FINALLY!

I’ve been dying to discuss this book in detail with you guys. Do not read through if you haven’t finished the book yet!

There was so much going on in this story, I can’t even begin to cover it all in five questions.

There was so much I liked about it. It dealt with some really heavy themes (a murder, abuse, bullying, family dynamics, body image), yet it managed to be really funny without making the issues at hand seem trivial.

I also really enjoyed that while there was a ton of cattiness and drama between the women in the book, at its core it was a book about female friendship. In the end, even women who didn’t see eye to eye came together and stood up for each other.

Because the messages I’ve been getting for the past week or so tell me that you guys are eager to know the results of next month’s book club vote, I thought I’d get it out of the way first thing this morning.

Mother, Mother it is!

I’ve read a lot of good things about this book and know it’s been adopted in a bunch of college lit courses. Also, I read Koren Zailckas’s memoir Smashed and was a big fan so I can’t wait!

For any of you social media junkies (like me), Koren Zailckas is on both Twitter and Instagram. I find it endlessly interesting to see a personal side to people whose work I enjoy (whether it’s writers, actors, or awesome handmade shop owners), so I’m already all over that.

And speaking of social media, don’t forget to post pictures of yourself reading this month’s pick with the hashtag #paperbackposse. I’ve got a $10 Amazon gift card for one of you that I’ll be giving away mid month!

Last month I couldn’t believe it was time to pick another book already. This month I can’t believe it’s taken this long! Most of us seem to have plowed through October’s book (Big Little Lies) and were left hanging for half a month or so as we anxiously awaited the next book (and our Big Little Lies discussion).

While you have to wait another week for our discussion (which I’ll post here next Friday and slowly trickle the questions through the Facebook group starting Friday as well), I do have the vote together for November’s pick!

This month I did things a little differently and chose all books that were suggested by the group. I tried to make sure they were easily available through the library and in paperback since our last book was neither (which meant moving Reunion by Hannah Pittard to my list of books to consider for the future).

Hopefully this month’s pick goes over as well as the last two have. I’m at least happy with how nicely their covers work with each other…

It’s tiiiiiime!

We’ve spent the last month reading This Is Where I Leave You and now we can finally discuss it in its entirety without the fear of ruining it for someone else in the group (that said, if you haven’t read it, do so immediately and then come back and tell us what you thought).

WHERE DO I EVEN START?!

I guess I should begin by saying that I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. I expected it to make me feel uncomfortable (oddly, it did not) and maybe a little sad. I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did and to fall in love with the characters. But it hooked me from the very first sentence, when I was already saying These are some delightfully messed up people.

Is it just me or did this month go by really fast? I can’t believe it’s time to pick another book already.

So far, our little Paperback Posse has been pretty fabulous. As of right now, we have a group of 20+ funny, opinionated ladies who aren’t afraid to speak their minds. It has been a lot of fun to hear everyone’s reaction to this month’s book, This Is Where I Leave You. We’re also planning a group outing to the movie in early October for any local posse members. 😉

If you’re interested in joining (or you want to check it out a little and decide later), just let me know! I can add you to the private Facebook group we hang out in and you can always leave the group if you hate it. We’re incredibly laid back and are all in agreement that this should be something that’s fun, not something that’s a chore. I think we’re succeeding so far.

OK. I’ll shut up now and give you the rundown on this month’s choices…