Bar Book Club Report for April
This one needs a bit of explaining, because for once we didn't meet at the pub. Last fall, there was a charity auction to raise money for a Habitat for Humanity build, and one of the offerings was a traditional English high tea. So someone from our group, on a bit of a lark, decided to bid on it as something for our group to do. Which he won. So instead of micro-brews at the local pub...we went over to his house for tea.
Tea of choice: We had four varieties of black tea. My favorite was one with a Chinese name that even our hosts couldn't pronounce, a "full-bodied tea." I think it had "invigorating" somewhere in the description as well. There was also mango-, peach-, and a breakfast-tea. (Later in the evening, the plan was to break out various expensive whiskeys, but unfortunately I wasn't able to stay long enough to participate in that.) The food and teas were very good though, and a fun change (who knew there's one appropriate way to stir sugar or milk into your tea?).
Book: Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. It was a biography of Teddy Roosevelt's early years. I discovered that our library has something where you can download an audio version of the complete book for free, so I gave that a try. Unfortunately, it's 19 hours long and not broken up in any way into chapters or anything. So you sit there listening to Windows Media Player, which you can't bookmark, and moving the slide bar the littlest bit could jump you ahead 5 minutes...
So that didn't work well for me. I also found it easy to tune out the voice. Is anyone really into audiobooks? I could see it working for me if I was commuting a long way (and I've listened to some while on long trips), but given the way I usually read and the fact that I'm just at home all the time...audiobooks, I guess, just aren't for me.
Sounds like the book was interesting, though. He seems to have had a bizarre reaction to his first daughter after his first wife died (and to his first wife, for that matter), basically never again mentioning his wife and pawning his daughter off on relatives. So that inspired a lot of conversation.
Next book--I'd voted for an Annie Dillard book from among the selections because I've loved some of her writing, but I believe the one chosen was (checking my email) Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner. I know absolutely nothing about it because I wasn't around for the usual discussion of the various choices.
And next time will be back at Coopersmith's Pub & Brewery.
This one needs a bit of explaining, because for once we didn't meet at the pub. Last fall, there was a charity auction to raise money for a Habitat for Humanity build, and one of the offerings was a traditional English high tea. So someone from our group, on a bit of a lark, decided to bid on it as something for our group to do. Which he won. So instead of micro-brews at the local pub...we went over to his house for tea.
Tea of choice: We had four varieties of black tea. My favorite was one with a Chinese name that even our hosts couldn't pronounce, a "full-bodied tea." I think it had "invigorating" somewhere in the description as well. There was also mango-, peach-, and a breakfast-tea. (Later in the evening, the plan was to break out various expensive whiskeys, but unfortunately I wasn't able to stay long enough to participate in that.) The food and teas were very good though, and a fun change (who knew there's one appropriate way to stir sugar or milk into your tea?).
Book: Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. It was a biography of Teddy Roosevelt's early years. I discovered that our library has something where you can download an audio version of the complete book for free, so I gave that a try. Unfortunately, it's 19 hours long and not broken up in any way into chapters or anything. So you sit there listening to Windows Media Player, which you can't bookmark, and moving the slide bar the littlest bit could jump you ahead 5 minutes...
So that didn't work well for me. I also found it easy to tune out the voice. Is anyone really into audiobooks? I could see it working for me if I was commuting a long way (and I've listened to some while on long trips), but given the way I usually read and the fact that I'm just at home all the time...audiobooks, I guess, just aren't for me.
Sounds like the book was interesting, though. He seems to have had a bizarre reaction to his first daughter after his first wife died (and to his first wife, for that matter), basically never again mentioning his wife and pawning his daughter off on relatives. So that inspired a lot of conversation.
Next book--I'd voted for an Annie Dillard book from among the selections because I've loved some of her writing, but I believe the one chosen was (checking my email) Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner. I know absolutely nothing about it because I wasn't around for the usual discussion of the various choices.
And next time will be back at Coopersmith's Pub & Brewery.
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