Before the Blog: The Book Club

   Since I reviewed 'Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons' earlier this week, I decided to share an old review of a book club story that I didn't enjoy nearly as much for Before the Blog!

The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was just an 'ok' book. There were interesting parts to it; enough that I read through to the end instead of giving up. But not interesting enough to read through quickly as you can see from the fact that it took me 3 months to finish it. I really had expected to like the book and picked it up because it was about a book club. I guess I was expecting another Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. It absolutely was NOT! At the start, one of the book club members is recovering from the unexpected death of her husband. There is some jealously among the friends; kind of like HS...whose your BEST friend kind of thing. The book follows the women though problems in their lives. It only covers about 4 months but feels like several years. Even after all that reading, there is still so much of the story untold and unresolved.

Do Midge and her mother come to an understanding? Does Eve let her relationship with Paul develop and do the children accept this? Does Annie survive her cancer, and do she and John relocate from Chicago? Does Gabriella's husband find a good job?

This story mostly tried to cover the bonds of friendship the women had, but really didn't do that very well. If you are looking for a good book about women, friendship, and book clubs, take a pass on this one and read Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons instead!

View all my reviews

Why did you choose this book? I read this book because I was hoping for another 'Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons'

When did you read this book? June 2010

Who would you recommend this book to? not very many people actually; there are better books waiting to be read

   Here is the synopsis of 'The Book Club' from Goodreads where it rates 3.44 stars. You can read member reviews here.

On the surface, it is a monthly book club. But for five women, it is something more precious — a chance to share their hopes and fears and triumphs.

Eve — husband's sudden death has turned her world upside down, cheating her of every security she had planned on

Annie — a brilliant attorney at forty-three she has decided to have a baby, but all the determination in the world can't change the cold reality in nature

Doris — forced to acknowledge her dying marriage, she finds the ultimate freedom in her husband's betrayal.

Gabriella — the "perfect" wife, mother and friend, who offers support to everyone but is afraid to ask for it herself

Midge — an artist who has always lived her life against the grain; but suddenly she's feeling like a stranger to the very people who should know her best

They are women in transition, and as they embrace the challenge of change, they will hold fast to the true magic of the book club — friendship.

Before the Blog is a new meme hosted by YA Litwit. The idea here is that we have all been reading much longer than we have been blogging and have many books in our reading past that are worthy of blogging about. This is a way to 'rediscover' these gems by answering a few basic questions. For details check out the YA Litwit blog.