Thursday, September 13, 2007

Food and Books

We went to Wal-mart for our big, monthly grocery trip on Wednesday. The pantry is bulging now, which is lovely, and we have meat and fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator again. T. and K. have been discussing what they would be for Halloween for the past month, and they got first pick from Wal-mart's costumes, which were being stocked when we got there. After great consideration (with Ed supervising -- I was filling grocery carts), both kids chose costumes that they Absolutely Love. K.'s princess dress was pretty pricey at nearly $20, but she told Ed, "That's why I save my money, so I can buy beautiful things when I want them." Sounds good to me, and she is thrilled with her purchase. T. found the scythe that he has been eagerly looking forward to for his Grim Reaper costume (he already had a black gown from some other costume), and he also found a black hood that pleases him immensely. Now they can spend the next month and a half decorating the house, wearing their costumes, and looking forward to Halloween.

My book met again after a summer hiatus on Tuesday night, and I didn't get kicked out for not having finished The Brothers Karamozov. Turned out, I wasn't the only one who hadn't finished it. Too bad I was intimidated by the classic Russian novel thing, though, because once I finally started reading it (last week), it turned out to be really marvelous. I am going to finish it. After snacks (including baklava & chocolate covered macadamia nuts -- oh my!) and discussion, we chose books for the next couple months, and I again felt Really lucky to be part of a group of women that want to read such Good books (meaning, as usual, books I find interesting!). We are reading The Hound of the Baskervilles in September, with the idea that this will give some people time to also finish The Brothers, then Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship (the one I linked is the one I plan to buy, which is a new translation, has a slightly different title, but I'm sure it is the same book), which I have wanted to read and was very gratified when they enthusiastically took my suggestion, and All Creatures Great and Small, which I haven't read since I was young but remember absolutely loving (and we've been watching the series, from Netflix!). There was a suggestion of Ethan Frome for November, but I'm glad All Creatures won out, as I remember Ethan being quite a downer. Probably appropriate for February, though. There were many other wonderful books suggested, and I guess we "vote" on the books for the new year in December. There were very few that I wouldn't be pleased to read. What fun!

1 comment:

Jules said...

Wow! I love those suggestions! The Cost of Discipleship is one that I have been wanting to dig into, also. I wish there was a book group like that around here - I'd eat it up.

Good luck with it and let me know how you like Bonhoeffer if and when you get to him.