Good In Bed

Here are a few pics from our May book discussion meeting at the Jardines Studio.

Rosemary(Right) Maria (left)

Karen (left) and Jean (Right)

Jean (left), Jill Center)and Jen (sipping tea)

Marcia (left) Jen (right)

I asked my husband, Omar, to please put a copy of our book club selection, Good in Bed , in the mail for one of the Ladies, which he kindly did. That evening, he waisted no time in asking me with the biggest grin "So, how's that Good in Bed book? Anything you want to share with me?" Men just can't help themselves, can they?

He was a bit disappointed when I told him that the book had nothing to do with bedtime tactics and tricks.

When I first invited Jen to join the Club (holding the book above), she admitted she's never been able to read novels. "I'm a magazine and newspaper reader", she said warmly. Reluctantly, she started our first book, A Thousand Splendid Suns and read it in just a couple of days. "My family couldn't believe it!", she said.

If Jen can get totally hooked, working full time and raising four beautiful and smart girls, there is hope for the rest of us. This is great. It made me so happy that she is enjoying the books. I'm worried, however. Jen is getting to that point of no return where a reader even goes online to find out about the author and stuff. I'm starting to get concerned.

In Jeniffer Weiner's book Good in Bed, we meet Cannie, a successful Philadelphia Inquirer reporter with body image issues. She is forced to seriously look at her entire life after her boyfriend published an embarrassing article about her weight. Her boyfriend's rejection made her confront not only her weight issues, but more importantly, her mother's late-life gay lifestyle, her father's cruelty and abandonment and who she really was. In the process, Cannie finds herself and in a very Cinderella style she also finds true love.

This is "Chick Lit" at its best. It was light, very funny, over dramatized and full of all the implausible things that only happen in the soaps.

Needless to say, not what Omar was expecting.

At our book discussion meeting on May 9th, we had a great time visiting some of the themes of the book. It was interesting to hear how even the skinniest amongst us has struggled with the scale. We also talked about how our self image evolves over time as our bodies grow less cooperative and increasingly much less forgiving. We also discussed the male characters in the book (Cannie's father, "the looser", her boyfriend ,"the pothead"). Some of the Ladies thought that it just seems too easy for so many men to forget their families and their children. I won't bore you with the rest of the talks because is like a good joke you hear on TV, you've got to be there. Repeating it-is just not that funny.

Wait, wait---I just have to tell you about the "Refreshments". My friend Jill, who is the Tab Queen, was marking the book as she read it to help us with what to serve for the meeting. We loved the frozen Minute Maid limonade with Vodka and the rosemary chicken (shown above). You can do some serious damage with the limonade, though. It's one of those dangerous drinks 'cause it's so delicious! Jill made a delicious hot artichoke dip--totally amazing.

Some of the Ladies also finished doing some Mother's Day shopping at the studio. Thank you! 10% of your purchases is donated to the National Geographic Afghan Girl's Fund to educate girls in Afghanistan.