revised summer lineup for book club

Due to the extreme lack of library availability for The Happiness project we've pushed it back to August. Ladies, make an effort to get this book- it was excellent (according to Melissa) and I envision it being a great discussion book for that meeting. It might be even better if you make 4-5 of your own resolutions now and try to implement them and come that night prepared to share if it helped make your life happier by doing/not doing those things....

Anyhow, here's the lineup for the next meetings. I put in some reviews/teasers of the books below to whet your reading appetite.

June 17- Same kind of different as me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, 256 pages (9 holds on 3 copies at ABQ library, 2 holds on 1 copy at RR library, )
July 15- North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, 520 pages (1 at RR library, 2 holds on 4 copies available at ABQ library)
August 19- The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, 320 pages (74 holds on first copy returned of 9 copies at ABQ, 3 copies available for RR and it looks like there might be 0 holds on this one.....)

Book teasers

Same kind of different as me
A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery.
An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel.
A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream.
A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.
It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana . . . and an East Texas honky-tonk . . . and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda . . . an upscale New York gallery . . . a downtown dumpster . . . a Texas ranch.

North and South
Margaret Hale, a young woman from rural southern England [Austen’s Hampshire to be exact], daughter of a clergyman, proud of her roots and her class, must adjust to the changes in her life when her father resigns from his clerical post and moves the family to the northern industrial town of Milton [Gaskell's fictitonalized Manchester]. Margaret gradually discovers her own strengths in taking on the many domestic duties of her now ill mother and those of their former servants. But Margaret carries with her the prejudices of the gentrified South with her “queenly” snobbish views of the industrial North and the manufacturers and tradesmen who run the mills. She is soon introduced to John Thornton, a self-made “Master” of one of the cotton mills and a local magistrate, well respected by his peers and his employees, yet aware of his shortcomings in the social and intellectual worlds outside of Milton. He comes to Reverend Hale for tutoring and intellectual stimulation – but it is Margaret who soon captures his heart, his passions aroused in spite of himself, all too sure of his own unworthiness in her eyes…Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, this true story also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

The Happiness Project
What if you could change your life without really changing your life? On the outside, Gretchen Rubin had it all—a good marriage, healthy children and a successful career— but she knew something was missing. Determined to end that nagging feeling, she set out on a year-long quest to learn how to better enjoy the life she already had.
Each month, Gretchen pursued a different set of resolutions—go to sleep earlier, tackle a nagging task, bring people together, take time to be silly—along with dozens of other goals. She read everything from classical philosophy to cutting-edge scientific studies, from Winston Churchill to Oprah, developing her own definition of happiness and a plan for how to achieve it. She kept track of which resolutions worked and which didn’t, sharing her stories and collecting those of others through her blog (created to fulfill one of March’s resolutions). Bit by bit, she began to appreciate and amplify the happiness in her life.
The Happiness Project is the engaging, relatable and inspiring result of the author’s twelve-month adventure in becoming a happier person. Written with a wicked sense of humour and sharp insight, Gretchen Rubin’s story will inspire readers to embrace the pleasure in their lives and remind them how to have fun.