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. This novel was named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, NPR, Salon, Publisher's Weekly, and many others so I guess it's gonna be good! 

The Amazon summary: 

"Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce? It’s the early 1980s. In American colleges, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels. As Madeleine studies the age-old motivations of the human heart, real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes---the charismatic and intense Leonard Bankhead, and her old friend the mystically inclined Mitchell Grammaticus. As all three of them face life in the real world they will have to reevaluate everything they have learned. Jeffrey Eugenides creates a new kind of contemporary love story in "his most powerful novel yet" (Newsweek)."

Sounds interesting! Also Jeffrey Eugenides rocks.

Happy Reading HBICs :)

August Book: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Discussion Opens: Saturday, August 24th

HBIC Book Club - July Book Pick!

Woowee I cannot believe we are halfway through 2013 AND our year-long book challenge. A pat-on-the-back to each and everyone that has kept up with the reading and participated in discussions! We just opened discussion for Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth. I am interested in hearing what others have to say about this book because it was nothing what I expected! If you have something to add please push yourself out of your comfort zone and join the discussion!

Everything takes place in our Facebook group here!

With that being said, our July book pick is in! It was a close race this month but we have a winner by one vote: Day After Night by Anita Diamant

Image from http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx

I am looking forward to this book because Anita Diamant is amazing! The Red Tent is one of my all time favorite books so I cannot wait to read this publication. I'm also always interested in Jewish historical fiction as it is my own personal heritage. Here is the summary from Amazon:

Just as she gave voice to the silent women of the Old Testament in The Red Tent, Anita Diamant creates a cast of breathtakingly vivid characters -- young women who escaped to Israel from Nazi Europe -- in this intensely dramatic novel.This is an unforgettable story of tragedy and redemption, a novel that reimagines a moment in history with such stunning eloquence that we are haunted and moved by every devastating detail. Day After Night is a triumphant work of fiction. Day After Night is based on the extraordinary true story of the October 1945 rescue of more than two hundred prisoners from the Atlit internment camp, a prison for "illegal" immigrants run by the British military near the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa. The story is told through the eyes of four young women at the camp with profoundly different stories. All of them survived the Holocaust: Shayndel, a Polish Zionist; Leonie, a Parisian beauty; Tedi, a hidden Dutch Jew; and Zorah, a concentration camp survivor. Haunted by unspeakable memories and losses, afraid to begin to hope, Shayndel, Leonie, Tedi, and Zorah find salvation in the bonds of friendship and shared experience even as they confront the challenge of re-creating themselves in a strange new country.

July Book Pick: Day After Night by Anita Diamant

Discussion Opens: Wednesday July 24th

Happy reading HBICs!

HBIC Book Club: June Pick!

Hello lovely spring flowers! Hope this post finds all of my friends well and enjoying the beautiful life that spring has returned to us. I know I am! I just finished running my (half) marathon for the Alliance for Lupus Research and this weekend I am off to visit friends in Cali. YAY.

Our discussion for our May book, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, does not open until Friday but I wanted to post our June book early (mostly in preparation for my trip - gots to get things done so I can travel, worry-free). I really enjoyed reading Gone Girl. I never read thrillers but maybe I should start to more often because this book totally kept me on my toes. Once I got through the slow first few chapters I could not put it down! Literally! The ending is all kinds of messed up but I will save those comments for discussion. Anyway, I am glad that, yet again, the group voted for a book I would have never chosen on my own. I love this new book discovery! And this group! 

Our June pick is Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth. I have had this book on my personal "To-Read" list for a few years now so I am so excited that it caught the eye of so many group members and won this month's poll! 

Here is the summary from Amazon: 

"No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all.

After three decades of studying, teaching and writing about our compulsions with food, bestselling author Geneen Roth adds a powerful new dimension to her work in Women Food and God. She begins with her most basic concept: The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and, yes, even God. A timeless and seminal work, Women Food and God shows how going beyond the food and the feelings takes you deeper into realms of spirit and soul—to the bright center of your own life."

Sounds like this book may give us all a little does of self-discovery. I can't imagine what the connections between how we eat and our relationship with God are but I am excited to find out. Roth has decades of research on these topics and many other books to her credit so I think this will provide us with a lot to talk (and think) about. If you have any friends who are finishing up school for the semester and want to join the club please invite them to our Facebook group. Everyone is welcome. Happy Reading!

June Book Pick: Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

Discussion Opens: Sunday, June 23rd

And congrats to everyone for making it all the way to June! One more book and we will be halfway finished with our year-long challenge :)

HBIC Book Club: May Pick

Well, we finished our fourth book of our year long reading challenge today and it feels so good!  I guess it is because I am "in charge" of the book club so the responsibility to keep us organized is mine but even so, I am really enjoying this process so far. I feel committed to finish every book by our deadline date, try to provide interesting conversation about each book and keep the group motivated for the next month. I have no idea how many people are still reading along but as long as anyone, even one other person, is gaining something from being in this virtual book club then I am happy to continue to lead the group! 

So today we open discussion for Drinking: A Love Story. I am really interested to hear what the group has to say about this book. It is raw, emotional and sometimes a little scary but it provided me with a lot of insight into the mind and life of an addict. It helps me understand addiction much better and I hope I can deal with my loved ones who do suffer from addiction in a more productive way. 

And we have chosen our May book pick! Next month we will be reading the thriller,

  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Image from www.pbfingers.com

Here is the summary from Amazon: 

Marriage can be a real killer. 

   One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.    On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?    As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?  With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

Although, this wasn't my top pick for this month this book has gotten a lot of good press and I think it will be a nice change from our last 2 months of nonfiction picks. So order your books and feel free to start reading!

May Book Pick: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Discussion Opens: Friday, May 24

Discussion takes place in our Facebook group - Join us! 

Happy reading HBICs! 

HBIC Book Club: April Pick!

Hellooooo book bitches! I can hardly believe it but we are already winding down March and about to start discussion on the third book of our year long challenge! Time is flying but I feel so great that we are sticking to our commitment and having such fun as we go along! With the publication of this post our discussion for our March pick: Beth Ditto's Coal to Diamonds will officially open and we can all declare our punk Riot Grrrl Northwest grunge fat Feminist love for Beth Ditto. Well, at least I will! I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say about this memoir. If you want to join the booky bitchy fun then meet us in the Facebook group where we pick one book per month to read and chat about. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to take part!

And the bitches have spoken and our clear winner for our April pick is

  Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

Here is the summary from Amazon: 

Freelance journalist Knapp began drinking in her early teens and continued unabatedly until she "hit bottom" in 1995 and checked herself into a rehab at the age of 36. During that time she managed to graduate with honors from Brown and have a successful career as a journalist, and few people suspected she had a problem with the bottle. Here she recounts the years of denial that helped her rationalize the blackouts, innumerable hangovers, broken relationships and family tensions characteristic of the alcoholic's story. Knapp interweaves her personal history with factual information about alcohol abuse, including frequent references to the AA meetings she's attended. Here's a confession utterly devoid of self-pity, an extraordinarily lucid and very well-written personal account of a common addiction that is filled with insights as well as a comprehensive treatment of the subject.


Like many of us, alcoholism and addiction have plagued my friends, family members and myself. It is an all too common issue amongst us so I am sure we will all be able to relate to this story. In my opinion, if a confessional like this helps one person get sober, healthy, and happy then it is a success and from the reviews it seems that many women have related and benefitted from Knapp's story. I am looking forward to reading it and finding out what they found comfort in! So go buy or check out your new April read and get going! But first let's talk about Coal to Diamonds...

April Book Pick: Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

Discussion opens on Tuesday, April 23rd

HBIC Book Club: March Book Pick!

Well we are in the midst of a rousing discussion of our February book, The Feminist and The Cowboy,  for the HBIC Book Club, which is awesome! Honestly, I dare to say I hated this book becuase it was so hard to watch the author Valdes dive into an abusive relationship and scapegoat feminism while she did it. BUT she brings up lots of complex ideas about gender, identity and relationships that are sure to hit home with all of us so it should make for great discussion! I look forward to hearing more from all the club members in the next few days.  I encourage all of those that feel a little hesitant to speak up in the discussion to do so! Part of this reading challenge is to engage with other intelligent women about the books we read and to learn from each other's thoughts and opinions. Don't be shy, push yourself to participate in discussion! For anyone interested in joining please do! We are an open group and welcome all interested members. Just go here!

With that said, I am happy to announce our March book pick, Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir by Beth Ditto! Special shout out to Taylor in Chi-town for suggesting this book! I am not personally a Gossip fan, the punk band that Ditto headlines, but the summary of this book sounds like a lot of fun. Here it is from Amazon:

Born and raised in Judsonia, Arkansas—a place where indoor plumbing was a luxury, squirrel was a meal, and sex ed was taught during senior year in high school (long after many girls had gotten pregnant and dropped out) Beth Ditto stood out. Beth was a fat, pro-choice, sexually confused choir nerd with a great voice, an eighties perm, and a Kool Aid dye job. Her single mother worked overtime, which meant Beth and her five siblings were often left to fend for themselves. Beth spent much of her childhood as a transient, shuttling between relatives, caring for a sickly, volatile aunt she nonetheless loved, looking after sisters, brothers, and cousins, and trying to steer clear of her mother’s bad boyfriends.

Her punk education began in high school under the tutelage of a group of teens—her second family—who embraced their outsider status and introduced her to safety-pinned clothing, mail-order tapes, queer and fat-positive zines, and any shred of counterculture they could smuggle into Arkansas. With their help, Beth survived high school, a tragic family scandal, and a mental breakdown, and then she got the hell out of Judsonia. She decamped to Olympia, Washington, a late-1990s paradise for Riot Grrrls and punks, and began to cultivate her glamorous, queer, fat, femme image. On a whim—with longtime friends Nathan, a guitarist and musical savant in a polyester suit, and Kathy, a quiet intellectual turned drummer—she formed the band Gossip. She gave up trying to remake her singing voice into the ethereal wisp she thought it should be and instead embraced its full, soulful potential. Gossip gave her that chance, and the raw power of her voice won her and Gossip the attention they deserved.

Marked with the frankness, humor, and defiance that have made her an international icon, Beth Ditto’s unapologetic, startlingly direct, and poetic memoir is a hypnotic and inspiring account of a woman coming into her own.

I smell themes of music, body image politics, feminism and general kickass-ery and I can't wait to start reading! So order your books and start reading ladies! As always please feel free to suggest books for future months and let me know if you have any suggestions or questions about the club. if you are new to our group, welcome! And enjoy the book :)

March Book: Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir by Beth Ditto

Discussion Opens on Sunday, March 24th

Marathon Update: 6 Weeks In

Well, the first 6 weeks of my marathon training and fundraising have flown by! Yeesh I am surely getting old. Training is going ok so far. Some weeks I feel like Superwoman and literally smile with glee as I run on the treadmill (I think that is mainly because I get to watch HGTV at the gym while running, Property Brothers anyone? Yes please, I will have both.) Other weeks, like this one, I feel sluggish and am shocked when I check my distance thinking I surely have run 3 miles by now and find the treadmill lying to me saying I've barely hit 0.85 - evil treadmill. This is most likely due to the copious amounts of booze I consumed this weekend on an epic ski trip - 3 Legged Chihuahua Bowl I miss you! Running outside is so much more enjoyable but living in Colorado does not make this easy. Yesterday it snowed more than 4 inches! I did have a great run 2 weeks ago that was about 9 miles. Starting at my house near Stapleton, heading down 17th Avenue, looping around beautiful City Park, and then back (see route below). Took me a little while but gave me confidence that I can do this damn marathon if I just keep running (and listening to Car Talk while I do it.)

Since I kicked off my fundraising campaign for The Alliance for Lupus Research in honor of my bestie Julia, I have raised over $300! Still have a ways to go but I know I will reach my goal once I kick up promotion and start guilting all my loved ones into donating ;) You can do so here, btw. I have also learned that a few other friends are also living with Lupus, of which I had no idea. Must be why it is often referred to as a silent disease, someone can be suffering immensely but they still look and seem healthy. I know Julia has dealt with this and I am just happy that my campaign and blog were able to encourage a few friends to speak up about their situations as well. Yet another reason to love each other, and the internet. 

I am looking forward to more challenging runs and more fundraising as I keep chugging along. Thanks for reading and happy Friday ya'll! 

HBIC LUV