The 14 in 2014 online book club has returned in 2014!  Our first pick is "Where'd You Go Bernadette" by Maria Semple.  I loved this book, immediately upon beginning.  Turns out that the author worked in writing sitcoms in her past and this book reads just like that; fast-paced, hilarious, touching and addictive!  And the hilarious, snarky email banter between characters Soon-Lin and Audrey had me in stitches.  (note: this book club is so effective, because of the awesome ladies in it!  I have been trying to do this kind of thing for years and never actually did it.  Read more about that here. I never read any of those books listed...so sad!)  Join us on Facebook!

Read more here about what the NYtimes had to say about this awesome book pick for our club.

"The tightly constructed “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” is written in many formats — e-mails, letters, F.B.I. documents, correspondence with a psychiatrist and even an emergency-room bill for a run-in between Bernadette and Audrey. Yet these pieces are strung together so wittily that Ms. Semple’s storytelling is always front and center, in sharp focus. You could stop and pay attention to how apt each new format is, how rarely she repeats herself and how imaginatively she unveils every bit of information. But you would have to stop laughing first." (NYtimes) 

Also, how adorable is Bee, the main character?  She is one of my favorite leading ladies for her curiosity, uniqueness and ability to stand apart from her granola-eating, Seattle, prep-school buddies. Bee's parents Bernadette and Elgin are so wonderfully flawed and real that a real parent like myself cannot help but love them.  And the end of the novel, well...gasp!  I loved that too!

What did you guys think?  Join us for February's book "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed.  

Last year's 13 in 2013 book club included the following:

"The Light Between Oceans", Mindy Kaling's hilarious memoir, Gone Girl, Flight Behavior, Sweet Tooth, The Normal Bar, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, And the Mountains Echoed.

More book reviews here (ideas for book club!):

"Sightseeing"

"American Dervish"

"Gone Girl" rocked my scaredy-cat socks off! Almost every single "twenty-something" that I have asked has said something along the lines of "I couldn't put it down" or "wow, it was addictive" in regards to this dysfunctional marriage murder thriller. Read more here about what the New York Times has to say about it.

What do you think, fellow "book clubbers"? And anyone else who has read it?!

Here's my take: I liked the action and the twisted relationship and plot surprises. However, I was not able to leave a lot of the description in the book. I've always had a wild imagination and some of the gory details made me literally shiver for days. (I'm a weenie.)

I have one more complaint... I'd say that this book has "DaVinci Code" syndrome. What I mean by that is that it seemed to be written as an intended future screenplay and not as a good old fashioned honest book. While many books do end up as films, I don't necessarily think that they have to be written as such. Otherwise, it was a great thriller! (It will make a great movie someday!!)