Delicious Reads: The Goldfinch

{February}

The Snow Child

by, Eowyn Ivey

What a magical book we found in "The Snow Child". Eowyn Ivey did an awesome job with this book. You think you have it figured out what is really going on in the book and then something magical happens and you change your mind and start thinking something else. This happened to me several times. Did the snow child really live in the woods alone or was she magic in some way. You will have to read and decide for yourself.

Our Star Rating: 3.75 Stars

{March}

Carter Beats the Devil

by, Glen David Gold

We loved, loved, loved this book, "Carter Beats the Devil" . Glen David Gold is a great story teller. This book has lots of twists and turns and then it all comes together in the end. The book takes place in a fun time in history where magic is mystical and the mystery behind who did it is amazing. Leigh Bardugo of the Grisha Trilogy introduced us to this book and we will be forever grateful for her recommendation. Thanks Leigh. Oh and Glen David Gold we want more books from you.

Our Star Rating: 4.5 Stars

{April}

Walt Disney: An American Original

by, Bob Thomas

We all love going to Disneyland and so we thought this book "Walt Disney: An American Original" by Bob Thomas was the perfect book to read so that we could do a Disney themed book club. We went all out crazy for this book club. It was so interesting to learn about Walt and where he came from the ideas behind the iconic Disney things we know today. Walt Disney was an amazing, creative, driven, and talented man.

Our Star Rating: 3.7 Stars

Disney Giveaway

{May}

The Husband's Secret

by, Liane Moriarty

Oh we loved this book. "The Husband's Secret" was a fun book to read for the summer. Reading about how the women's lives in the book came together was a twisty and unique way to tell the story. I really loved in the end how she tells the what ifs because when do we ever get to actually hear about the what ifs?

Our Star Rating: 4 Stars

{June}

The Goldfinch

by, Donna Tartt

We were asked by Little Brown Publishing to read and do a book club on "The Goldfinch" . But they didn't have to bend our arm too much because we had been hearing buzz about this book and we were glad to switch up our book picks a bit in order to read this book. This is a book with a long story lasting around 30 years. So there is a lot of information you need to know and build up of characters but even though it is quite long it is well worth the length. We were a little mixed on our liking it or not liking it therefore the 3.5 star rating but it was a unique story and very interesting to learn about the history of the artwork. This would make a great book club read.

Our Star Rating: 3.5 Stars

Art Gallery Hors D'ouvres

{July}

The Golem and the Jinni

by, Helene Wecker

We had such a fun time putting this book club together. "The Golem and the Jinni" was a fabulous read and such a great book to do a whole book club around. We made golems out of clay. We dressed in our best jinni attire. And we discussed the book under a tent that looked like we were in a genie bottle. This was a fun book club to be at and everyone thought the book was really good.

Our Star Rating: 4 Stars

{August}

Ruin and Rising

by, Leigh Bardugo

Oh Leigh Bardugo really brought her "A" game when she wrote this series. We are in love with her!!! "Ruin and Rising" was a great last book in the Grisha Trilogy. We can't wait to read more from her. She has another series in the works that is somewhat related to this series and we will for sure read it.

Our Star Rating: 4.1 Stars

Make Up and Dress Up Ideas

Book Club Menu Ideas

Interview with the Author

Kelly's Goodreads Book Review

{September}

The Haunting of Hill House

by, Shirley Jackson

We try to read a couple Halloween type books this time of year and so we thought we would try the classic tale of "The Haunting of Hill House" . But for most of us this book didn't quite give us the haunted feel that we craved for this time of year. It was an okay book. Our star rating reflects that a bit. But you can always find fun ways to throw your book club to still make it a great night.

Our Star Rating: 2.75

{October}

Black Moon

by, Teri Harman

"Black Moon" is the second book in a trilogy and it surpassed all of our expectations of a second book. Sometimes (well most of the time) the second book in a series is not my favorite. Teri did not disappoint in the second book of her series. This is a great witchy, Halloweenie book. Pick up this series and read it. You will be glad you did.

Our Star Rating:

{November}

Shadow on the Crown

by, Patricia Bracewell

Oh "Shadow on the Crown" how we love you. Plus book two comes out in February so we won't have to wait long to read the next book. This book is set in 1000 AD England and so there is so much you can do for your book club with decorations, food, and plus you can always email the author Patricia Bracewell and ask her to Skype in with your book club to answer all your questions. You've got to put this on the list for your book club.

Our Star Rating: 4.5 Stars

{December}

The Eye of Minds

by, James Dashner

"The Eye of Minds" is the book we are discussing next week but I will update this post when we have our review, ideas and star rating done. Let's cross our fingers that maybe we can get James Dashner to come to or Skype book club that night.

Our Star Rating: 3.5 Stars

I hope this gave you some good ideas for your book club or the next book you might want to read. Enjoy!

xoxo'

Kellie

Friday, July 11, 2014

"The Goldfinch" Part III Book Review {by Donna Tartt}

The Goldfinch Book Review
(Post contributed by Brooke)

TITLE: The Goldfinch
2014 Pulitzer Prize Winner!!!!
Congrats to Donna Tartt & Little, Brown and Company!

AUTHOR: Donna Tartt

PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company

We want to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to Little, Brown and Company! They invited us to be part of their Book Club Insiders and sent us copies of The Goldfinch for our members. THANK YOU LITTLE BROWN!!!

NUMBER OF PAGES: 771

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2013

GENRE: Fiction

Book Summary: Thirteen-year old Theo Decker's world is turned upside down when he loses his mother in a tragic bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's during this traumatic event that he comes into possession of a highly-sought-after painting, the Goldfinch, which changes the course of his life. This epic story of loss and survival, obsession and reinvention sweeps the reader up with its vivid characters captivating suspense.

Our Star Rating: 3.5

We had very split votes as far as ratings. As we discussed the reasons for this, we figured out that some people wanted to rate certain sections of the book much higher than other sections, which could be attributed to the length of the book. It seemed like the very beginning and the ending generated the highest reviews from our group.

Our Book Review: We kicked the evening off by "visiting" the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Picture Recap I), then having Goldfinch Mocktails while we all took turns masquerading as Xandra/Sandra for her driver's license photo (Picture Recap II).

The movie producer responsible for The Hunger Games, Nina Jacobson, has acquired the rights for the movie adaptation of The Goldfinch. YAY! We searched around online and pooled the actors/actresses that those in-the-know were recommending (to see the full spread of choices for each character, check out our Power Point Presentation). Since we are obviously qualified, we voted!

Drumroll please……

…….. announcing

…….the DELICIOUS READS PICKS for The Goldfinch Movie!

Audrey Decker - Rachel Weisz

We decided that Rachel Weisz has the charming-young-mother thing down. Theo was thirteen when she would be in it, so Rachel would fit as his mother. Plus she's just so likable.

Larry Decker - John Hamm

Who better to play Theo's handsome, washed-up actor dad than John Hamm? We know he's had enough practice on Mad Men with the alcohol and he can convey stress well. John- it's all you, buddy.

Xandra Terrell - Taryn Manning

(image source)
After seeing Taryn Manning on the hit Nextlix series "Orange is the New Black" (as the religious crack-head Pennsatucky) we know playing Xandra wouldn't scare her off. We felt like she would be able to bring Xandra to life… XANDRA WITH AN X!

Theo Decker - Theo James

Theo to play Theo right? While he may be a little more handsome than how Theo is portrayed in the book (let's face it… Theo James is ridiculously good-looking), we felt like he would be able to infuse the stress that Theo feels throughout the book into his character.

Boris - Ezra Miller

(image source)
Collectively we had a hard time picking Boris. The three people the online-gurus recommended didn't match up with what was in our heads (to see the other choices, you can download our powerpoint presentation HERE). After much deliberation, we chose Ezra Miller. Of all the characters, we felt like this one had to be EXACTLY right. This spot still may be open for discussion...

Pippa - Jenna Malone

We picked Jenna Malone for Pippa. We felt like she could portray both younger and older Pippa and she has that kind of understated beauty that can be toned down or ramped up. She has petite features which fits with Pippa and we felt like she could have that hauntingly-sweet-but-just-out-of-reach Pippa-ness.

Kitsey Barbour - Leighton Meester

(imagine her with blonde hair)

There's just no one who can do young, high society, honey-sweetness like Leighton Meester. Golden-up those locks and we'll be good to go. We love us some Gossip Girl.

Hobie- Jeff Bridges

(images source)

Ok, Hobie is another one we wrestled with. Of the three recommended choices we went with Jeff Bridges, but we're still not 100% sure. Later a few of us came up with some alternatives- Ian McClenllan, Donald Sutherland or Anthony Hopkins… what's your vote?

Mrs. Barbour - Gweneth Paltrow

(image source)
We picked the lovely Gweneth because we felt she could really do a younger, immaculate Mrs. Barbour and then also a more fragile version of herself in the later years after she's been through everything.

Mr. Barbour - Pierce Brosnan

We picked the handsome Pierce Brosnan to play the part of Mr. Barbour. We decided he would be able to talk for hours about the sea with Andy and he can convey that old-money ritz. He and Gweneth would portray the perfect Barbour duo.

Popper

And of course we had to have a casting call for Popchick!

Donna Tartt recently won the PULITZER PRIZE for the Goldfinch! We learned that Donna Tartt was born in Mississippi in 1963 and went to The University of Mississippi and Bennington College in Vermont. She has written for The New Yorker, Harper’s and The Oxford American. She lives with her two pugs and a Boston Terrier and divides her time between Manhattan and Virginia.

She has written three books: The Secret History (1992), The Little Friend (2003) and The Goldfinch (2013). She won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend and the Pulitzer Prize for the Goldfinch. She was also just named to the Time 100, the most influential people of 2014. You can see her only AMERICAN TV INTERVIEW HERE.