We Don't Bake Muffins Book Club

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Charles William Eliot

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Everything I Never Told You

Everything I Never Told YouBy Celeste NG

“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing.  (From Amazon)


What happened at book club…

Pre-Christmas book club is always a special one – especially when our host is on the ball and we’re surrounded by twinkling lights and candle sticks, even if they do get the boot to make room for the food!

This month’s book, Everything I Never Told You, had some heavy duty themes – grieving the death of a child/sister, interracial marriage and the implications for couples and their children, the expectations and pressure that comes with being the star child and what it means for siblings, unrequited teen love, unfulfilled dreams … There’s a lot going on.

The book is well written and easy to read, but most of us felt the many themes were not well-developed. We wanted to know if at least one of the characters turned out okay. Like, how did poor little Hannah make out – is she still a kleptomaniac hiding under tables?

We were all a little unclear about why Marilyn saved her mother’s Betty Crocker Cook Book. And how she could walk away from her life for 3 months and then come back home as if all was ok – no explanation, no acknowledgment of the effect on her children and no more grub! Just her and spaghettios. Marilyn…ergh!!!

Despite the book’s shortfalls, it spurred a really great discussion about family, couples who survive the loss of a child, resentful siblings, curfew’s that are only in effect until midnight (after that look out), and being stalked by your parents. We also talked about Christmas plans – ranging from sunshine resorts to a seniors home filled with flirty old women with bad eye sight.

Thank you to our host for our wonderful night, to Liz for homemade maple syrup and to Joanne for homemade donuts! Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! See you next year.

Ps. Who else was shocked to see Frosty getting a little something, something from Minnie Mouse on the neighbor’s lawn  – you all saw that right?

 

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Living in beautiful St. John's NL, our book club members are as diverse and interesting as our book selections. Read More

Our Book Club Reading List

We’ve read a little bit of everything over the years. Whether you’re a book club looking for some ideas about what to read or just want a good book to curl up in bed with this reading list should help!

  • 110. Women Talking | Miriam Toews | Cathy’s Pick
  • 109. Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | Alison’s Pick
  • 108. Everything I Never Told You | Celeste NG | Toddy’s Pick
  • 107. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe | Fannie Flagg | Peggy’s Pick
  • 106. The Innocents | Michael Crummey | Kelly’s Picks
  • 105. The Alice Network | Kate Quinn | Kathy’s Pick
  • 104. Green Grass Running Water | Thomas King | Liz’s Pick
  • 103. Girl, Stop Apologizing | Rachel Hollis | Kelly’s Pick
  • 102. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine | Gail Honeyman | Alison’s Pick
  • 101. The Next Thing On My List | Jill Smolinski | Toddy’s Pick
  • 100. River Thieves | Michael Crummey | Peggy’s Pick
  • 99. Before We Were Yours | Lisa Wingate | Kathy’s Pick
  • 98. Most Anything You Please | Trudy Morgan Cole | Cathy’s Pick
  • 97. Into the Water | Paula Hawkins | Toddy’s Pick
  • 96. Difficult Women | Grove Atlantic | Pam’s Pick
  • 95. Neuromancer | William Gibson | Andrea’s Pick
  • 94. Something Is Always On Fire | Measha Brueggergosman | Liz’s Pick
  • 93. Rock Paper Sex | Kerri Cull | Peggy’s Pick
  • 92. We’ll All Be Burnt In Our Beds Some Night | Joel Thomas Hynes | Kathy’s Pick
  • 91. Cutting for Stone | Abraham Verghese | Cathy’s Pick
  • 90. Bear Town | Fredrik Backman | Kelly’s Pick
  • 89. Caught | Lisa Moore | Alison’s Pick
  • 88. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened | Jenny Lawson | Andrea’s Pick
  • 87. Found Far and Wide | Kevin Major | Toddy’s Pick
  • 86. The Sparrow | Author Mary Doria Russell | Pam’s Pick
  • 85. Tomboy Survival Guide | Author Ivan Coyote | Liz’s Pick
  • 84. Rush Oh! | Author Shirley Barrett | Kathy’s Pick
  • 83. The Invention of Wings | Author Sue Monk Kidd | Toddy’s Pick
  • 82. No Longer Human | Author Osamu Dazai | Kelly’s Pick
  • 81. The Nest | Author Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney | Peggy’s Pick
  • 80. I’m Thinking of Ending Things | Author Iain Reid | Alison’s Pick

See Our Complete List

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