The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

We had another great discussion last night!  This one was about our latest book, The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.  Our first surprize was that this book wasn't about a marriage!  It was, in fact, C.S. Lewis' argument that Heaven and Hell do not coexist.  There is no part of Hell in Heaven - that is the great divorce.  The book details a bus journey from Hell to the the "edge" of Heaven.  There, the ghosts who have come on the journey are given the opportunity to choose to go on to embrace all that Heaven offers or return to Hell.  Interestingly, most choose to return to the bus and return to Hell, not having the desire nor the faith to go on and make the choice to embrace joy, happiness and Heaven.

Most of us could see something of ourselves in some of the caricatures of the ghosts who were depicted.  We discussed making the choice to be happy now and the get comfortable with the things of heaven now so we will feel comfortable when we do "arrive" there.

Thanks to Dacia for hosting us!

And...if you want to recreate the deliciousness she served us last night...follow this link to her Cooking Momma blog for directions and pictures. Yum-Oh!

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Our next book has been chosen by Becky and is perfect for the beginning of the holiday season!  We will be reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (seriously, how perfect is that?) and plan to meet the first Tuesday in December.

Prologue: The Brothers by Chris Stewart

We had a great discussion last night about Chris Stewart's The Great and Terrible Vol. 1 - Prologue: The Brothers.  We all felt that it was a book we enjoyed.  Some readers took issue with a few points of doctrine, but that didn't make anyone feel that it was not a book worth reading.  Most of all we enjoyed how this book made us think.  For many of our readers this book caused us to reflect on what promises we may have made in our life before earth and how we are living up to our promises now.  We thought of how meaningful it is that we have been given the responsibility of raising our own children and what their missions might be.

Most of our readers expressed a desire to read on in the series, in fact some have already read multiple books in the series.  We were interested to know what the prologue really has to do with the characters we came to know in this book.  We enjoyed getting to know the characters introduced in this book and to know their pre-earth stories.

Along with a great discussion we were treated to a delicious Apple Crisp served with whipped cream.  Thanks to everyone for coming!  Dacia's choice for our next read is: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis - get ready for a fun meeting in November!

Here's Carrie's recipe for Apple Crisp - It's from her mom and is written in mom fashion!

Apple crisp....I peel the apples and put them in the baking dish (editor's note:  I noticed Carrie used a 9 x 13 glass baking dish)  so I know I have enough.  Then I put them in a bowl big enough to mix in.  Zest one lemon....if it is big only use half.  Add about 1/3 cup sugar and cinn and nutmeg to taste.  Dash of salt.  Put back into baking dish.  I used 2/3 cup flour, brown sugar and oats.  1/2 c soften butter.  Mix together and spread on top of apples with fingers.  Bake 350 until the apples are the softness you want.  I left mine a bit crisp...about 35 minutes.  Test with a tooth pick.  Serve with nothing, ice cream, whipping cream, milk or use your imagination!

 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

At our September meeting, we discussed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Our meeting was very well attended (thanks to all our new readers for coming too!) and everyone had something to say about this book! There was a lot of discussion about the plot of the book.  We agreed that the whole idea of the Hunger Games was revolting and that you had to find something else (the love triangle, friendships, the family relationships, etc.) to focus on to get past the horrifying elements of the book.  Some of our readers loved the book and others hated it.  We had an interesting discussion about the new movie they are making of this book (and subsequent books in the series).  We wondered if our culture and country were acting like "The Capital" by wanting so much to see this book dramatized in a motion picture.  We discussed how much harder this book would be to see in a movie than even to read.  Our thoughts were that the images would be hard to erase from your mind, while when you read you can gloss over them without fully forming them into images. 

Several our our readers had read all three books by the time we met and others were not sure that they would read more than this first book.  All in all it was an excellent discussion filled with differing opinions and viewpoints.  Thanks to all the Rexburg Readers for a great discussion!

At our meeting Kate treated us all to "Peeta" (pita) chips with Tiffany's excellent artichoke dip.  Also featured was mini cheesecakes with "poison" berries. 

For those of you waiting for the recipe for Tiffany's artichoke dip...here it is!

8oz. cream cheese-softened
1 C mayo
1- 14oz. can or jar of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 C grated parm
1 C grated Motz.
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper
*beat all ingredients together. Transfer to pie plate and bake at 350 for 30-40 min.

Carrie selected our next book:  The Great and Terrible, Vol. 1: Prologue, the Brothers by Chris Stewart.  See you all in October! :)

The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans

Thanks to Conna for sending this report since I wasn't able to be at the August Meeting!

From Conna:

So, last night we enjoyed a wonderful evening at Camille's home with her yummy "Lemonade Party Cake" and fun discussion. We summarized the book for those who didn't quite get their hands on a copy. We talked about whether it was a true story or not but came to the conclusion that it probably is real. Dacia said she may try to contact Richard Paul Evans through Facebook so we'll see. Some of us thought that the main character Alina (sorry I don't have the book and forgot how to spell her name) was walking a fine line and emotionally crossed it with Ross to be unfaithful to her idiot husband. We did find it interesting that the jerk of a husband did finally let her go and she found her "true love".

We are excited to start the next book that Kate picked, "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. Half of us have already read it but haven't for awhile so we are going to read it again. But in part because the third book in this series is coming out soon.

The 5 Love Languages

Last night we discussed The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  I'm not sure that I can really summarize our discussion.  I think you had to be there for this one since much of what we talked about was so personal.  There seemed to be a consensus that we felt like this was a great book!  We talked about the importance of communication in marriage and letting our spouse know what we really need from each other.  We also all felt that knowing our husbands' love languages help us to better know and understand them and to bring us closer as a couple and happier in our families.

For our "treats" we had healthy veggies (since we are trying to have healthy relationships) and "Better than S@x" Cake ;)

It was a great evening!

Our next book is:  The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans - a nice light summer read!

The Candy Shop War

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull was the topic of discussion for last night's meeting of the Rexburg Readers.

We enjoyed using the questions from the back of the Scholastic edition of the book as a basis for our discussion.  Some of the group felt that this book would not be appropriate for young children, preferring to save this book for children in fourth grade and above - others didn't have the same reservations.  The main reasons for concern were:  the inability of parental figures to help the children when they were in trouble, some of the taboos that the children engaged in (taking candy from strangers, doing things that didn't feel right, etc.) and some of the characters (thugs) that might be frightening for younger readers.

We all liked the special powers of the candies and talked about which candy/power we would most like to have which proved to be an entertaining part of our conversation.  We liked how the kids wanted their parents to be involved and how they realized that they needed their help when they were in trouble.  We liked that it is a fun novel for children with some really good messages.  Some of the children we know who have read it really, really enjoyed it and loved the fantasy of it all.

We enjoyed lots of super yummy treats including "white fudge", "shock bits", "Ironsides", "Sweet Tooth" and more!  Thanks to everyone for a fun discussion!!!  Please feel free to comment and share other insights or thoughts about last night's meeting.



Our next book:  The 5 Languages of Love by Gary Chapman - see side bar for more info on our next meeting!

The Hiding Place

At tonight's meeting we discussed the book, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.  The main feeling from our readers was that this is a life changing book.  We were amazed by Corrie and Betsy and indeed the whole Ten Boon family.  We discussed favorite parts of the book, or things that stood out to us as we read.  It was astounding to all of us to think of the way Betsy and Corrie planned to help those who suffered from the concentration camps both those who were imprisoned and their jailers after their experiences.  We loved their devotion to Jesus Christ and their ability to truly live what they read, studied, and "preached." 

We talked about how it was hard to understand how anyone could treat human beings the way that Corrie and Betsy were treated.  We talked about how the point of Hitler's regime was to dehumanize the Jews and those who helped them.  We were able to see parallels in forms of discrimination that exist today, here and now.

As we discussed characters who helped or showed compassion for Corrie and Betsy (notably Lieutenant Rahms) and discussed how they tried to do what they could to help in small ways and how it must have been painful for them to be able to forgive themselves for their part in the tragic events surrounding the Holocaust.  The ability to forgive that both Betsy and Corrie displayed was truly remarkable.  It was touching for us to see the way they trusted in the love of Jesus Christ to help them to forgive and bless others.

We were all moved by Betsy's gratitude in all things even when she did not understand why she should be thankful for them (ie. the fleas).  Our admiration for Betsy and Corrie's embracing of their ministry to teach of Jesus Christ and bring hope to those around them was inspiring.

All in all - we loved this book!!!


You'll find recipes for the delicious treats we enjoyed below:

Lemony Cooler (Drink)

6 cups white grape juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice
1 liter club soda, chilled

In a pitcher, combine grape juice, sugar and lemon juice; stir until sugar is dissolved.  Refrigerate until chilled.  Just before serving, stir in club soda.


Lemon Delight Cake

1 package lemon cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
3 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 T poppy seeds

Filling:
1 package (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 can (15 3/4 oz) lemon pie filling

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 T flour
4 1/2 tsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients, beat on low speed for 30 seconds.  Beat on medium for 2 minutes.  Coat a 13x9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.  Spread half of batter into pan.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Stir in lemon pie filling.  Drop by teaspoonfuls and gently spread over batter.  Top with remaining batter. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Combine glaze ingredients; and drizzle over cake.


Fruit Dip

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 container of marshmallow creme
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together and serve with fruit.



Our next book:  The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull  see sidebar for more info. :)


Post may be edited with other significant observations I have missed.